Star Micronics LC-20 Printer User Manual


 
chapter 5
DOWNLOAD CHARACTERS
Withthisprinteryoucancreatenewcharactersandsymbols,downloadtheir
dotdata,andhavethemprintedinplaceofselectedcharactersintheregular
characterset.Charactersthatcanbegeneratedinthiswayrangefromsimple
but useful symbols like the check mark through complex Chinese or
Japanesecharacters.
Regular characters are permanently stored in the printer’s ROM, but
charactersyoudesignare downloadedand storedin RAMfor use.
DESIGNING YOUR OWN DRAFT CHARACTERS
Designingand printingyour own charactershas two requirements:first,
designingtheshapeofthecharacter,calculatingthedatanecessaryto make
the shape,and sendingthat data to the printer,and secondly,sendingthe
commandtoprintthe downloadedcharactersinsteadoftheregularcharac-
ters. Thereare a numberof designconstraintsfor downloaddraft quality
characters:
Thematrixor gridon whichyoudesignthe charactersis six boxeswide
by nineboxeshigh.
HorizontaUy,dotsmaybecenteredinabox, ormaystraddlealine,making
theactualcharactergrid 11dotswideby9 dotshigh.Vertically,dotscan
onlybe centeredin a box.See Figure5-1.
I
Figure5-1.Dotscanbeinsideboxesorstraddletheverticallinesofthegrid
69