FX_SERIES_PRINTER_CHARACTER_SET_GENERATOR D Copyright (C) 1984 W COMPUTER APPLICATIONS C Douglas W. Coatney Revision 1.02 FXCHAR is released to the public domain by the author under the condition that it will not be sold for personal gain by any unscrupulous individual, and that the DWC Computer Applications Copyright remain intact. If you have any comments, bugs, updates, suggestions etc, please send them to: MicroBBS RCP/M Los Alamitos, CA (213) 598-8495 300/1200 .HE FX Series Printer Downloadable Character Set Generator Introduction: ------------- The FX Series Printer has the capability for users to create their own 'Downloadable' character sets. This is to say that the character set in the FX Series Printer is completely user- definable. But the programming of the printer might be rather cumbersome to the novice computer user. Which is precisely the reason that FXCHAR.COM (compiled version) was created. This program enables the common user to be able to use the FX Series Printer to it's full potential and create his own character sets. FXCHAR CONFIGURATIONS --------------------- FXCHAR has the capability to adapt itself to the following configurations: (1) Any CP/M System (2) The Zenith Z100 w/ZDOS (3) The IBM PC w/PCDOS There is basically no difference in the operation of the program under either system since the character set being created is for the FX series printer. FXCHAR INSTALLATION ------------------- FXCHAR is installable on a wide variety of systems. As mentioned, there are basically two versions of FXCHAR, one for CP/M and one for MSDOS. As of the release of this document, the MSDOS version was still being debugged. Currently only the CP/M version is operational. In order to run FXCHAR on your CP/M system, you must configure the file FXCHAR.ATR for your screen attributes. This is probably easier than the task of finding out what they are! First find out what the ASCII equivalent codes are for your various screen attributes. You'll need to know: (1) CLEAR SCREEN Mandatory (2) CLEAR SCREEN FROM CURSOR DOWN Optional (3) CURSOR POSITIONING Mandatory (4) REVERSE VIDEO Optional (5) NORMAL VIDEO Optional (6) CURSOR OFF Optional (7) CURSOR ON Optional The format of the file FXCHAR.ATR is quite simple. All one has to do is put the screen attributes into their proper places. All attribute sequences should be made with their ASCII equivalent decimal numbers. The following is an entry for the Heath/Zenith H89/Z100 computers 27;69; 27;74; 27;89; 27;112; 27;113; 27;120;53; 27;121;53; ***************************************************************** * NOTICE All attribute entries terminate with a ;! If you * * you leave out the terminating ;, FXCHAR will not function * * properly! * ***************************************************************** If your terminal/computer doesn't support any of the needed attributes, YOU MUST STILL SUPPLY AN ATTRIBUTE ENTRY for that particular function. An example might be, an Osborne -1 which doesn't normally have reverse video. Substitute ;; for that attribute, or a null, however, you must not leave it blank, or change the order which FXCHAR expects to find the attributes. FXCHAR OPERATION ----------------- The operation of FXCHAR is actually quite simple. Upon execution, a DWC COMPUTER APPLICATIONS Copyright is displayed and then the Main Menu will appear on the screen. There are six selections: 1 - Edit/Examine a character set file 2 - Print a character set file 3 - Download a character set to FX Series Printer 4 - Enable Downloadable/Permanent character set 5 - Return to DOS 6 - In Line Command help A large cursor will appear over the first selection. To make a selection the user simply moves this large cursor over the option he wishes with the NUMERIC KEYPAD and then selects it by pressing the carriage return key. Pressing any other keys besides [2], [8] or Carriage Return will result in the console bell being rung to inform the user of an input error. OPTION 1: EDIT/EXAMINE A CHARACTER SET FILE ------------------------------------------- Upon selecting option one, FXCHAR will clear the screen and display the current mode at the top of the screen. It will then give the user a brief description of what a valid character set file name is. The user will then be prompted for a file name to edit. There are three options here. First the user may enter FX.CHR (or simply FX because the extension of .CHR is assumed) and the distributed character set will be loaded into memory. Second the user may opt to create his own character set from scratch. In this case, the a carriage return would be entered. Third, the user may decide not to edit a character set file and return to the Main Menu. To do this, the ESC key would be pressed. In any case, if the edit is not canceled by an ESC FXCHAR checks the file name for invalid characters such as "*%:" etc. and converts lower case to UPPER case. If the name is invalid a short message is printed on the screen and the user is given another chance to enter the name correctly. If the file name passes inspection for invalid characters, then FXCHAR opens the file and reads in the first record of the file and checks to see that it is a valid FX CHR format file. If the file is not a valid FX CHR format file an error message is printed on the screen and the user is again given another chance to enter a valid file name. Once the user enters a valid file name and the file is of the FX CHR format, FXCHAR informs the user it is "Creating Work file..". FXCHAR is actually doing two very different things depending on whether or not the file selected was an existing one or a new one. If the user hit the carriage return key to create a new file FXCHAR creates a file called TEMP.$$$ and initializes all the characters to be blank. On the other hand if the user entered a valid CHR format file, FXCHAR copies the contents to the file TEMP.$$$ and proceeds to edit TEMP.$$$. Preserving the original file. After the copying/creating is finished, a 6 x 9 matrix will be displayed in the center of the screen. To the right a block of Cursor Movement help will be displayed. To the left a block of ASCII code help will be displayed. FXCHAR will now prompt the user for an ASCII input which conforms to the listed restrictions on the left. Basically a valid ASCII number is in the range of 0 to 255. The user can either enter the desired ASCII value, or if the one being displayed by the cursor is appropriate, he may simply hit the carriage return and that particular number will be used. Upon selecting an ASCII character to edit, FXCHAR will clear the left block of ASCII help information and replace it with a block of Function Key help information. The Function keys provide the user with special functions to aid in the editing and creating of character sets. OPTION 1: EDIT/EXAMINE A CHARACTER SET -------------------------------------- FUNCTION KEY DESCRIPTIONS: -------------------------- - ^B Blanks current character being edited. In other words all pixels are turned off. - ^U Will use another ASCII character to start with. This is helpful in some cases where the character being edited is similar to other characters previously created. The command copies the specified character to the currently editor matrix. - ^R Restores the character to original state. This function will restore the character to it's original state BEFORE this editing session took place. - ^E Saves the current character and exits back to the ASCII select screen. The default ASCII value is incremented by 1. - ^A Toggles the print cell from the upper eight pixels to the bottom eight pixels. This is useful for designing characters with "true" descenders. - ^P Sends the current character to the FX Series Printer. This function is helpful in the design of the characters because the user can see right away what the character looks like. - ^Q Saves the current character (if one is being edited) and exits to the Save menu. This is the normal way of ending an edit session. OPTION 1: EDIT/EXAMINE A CHARACTER SET -------------------------------------- CURSOR MOVEMENT: ---------------- Cursor Control ---------------- UP UP UP LEFT RGHT \ | / LEFT - [5] - RGHT / | \ DOWN DOWN LEFT DOWN RGHT In short the user may position the cursor with the numeric keypad. The up arrow moves up, the down arrow down, and so on. The FX series printers allow the user defined characters to use "half" spaces, so in actuality, the character matrix is 11 x 9. However, there is a catch. True there are 11 half-spaces in the matrix, but the printer will not print two pixels together which are not separated by at least one cell. In other words defining a character to have two pixels on the same line separated by less than one full pixel results in an invalid character. But never fear, FXCHAR will not let the user define an invalid character. FXCHAR intercepts and makes sure all horizontal pixels are spaced by at least one full cell. The space bar turns a pixel off while any other key (except a valid cursor movement or function key) will turn a pixel on. The cursor also "remembers" it's last direction. If the user moves to the right and hits a key to turn on a pixel and then keeps pressing the same key, a row of pixels will appear on the screen. By the same process if the user now moves to the left and then hits the space bar, the pixels will be sequentially turned off. After the edit session is finished (CTRL-Q) the user must select an output file name for the newly edited set. The file name is subject to the same restrictions as the initial file name to edit was. The user may enter a carriage return if he has NOT just created a character set file, then the old name will be used and a backup file (extension .BAK) will be created. Otherwise the user must specify a valid file name. Drive specifications may be used in the input file name, but FXCHAR automatically saves the file to the same drive which the input file came from. If the user created a new file, then the output file will go to the default drive. FXCHAR will inform the user that it is saving the file and then it will return to the Main Menu. OPTION 2: PRINT A CHARACTER SET FILE ------------------------------------ Upon entering a valid file name FXCHAR will clear the screen and ask the user if the output is to go to an Epson printer. If the user is not using an Epson printer then it is recommended that he set his printer to 8 lines per inch for the best scale ratio. After making sure the printer is ON LINE, the user is prompted to hit the carriage return. FXCHAR then proceeds to print out the entire 255 member character set. FXCHAR will display the current character being printed and the print pause function keys. PRINT PAUSE FUNCTION KEYS: -------------------------- - ^P Pauses print. This stops the print and displays an appropriate message on the screen to inform the user that printing has ceased. - ^R Continues print. Pressing F2 continues printing after a pause print command has been given. - ^Q Cancels print. This key can be pressed during printing or in the paused print state. In either case, it will ask the user if he is sure he wants to stop the print out. If the user answers yes, the printout will stop and FXCHAR will return to the Main Menu. Otherwise, printing will continue. OPTION 3: DOWNLOAD A CHARACTER SET TO FX SERIES PRINTER ------------------------------------------------------- After selecting option three, FXCHAR will clear the screen and display some help information about file names. In order to use this option the user must have either created a new character set, or be using the distributed one. After entering a valid file name FXCHAR will clear the screen and proceed to download the new character set to the FX Series Printer. This option DOES NOT enable the character set, it merely puts the new character set into memory. Upon completion of the download, FXCHAR will return to the Main Menu. OPTION 4: ENABLE DOWNLOADABLE/PERMANENT CHARACTER SET ----------------------------------------------------- Upon selection of option four, FXCHAR will clear the screen and remind the user to put the FX Series Printer ON LINE. FXCHAR will then proceed to reverse the status of the character set. This option works like a toggle. For instance if the RAM set is not active, selecting option four will activate it, contrastingly if the RAM set is active selecting option four will de-activate it and return to the normal ROM character set. OPTION 5: RETURN TO DOS ----------------------- To exit the program, option five is selected. This option clears the screen, prints 'Program Complete' and exits back to the disk operating system. OPTION 6: IN LINE COMMAND HELP ------------------------------ When the user selects this option, a brief description of the previous five commands will be displayed. This is not by any means designed to be a substitute for a properly written manual, but rather a means to quickly identify what each command will do. [ This document printed using a character set created by FXCHAR]