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User-defined characters
-.
You can create and print your own custom characters with EX-800 emula-
tion, but you probably won’t want to. The Star LaserPrinter 8111 provides
more convenient access to special symbol sets than this, particularly through
LaserJet III emulation.
- >-
But if you have used a character-creation program designed for Epson
printers, you could need to get at symbols you have defined yourself. You
may have stored your characters in parts of the 256-character symbol set
normally reserved for control codes, and will need “skeleton keys” to unlock
those normally unprintable character slots.
Here are those keys. Note: the numbers in the first two commands below are
ASCII symbols, not decimal digits.
To gain access to the symbols stored in the control-code slots of the upper
half of the symbol set, send this command:
-&SC>6
To cancel that setting and again restrict access to those reserved positions,
send:
<ESC> 7
To manage your program’s access to the symbols stored in control-code slots
in the lower half of the symbol set, send this command:
<ES0 I n
If you make n an odd number your program can access those user-defined
symbols. But if you make n an even number, you won’t be able to print user-
defined characters stored in those control-code slots.
‘v
GRAPHICS
If you are using a commercial graphics program, such as Lotus 1-2-3, you
won’t need to use the commands in this section. Usually you’ll just draw your
image on your screen and then send it to the printer.
Should you want to send your own graphics commands in EX-800 emulation
mode, though, it’s best to start off knowing a little binary arithmetic. If you’re
rusty on binary you can review computer arithmetic in Chapter 1. We’ll
assume you already know elementary programming in the following discus-
sion
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