BOOK REVIEW
One of the problems people have with
printers is that (unless one has an
Epson) you are not always quite sure
how Epson-compatible your printer is.
Indeed, rumour has it that not all
Epson products are 100% compatible with
each other - but I don't know about
that! Another problem is that
instruction books are not always as
clear as they might be, and are
generally written for users of PCs, and
examples of commands from BASIC use
Microsoft Basic, which is, well,
different from proper (i.e. BBC) Basic.
Since it appeared from other users'
comments that the machine-code
utilities created by the source-code
programs HASHGEN and SUBSGEN on recent
discs, worked with the same control
codes inserted on Star printers as on
my Panasonis KX-P1081, it seemed likely
that my printer was Epson-compatible.
When I saw the advertisement for "The
Epson RX/FX Printer Commands Revealed
Handbook for the BBC Micro" I was
therefore sufficiently interested to
get a copy.
I was not disappointed. The book is
written by David Smith, who starts off
in the Introduction as follows:
"This book has been produced in
response to requests from BBC users who
find the standard printer manuals
unsuitable."
The book divides the facilities
available into 8 groups - Print mode,
Bit image, Line Spacing, Paper Feed
Execution, Format Control, Input Data
Control, Download Character and
Miscellanous. Several of these groups
have a short explanatory introduction.
Within each group, each command starts
at the top of a page with its function
(e.g. NLQ Mode Setting), followed by a
reference to its conventional
description (in this case ESC "(" ).
Then comes the command in BBC Basic to
send it to the printer(VDU1,27,1,40),
followed by the Wordwise 'OC' command
(OC27,40). It is recommended that the
book be used in conjunction with the
manufacturer's printer manual. To
assist in this for Epson and Kaga
owners, for each command available,
there is a page reference for Kaga,
FX80 and RX80 manuals. This is followed
by a simply-worded description and an
example Basic program.
All in all, a book worth having to
refer to if you want to make any use at
all of the expensive facilities built
into your printer (unless you are quite
happy with the manufacturer's
handbook...)
The book makes the point that while
printer commands can be sent from
within Wordwise, they cannot from View,
although they can be incorporated into
a printer driver. It is, of course,
always possible to exit View (having
remembered to save your file!), enter
Basic, send the commands to the
printer, then go back to View.
Alternatively, if the commands are put
into machine code, they may be loaded
in View's command mode (or by a !BOOT
file). With this book, it is a simple
matter to write these. Examples on this
disc are TINY (to give condensed mode +
1/8" line spacing - useful for
timetables, &c.), TABLE (to give the
1/8" line spacing without altering
letter size - makes tables look neater)
and ITALICS. The source-code shows how
to do it, then you can write a program
for any command you need. I have made
these assemble at &900 - they can be
overwritten afterwards - so if you need
HASHGEN or one of the other utilities
using page &9 to intercept vectors,
load these after the printer command
program(s).
THE EPSON FX/KAGA PRINTER COMMANDS FOR
THE BBC MICRO by David Smith
From : WATFORD ELECTRONICS @ £4.95
(plus p+p - quoted as a minimum of £3,
so get a friend to order it for you
when he is ordering something from WE
for himself !)
H. L. Clarke (user id: B27)