╨RINTERS ARE BUILT TO MAKE PRINTING EASY IN ONE DIRECTION, WHICH IS ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE PAGE. ╨APERS FOR SCHOOL, BUSINESS AND PUBLICATION ARE ALL PREPARED THAT WAY. ╔S IT POSSIBLE TO PRINT READABLE TEXT IN OTHER DIRECTIONS? ┴ND WHY DO THAT?
╙ITTING IN MY STUDY LATE ON ┴PRIL 15, ╔ WAS TRYING TO PRODUCE A SENSIBLE PRINTOUT OF MY FEDERAL TAX COMPUTATIONS DONE ON THE ═ULTIPLAN SPREADSHEET PROGRAM. ╔ HAD ALREADY PRINTED THE ENTIRE WORKSHEET, BUT ═ULTIPLAN'S DEFAULT PAGINATION OFTEN DIVIDED A FEDERAL FORM DOWN ITS MIDDLE: A LABEL LIKE "╠INE 12" WOULD APPEAR ON ONE PRINTED PAGE, WHILE THE AMOUNT TO BE ENTERED ON THAT LINE WOULD APPEAR ON ANOTHER. ═ULTIPLAN PERMITS ADJUSTMENT OF PRINTED MARGINS AND PAGE CONTENT, BUT SOME ADJACENT SPREADSHEET MATERIAL SIMPLY WON'T FIT ON A PRINTED PAGE ONLY EIGHTY COLUMNS WIDE.
╘HERE IS A BETTER WAY TO PRINT SPREADSHEETS OR ANY OTHER TEXT WIDER THAN 80 COLUMNS. ┬Y ROTATING CONTINUOUS-FEED PAPER NINETY DEGREES, SO THAT IT EXTENDS ACROSS YOUR DESK LIKE A BANNER, SUDDENLY YOU HAVE A "PAGE" ABOUT 53 LINES DEEP AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, AS WIDE AS YOU WISH. ┘OUR PRINTER MAY NOT BE AS WIDE AS YOU WISH, SO THE PAPER CAN'T FIT IN THAT ORIENTATION. ┬UT YOU CAN TEACH YOUR COMPUTER TO PRINT DOT-MATRIX TEXT ROTATED NINETY DEGREES CLOCKWISE. ╘HAT'S WHAT THE ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ PROGRAM DOES FOR YOU. ╘HE PROGRAM CAN EVEN PRINT ITSELF ROTATED, WHICH YOU'LL SEE ON THE NEXT PAGE.
╞╔╥╙╘ ╙╘┼╨╙
╘HE FIRST STEP IN USING ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ IS TO CREATE SOME WIDE TEXT ON DISK. ═ULTIPLAN AND OTHER SPREADSHEETS HAVE THIS CAPABILITY. ┬ASICALLY, YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO DO TWO THINGS: CHANGE THE PAGE DIMENSIONS IN YOUR SPREADSHEET PROGRAM, AND RECORD YOUR SPREADSHEET IN A FILE, CALLED A PRINTFILE, THAT IS READABLE BY A WORD PROCESSOR.
╔N ARTICLES ACCOMPANYING THIS ONE, YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO DO THAT FOR ═ULTIPLAN AND FOR ╙PEEDCALC. ╫E WILL PUBLISH INSTRUCTIONS FOR OTHER SPREADSHEET PROGRAMS WHEN THEY ARE RECEIVED.
┬UT, BEFORE YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR SPREADSHEET PROGRAM, YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT PAGE DIMENSIONS TO USE. ╘HAT INVOLVES A LITTLE MATH, AND YOUR SPREADSHEET PROGRAM CAN PROBABLY DO IT FOR YOU.
╙┼╘╘╔╬╟╙ ╞╧╥ ╨┴╟┼ ╙╔┌┼
┘OUR SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE MAY OR MAY NOT LET YOU ADJUST ANY OF THESE MARGINS: TOP, LEFT, RIGHT AND BOTTOM. ╫HATEVER YOU FIND, SET IT TO ZERO.
╚╧╫ ═┴╬┘ ╥╧╫╙?
╬ORMAL 8.5" WIDE PAPER CAN HOLD A MAXIMUM OF 52 ROWS PRINTED ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼. ╔F YOUR SPREADSHEET CAN FIT IN FEWER THAN 52 ROWS, THAT'S GOOD: YOU'LL EITHER HAVE MORE ROOM FOR COLUMNS, OR ELSE YOU'LL END UP PRINTING MORE QUICKLY.
╔F YOUR SPREADSHEET OCCUPIES MORE THAN 52 ROWS, YOU CAN CREATE AS MANY PRINTFILES AS NEEDED TO COVER THE WHOLE SPREADSHEET, BY STORING 52 ROWS AT A TIME.
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ WAS WRITTEN TO PRINT A PRINTFILE UP TO 33,500 CHARACTERS LONG. ╔N THE PRINTFILE, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CHARACTERS EQUALS THE NUMBER OF ROWS MULTIPLIED BY THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS PER ROW. ┴ND THAT TOTAL CAN BE NO MORE THAN 33,500. ┴NOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT THE LIMIT: THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS PER ROW CAN BE NO MORE THAN 33,500 DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF ROWS.
╫HEN YOUR SPREADSHEET OCCUPIES 52 ROWS, EACH ROW CAN CONTAIN NO MORE THAN THIS MANY CHARACTERS: 33,500 / 52 = 644. ╘HAT'S A ╠╧╘ OF CHARACTERS PER ROW, SIX ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ PAGES WORTH. ╞ROM EXPERIENCE ╔ KNOW THAT MANY TAX FORMS CAN FIT IN SUCH AN AREA, ALTHOUGH THE TWO PAGES OF THE 1040 HAVE TO BE PUT SIDE-BY-SIDE TO FIT IN 53 ROWS.
╙UPPOSE YOUR SPREADSHEET OCCUPIES ONLY 30 ROWS. ╘HEN YOUR MAXIMUM PAGE WIDTH WOULD BE 33,500 / 30 = 1116. ╘HAT'S ╘┼╬ ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ PAGES. ╙OME SPREADSHEETS MIGHT NOT PERMIT SUCH A WIDE PAGE. ╔N SOME SPREADSHEETS, ALSO, PAGE WIDTH GOES BY THE NAME LINE LENGTH; THE TERMS ARE SYNONYMOUS.
╚╧╫ ═┴╬┘ ├╧╠╒═╬╙?
┬UT THAT'S NOT THE END OF THE MATH. ┘OU ALSO NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW MANY SPREADSHEET COLUMNS CAN BE PRINTED. ╘O FIND THE ANSWER, YOU'LL NEED TO KNOW THE WIDTH OF THE SPREADSHEET COLUMNS, MEASURED IN CHARACTERS. ─IVIDE THE MAXIMUM PAGE WIDTH BY THE COLUMN WIDTH TO DETERMINE THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF COLUMNS PRINTABLE.
╞OR EXAMPLE, ═ULTIPLAN ON THE ├64 INITIALLY SETS EACH SPREADSHEET COLUMN TO BE NINE CHARACTERS WIDE. ╔F YOU ARE PRINTING 52 ROWS, THEN THE MAXIMUM PAGE WIDTH IS 644, AND 71 SPREADSHEET COLUMNS CAN BE PRINTED BECAUSE 644 / 9 = 71.
╘HE NUMBER OF SPREADSHEET COLUMNS CHANGES IF YOU HAVE ALTERED THE WIDTH OF ANY COLUMN. ╞OR INSTANCE, IF ALL COLUMNS ARE 10 CHARACTERS WIDE, AND 53 LINES ARE USED, YOU CAN PRINT 644 DIVIDED BY 10 OR 64 COLUMNS.
╘HE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE PRESUMES THAT YOU HAVE CREATED A PRINTFILE USING YOUR SPREADSHEET; EITHER FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES FOR ═ULTIPLAN OR ╙PEEDCALC, OR INVESTIGATE YOUR SPREADSHEET MANUAL.
╔╙ ┘╧╒╥ ╨╥╔╬╘┼╥ ├╧═╨┴╘╔┬╠┼?
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ IS DESIGNED FOR TWO TYPES OF DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS: ├OMMODORE AND ┼PSON. ═OST COMBINATIONS OF PRINTERS AND INTERFACES PROVIDE COMPATIBILITY WITH AT LEAST ONE OF THESE TWO TYPES.
╘HERE'S AN EASY WAY TO TELL IF YOUR PRINTER IS COMPATIBLE WITH ONE OR THE OTHER OF THE PRINTERS FOR WHICH ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ IS DESIGNED. ╙IMPLY CREATE A SHORT PRINTFILE, AND THEN TRY PRINTING IT USING ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼.
╔F YOU ARE USING AN ┼PSON PRINTER TOGETHER WITH AN INTERFACE BOX, AND THAT BOX INCLUDES A TRANSPARENT MODE, SELECT THAT MODE. ╔F THE MODE IS SELECTED BY AN ╧╨┼╬ COMMAND, RATHER THAN BY SWITCHES ON THE INTERFACE BOX, MODIFY THE ╧╨┼╬ COMMAND IN LINE 50 OF ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼.
╔F YOU ARE USING A PRINTER WITH AN INTERFACE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE ├OMMODORE PRINTER GRAPHICS COMPATIBILITY, THEN ADJUST THE INTERFACE OR THE ╧╨┼╬ COMMAND AS REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE HIGH-RESOLUTION GRAPHICS MODE.
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ IS ACTUALLY TWO PROGRAMS. ╘HE FIRST CREATES A NEW CHARACTER SET FOR YOUR PRINTER, BY TURNING THE NORMAL ├64 ╥╧═ FONT ON ITS SIDE. ┘OU ONLY NEED TO RUN THAT FIRST PROGRAM ╧╬├┼. ┴FTER THAT, THE NEW CHARACTER SET IS RECORDED ON DISK FOR USE WHENEVER NEEDED.
╘HE SECOND, MAIN ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ PROGRAM DOES THE ACTUAL PRINTING. ╔T BEGINS BY COPYING THE NEW CHARACTER SET FROM DISK INTO YOUR COMPUTER'S MEMORY. ╘HIS TAKES LESS THAN 20 SECONDS.
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ THEN ASKS FOR YOUR PRINTER CHOICE. ╘YPE 1 IF YOU ARE USING A ├OMMODORE-COMPATIBLE PRINTER, OR 2 IF YOU USE AN ┼PSON-COMPATIBLE PRINTER.
╔F YOU TYPE 1, ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ THEN TAKES ABOUT 58 SECONDS TO CREATE A TRANSLATION TABLE, WHICH IS USED DURING PRINTING TO CONVERT ├64 ╥╧═ CHARACTER SHAPES TO THE HIGH-RESOLUTION FORM ACCEPTED BY THE 803 PRINTER. ╘HE ╞╪-80 DOES NOT NEED TRANSLATION, SO THIS STEP IS OMITTED FOR TYPE 2.
╬EXT, ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ ASKS YOU FOR THE NAME OF THE PRINTFILE WHICH YOU HAVE PREVIUSLY CREATED. ═AKE SURE THAT THE PRINTFILE DISK IS IN THE DRIVE, AND TYPE THE FILE NAME. ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ THEN LOADS THE PRINTFILE INTO YOUR COMPUTER'S MEMORY.
╫HEN THE PRINTFILE IS IN THE ├64 BUFFER, YOUR PRINTER WILL COME TO LIFE. ╘HE FIRST CHARACTER PRINTED IS THE LEFTMOST ONE OF THE FINAL TEXT LINE; THE NEXT IS THE LEFTMOST OF THE NEXT-TO-LAST LINE; AND SO ON, UNTIL THE FIRST COLUMN IS COMPLETE. ╘HEN THE PROCESS REPEATS FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT COLUMN.
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ USES HIGH-RESOLUTION PRINTER GRAPHICS TO PRINT THE BOTTOM ROW FIRST, THEN WORK BACKWARDS TO THE TOP ROW. ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ PRODUCES CHARACTERS WHICH APPEAR SLIGHTLY DENSER AND MORE READABLE AT A DISTANCE THAN THE SHAPES WHICH ARE BUILT INTO THE PRINTERS AND USED FOR NORMAL, RIGHTSIDE-UP PRINTING. ╘HE TEXT WHICH FITS ON A PAGE PRINTED NORMALLY ALSO FITS ON A PAGE PRINTED WITH ├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼.
├╠╧├╦╫╔╙┼ WILL FIND MANY OTHER USES BESIDES INSPECTING THAT TAX SPREADSHEET ON ┴PRIL 15. ╔ HOPE YOU'L GET A LOT OF MILEAGE FROM IT.
