{3}{5} {21}PrintPro {22} {17}USER'S GUIDE TO OPERATIONS{18} (c)opyright 1988 International No-Bugs Software All Rights Reserved GENERAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION{4}{6} Print Pro is a combination Pop-Up printer control - and resident Control Code Interpreter (CCI) program - in one. With Print Pro, you can take full advantage of your printer's built-in capabilities without the need for programming or hardware-specific knowledge. PrintPro is designed to perform two tasks: {5} 1) Change printer operation modes from within ANY application at ANY time. 2) Allow you to imbed specialized printer control codes in any document or file WITHOUT knowing the specific hardware control codes. {6} To effectively use PrintPro , all you need to know is HOW you want your documents to look, not HOW to do it. {17}{5}{21}Demonstration{18}{6}{22} To get an idea of the power of PrintPro, first install the program for your printer, run the program and THEN use the PRINTME.BAT file. Printing the user documentation without PrintPro installed will list the imbedded commands without proper interpretation. {3}{5}HARDWARE / SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS{4}{6} PrintPro will work with any IBM PC/XT/AT and most true IBM compatibles. PrintPro is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program, and therefore should be used with caution when other resident programs are involved. If problems are encountered, try changing the loading order of your resident programs. PrintPro requires approximately 60k of RAM. {3}{5}MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION{4}{6} PrintPro comes with the following files: PRINTPRO.COM Main Program INSTCODE.COM Installation Program PRINTPRO.DAT Printer Code Data File PRINTPRO.TXT User Documentation File PRINTME.BAT Batch file to print the Docs' README.COM Program to read the Docs' ORDRFORM.EXE User Registration Program {3}{5}GENERAL DISCLAIMER{4}{6} Not all printers are created equal. Some, such as the IBM Pro-Printer, do not offer functions one might expect to find. Some printer "RESET" commands flush the internal buffer BEFORE executing a reset. Some don't. We considered immitating the missing functions, but finally decided not to tamper with the quirks. For instance, placing a Carriage Return before a "RESET" would have flushed the buffer, but may have messed up a document format when used with the CCI. {3}{5}MISCELLANEOUS GENERAL (Other Stuff){4}{6} We are creating new printer .DAT files all the time. If your printer is not currently supported, drop us a line. We'll be glad to create a file for you if we can get the codes. Better yet, send the codes and you'll be sure to get the update. Keep an eye on the boards. If you don't find your printer in the configuration file you might also try the codes for another one. Many are the same... {3}{5}LAST BUT not(Least){4}{6} If you use this program, send us the money. Your contributions will help us support and upgrade this product, as well as provide funds for developing future Shareware programs. (And you'll love the No-Bugs baseball cap.) {3}{5}INSTALLING and RUNNING PrintPro {4}{6} {17}{5}{21}Overview{18}{6}{22} Before using PrintPro , it must be installed for your type of printer. The file containing all of the print codes is called PRINTPRO.DAT. This file is used by the installation program, and therefore it must be on the same disk / directory as the INSTCODE.COM and PRINTPRO.COM programs. The INSTCODE program extracts data from the PRINTPRO.DAT file and displays all of the printer names that are available. Once a printer has been selected, the printer codes are read from the disk. Upon exit, the new data (if any) is written INTO the PRINTPRO.COM file and becomes part of the program itself. This eliminates the need for "tag-along" printer configuration files. PRINTPRO.DAT and INSTCODE.COM are required only during the initial setup (or subsequent reconfigurations). PrintPro comes with no printer codes installed. {17}{5}{21}Using The INSTCODE Program{18}{6}{22} Before running the INSTCODE program be sure that the files PRINTPRO.COM and PRINTPRO.DAT are on the same drive / directory. At the MS-Dos prompt, type "INSTCODE" followed by [ENTER]. INSTCODE will pause while reading the PRINTPRO.DAT file for printer names. The printer names (up to 96) will then be displayed in the selection window, 16 lines per page. The highlit cursor may be positioned by using the UP-ARROW or DOWN-ARROW keys. After locating the type of printer desired and positioning the cursor over it, the [ENTER] key is used to load the printer code data from the disk. If you make a mistake, simply select and load another printer type. This may be performed as many times as necessary since the changes are not written to the disk until the program is exited. To exit the program, press the ESCAPE key. If you have loaded printer code data, the program will ask whether or not you wish to write the changes to the disk. Press either "Y" or "N". PrintPro must be started from the DOS prompt in the directory where it resides. Attempting to initiate the program from another directory will result in an error message and will NOT start the program. YOU MUST RE-BOOT AFTER INSTALLING NEW PRINT CODES IF PRINTPRO IS ALREADY RESIDENT IN MEMORY. {3}{5}POP-UP OPERATIONS{4}{6} {17}{5}{21}Overview.{18}{6}{22} The Pop-Up portion of PrintPro makes it possible to change printer settings from within ANY other program, eliminating the need to change DIP switches or lookup (rather obscure) codes in the manual. For instance, if you wish to change from PICA to ELITE while using WORDSTAR, just press ALT-P. And the rest, as they say, is history. {17}{5}{21}Using the Pop-Up.{18}{6}{22} Once the software has been installed, the Pop-Up portion of PrintPro is always available. Pressing the ALT-P combination will cause PrintPro to become active on the far right hand side of the screen. After pressing ALT-P, PrintPro will display 16 lines of printer code descriptions which are unique to your printer such as, "NLQ ON" or "CondensedPrint Off". By using the Up-Arrow or Down-Arrow keys, you may position the cursor over the desired operation code you wish to use. Pressing the [ENTER] key will result in the selected code being issued to the printer, changing its mode of operation. Up to 32 codes may be included with your copy of PrintPro . Some printers require less, thereby leaving some of the entries marked "For Future Use". While the Pop-Up is active, you may also choose to print the entire code listing on the printer by pressing the "P" key. The listing will be useful when creating documents for the control code interpreter described in the next section. {3}{5}CONTROL CODE INTERPRETER{4}{6} {17}{5}{21}Overview.{18}{6}{22} The Control Code Interpreter makes it possible to include printer commands in your documents without specific knowledge of your printer. For instance, if you wish to print an EXPANDED heading, followed by an ELITE sub-heading, followed by CONDENSED text, all you need do is place the proper notations in your document. Since PrintPro is always in memory, it examines these markers and converts them into the proper operation codes. {} Some word processors allow you to define control code sequences for your printer, or if you're lucky, they may even include a few. PrintPro allows you to use them all, without having to interpret the specifics. If option 3 on the PrintPro menu is "Boldface On", simply include a {3} in your document and print it (in boldface). The same holds true for any other command included with PrintPro . {} {17}{5}{21}Using the Control Code Interpreter.{18}{6}{22} The CCI is always resident in memory, therefore anything you print is "filtered" and searched for possible control codes. When a valid control code is found by the CCI, it is converted into the corresponding printer- specific code and issued to the printer. In order to effectively use the CCI you must have the number of the desired function at your disposal. Fortunately, PrintPro is always at your fingertips via the ALT-P key combination. There are a maximum of 32 control codes included with your copy of PrintPro . {} Each command that you use must be enclosed within the "{" and "}" characters. Any number between 1 and 32 may be used. Check the listing in the Pop-Up portion of PrintPro to determine the function number. (It is recommended that you print the list of codes beforehand using the "P" function of the Pop-Up.) {}{3}{5}{21} We recommend that this document be printed with PrintPro installed (using the PRINTME.BAT file) to provide a demonstration of its capabilities. {4}{6}{22} {3}{5}CONTROL CODE INTERPRETER (cont.){4}{6} {17}{5}{21}Other Notes{18}{6}{22} An empty bracket toggles the CCI on and off. This allows you to print items within brackets verbatim without triggering a control code change. If the CCI stops working, make sure that you have used an EVEN number of empty brackets in your document. {3}{5}WARNING!{4}{6} If PrintPro is used in conjuction with the MS-DOS PRINT command (spooler), or any other resident print spooler, then PrintPro must be loaded LAST. This is due to the change in interrupt vectors for the printer service routine. Failure to observe this loading order will result in a southern vacation for your computer system. That is, {3}{5}IT WILL CRASH.{4}{6} ----------------end-of-author's-documentation--------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of The Public (Software) Library We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution. Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about this program to the author of the program, whose name appears elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with the author, we will do whatever we can to help you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do run. To report problems, please use the form that is in the file PROBLEM.DOC on many of our disks or in other written for- mat with screen printouts, if possible. The P(s)L cannot de- bug programs over the telephone. Disks in the P(s)L are updated monthly, so if you did not get this disk directly from the P(s)L, you should be aware that the files in this set may no longer be the current versions. For a copy of the latest monthly software library newsletter and a list of the 1,000+ disks in the library, call or write The Public (Software) Library P.O.Box 35705 - F Houston, TX 77235-5705 (713) 721-6104 or (713) 721-5205