[Info-vax] DCPS V2.7 and Brother printers

[John E. Malmberg]

On 3/25/2019 8:23 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
> 
> Ok, I don't get out much, so this capability might already exist.
> 
> When I want to print, on my Brother printer, a file at 12 CPI instead of 
> the default 10 CPI, I edit the file and place a sequence of characters 
> at the front to cause the printer to switch to 12 CPI, for that job.
> 
> Sure would be nice to:
> 
> $ PRINT /QUEUE=LASER /CPI=12
This has been available since at least VAX/VMS 4.x.

Note: Always change the default password for your printer, especially if 
it is a PostScript printer.  Most of the PostScript printers I have seen 
have a default password.

I can not remember if I put the scripts for this on a freeware or Decus 
submission.

Use a text editor or program to create a bunch of sample pages for 
testing your printer.

Have 2 or 3 lines horizontal and vertical to show the print margins and 
the tab stops.

0000000000.....
0000000001.....
1234567890.....
004
005<tab>T1<tab>T2...
006
...


Help init/queue/library
Help define/form/setup
help print/form

Use one library for each unique printer model.  ANSI implementation is 
slightly different between most Digital branded printers, so you need 
different escape codes to set font size, margins, and tab stops for each.

As I do not have my notes handy, you will need to do some experimentation.

When you set the CPS for an ANSI printer, the horizontal tab stops are 
usually not automatically set correctly at what is now the 8 characters.

You may need to use different command sequences for each ANSI printer to 
get the actual expected CPS.

You will probably need to use different commands for each ANSI printer 
to get the actual expected tab stops.

So far, PCL has been the same for all printers found.

By having a separate library for each printer model you can use common 
form names for all printers.

dcps_ansi_printlib.tlb
dcps_pcl_printlib.tlb
la100_printlib.tlb
ln03_printlib.tlb
pcl_printlib.tlb

Always include a reset module to set the defaults the printer at the 
beginning of the job.

If the printer is shared with MIcrosoft Windows, this module will 
probably need to set the power on defaults for the printer as printer 
drivers on Microsoft tend to change the printer power up defaults with 
every print job even though the actual documents then send down their 
own printer commands to override them.

Typically the Microsoft based print driver set the printer on power up 
to default to having wider print margins on all sides of the paper, and 
will change the setting for one/sided or two sided printing for the 
printers that support it.

Regards,
-John
wb8tyw at qsl.net_work