Printing with a dot-matrix printer?

With PipeDream, you can create documents containing highlight codes that specify particular type styles and effects, such as bold and underlined text, superscripts and subscripts, and alternative fonts. Because different printers use different techniques to achieve these effects, the Cambridge Z88 uses a printer driver to convert the standard PipeDream highlights to each particular printer's codes. The printer driver can then be altered to suit a particular printer's facilities.

The Cambridge Z88 comes with a built-in driver, which interfaces with the widely-used Epson series of dot-matrix printers, or other printers compatible with this.

With PipeDream, you can create documents containing highlight codes that specify particular type styles and effects, such as bold and underlined text, superscripts and subscripts, and alternative fonts. Because different printers use different techniques to achieve these effects, the Cambridge Z88 uses a printer driver to convert the standard PipeDream highlights to each particular printer's codes. The printer driver can then be altered to suit a particular printer's facilities.

The Cambridge Z88 comes with a built-in driver, which interfaces with the widely-used Epson series of dot-matrix printers, or other printers compatible with this.

Selecting Printer Editor

The printer editor may be selected either fron the INDEX by moving the cursor over the Application name and pressing 

 to select, or by using the short form keys 

E.

PrinterEd CURSOR menu

The editing commands are summarised on the PrinterEd CURSOR menu, which is selected with the 

 key.

PrinterEd FILES menu

The PrinterEd FILES menu provides commands to allow driver definitions to be used for subsequent printing, or to be saved and loaded as named files. You can also reset the driver definition to the standard Epson driver.

The name of the current driver definition, initially Epson,is displayed on the Printer Editor screen and is shown for the PrinterEd activity in the Index YOUR REF. column.

Creating a new printer driver or changing an existing one

The Cambridge Z88 PrinterEd application allows you to create your own printer driver definition, editing the options used by the built-in driver to add your own special printing effects to your documents.

Alternatively, you can design a printer driver definition for a make of printer not catered for by the built-in driver. To do this you will need to consult the printer handbook, to find out which codes are needed for each facility you want to use.

Having created a new printer driver definition, you can use this to replace the built-in driver by giving it a Name and then issuing the Update Driver command.

WARNING

Failure to use the

FU Update Driver command will result in the existing driver to be used. It is good practise to
 

FC Name the Printer
 

FS Save the Printer before using the Update Driver command.

Driver Definition Table

The driver definition is displayed on two pages. You can move between the pages with the following commands:

Page 1

 move from page 1 to page 2

Page 2

 move from page 2 to page 1.

While developing and testing a printer driver it is sensible to keep PrinterEd as a suspended activity. On completing a driver definition, and saving it to the filing system, the PrinterEd activity can be deleted from the INDEX with

KILL.

Editing the driver definition table

The printer driver definition is altered by moving the cursor to the appropriate field on the page with the cursor keys,

, 

, 

 and 

 and then typing the required value for the option. 

Some options take a Yes/No value; in this case you can toggle between the values with the Next Option command,

J, or select the appropriate value by typing Y or N.

Most options take a list of one or more codes, separated by commas.

Code values

Printer codes can be entered in any of the following forms: