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Accessing a Printer


For example, to dump a 100x100 section of the current screen onto a full page, retaining the correct aspect ratio, the following line would be used:

X> Printer Dump 0,0 To 100,100,0,0,$80 Or $8 Or $4

The next example could be used for printing a low resolution screen to an eight by six inch area:

X> Printer Dump 0,0 To 320,200,8000,6000,$1 Or $2

Alternatively, part of the current screen could be dumped utilising the maximum available height, but with the width reduced by one third, as follows:

X> Printer Dump 0,0 To 200,200,$5555,0,$8 Or $10

You are warned not to attempt to change the current screen during a screen dump operation, otherwise the resultant print-out will become scrambled.

Other printer commands

PRINTER OUT
instruction: print data from an address
Printer Out address,length

This command is used to print some data directly from the memory location starting at a specified address. The data is not processed in any way, so embedded control sequences will be completely ignored. The PRINTER OUT instruction should be used to send simple text and graphics only.

The address parameter refers to the first character which is to be output, and length specifies the number of characters to be printed. To send a string, the following type of line would be used:

Printer Out Varptr(A$),Len(A$)

Similarly to PRINTER SEND, it must be ensured that data remains unchanged during the printing process, otherwise the resultant print-out will become corrupted.

PRINTER ABORT
instruction: stop a printer operation
Printer Abort

This command halts the current printing operation. If your printer device has a large memory buffer, there may be a delay before the printing ceases.

PRINTER CHECK
function: return the status of the printer
status=Printer Check

Use the PRINTER CHECK function to return a value of -1 (True) if the printer is available for use, or zero (False) if it is in active mid-operation.

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10.03.05