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BBS in a Box 7
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BBS in a Box - Macintosh - Volume VII (BBS in a Box) (January 1993).iso
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PRINTERDRIVERS.CPT
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README
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1991-08-24
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Panasonic 9-pin Printer Driver
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Who?
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© 1991 Charles Rentmeesters
Much thanks to Symantec for providing such a wonderful C compiler
and environment for the Macintosh. And thanks of course to Apple
Computer for producing such a good computer.
What?
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"Chuck's Printer Driver" is a printer driver -- chooser device for
using Panasonic 9-pin printers (and compatables) with your Macintosh
computer. It has been tested on a Macintosh SE (systems 4.1 through
6.0.7, English and Kanji versions), with a Panasonic KX-P1080i
printer. It prints in Text (draft or NLQ) mode and Graphics (Low,
Medium, and High) modes. It is FreeWare, I do not expect any money,
but it would be nice to hear what you think of it, and what I should
add. Included also is a beta test version of a 24-pin (kx-p1124)
printer driver, it should also work with most epson compatible 24-pin
printers. Note: There are still bugs in the text printing option,
but the graphics modes should work fine.
How?
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You can use the printer driver by dropping it into your system
folder, and selecting it from the chooser desk accessory. You should
also take time to choose the set-up option in chooser so that the
printer driver knows how to access your printer. You need to have
some sort of serial to parallel converter if you are trying to hook-
up a printer that only has a parallel port -- see your printer
manual. The Grappler 9-pin interface can be turned into a simple
serial to parallel converter by setting all of its dip-switches to
the ON position.
Where?
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I can mostlikely be reached by internet e-mail to
roach@khan.cs.wisc.edu, I read this mail approximately once a day,
and will respond via internet e-mail usually within a day. I can
also be reached by US mail:
Charles Rentmeesters
410 North Carroll St
Madison, WI 53703
Why?
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After receiving the 9-pin Grappler interface, and being disappointed
in the way that it handled things, I decided to write my own printer
driver in software. A software version would have more options and
control over the original printer, where the Grappler only used the
Imagewriter driver and did conversion in hardware. I thought this
was a tremendous kludge. Yes, Apple Computer doesn't really support
people writing their own printer drivers, but since they didn't
provide a good selection of printer drivers, it's up to us
programmers.
When?
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Version 0.1.1 is available now. New versions will be released when
I receive enough feedback to release a new version.
Disclaimer
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The Printer Driver is freeware, copy it and give it to all your
friends. This program can not and should not be sold for any price,
it is free. I do not take any responsibility for the use of my
software, use at your own risk, it may have bugs.
Technical
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The program uses the following printer control codes
(9-pin version):
For draft and NLQ modes:
ESC x 1 Set NLQ mode
ESC x 0 Set draft mode
ESC - 1 Underline On
ESC - 0 Underline Off
ESC E Bold printing on
ESC F Bold printing off
ESC 4 Italics on
ESC 5 Italics off
ESC 2 Set scrolling to 1/6 of an inch
ESC A <x> Set scrolling to x/72 inches
For graphics mode:
ESC K Enter graphics mode, 60dpi
ESC * 5 Enter graphics mode, 72dpi
ESC * 4 Enter graphics mode, 80dpi
ESC * 6 Enter graphics mode, 90dpi
ESC L Enter graphics mode, 120dpi
ESC Z Enter graphics mode, 240dpi
ESC A <x> Set scrolling to x/72 inches
ESC 2 Set scrolling to 1/6 of an inch
ESC 3 <x> Set scrolling to x/216 inches
Other good referances
----- ---- ----------
'Print-Drivers.txt' by David Oster
( can be gotten by ftp from sumex-aim.stanford.edu)
DTS (Apple Developer Technical Support) document
'Learning to Drive' and 'Sample Writer' source code,
availiable on Developer's Essentials CD's (and also
possibly ftp.apple.com, but I haven't checked)
Also the HP Deskjet sources in C. (I forget where I
got a hold of my copy. -- it's all public domain)