FREESCAPE emulation
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FREESCAPE emulation
The escape character (decimal 27, hex 1B), found at the beginning of a standard PCL 5 emulation
sequence, is an example of binary data. Not all systems are able to send binary data (non-printing
characters) to a printer. The FREESCAPE emulation feature provides a way for these systems to
redefine the escape character by substituting a user-selected alternative (alternate escape code or
AEC). When the AEC is located at the beginning of a standard PCL 5 emulation sequence, it is
interpreted exactly like the escape character.
Note: The AEC can still be used as data. When found as a command data, it is treated
as such. FREESCAPE emulation also permits the use of the escape character and
AEC within the same sequence of commands.
The tilde character (~) is the default AEC.
To set an AEC with a PCL 5 sequence:
Use either of the commands listed in the following table to change the AEC.
The # represents the ASCII code of the AEC. Use one of the ASCII codes listed:
Example:
FREESCAPE emulation can be deactivated by setting the AEC value to that of the escape character
(decimal 27, hex 1B). To deactivate FREESCAPE emulation, send the command:
AEC
**27J.
Command Function/Parameter
Esc
**#J
or
AEC
**#J
ASCII code Character
34 “
35 #
36 $
47 /
63 ?
92 \
123 {
124 |
125 }
126* ~
* Default value
Esc
**124J changes the AEC to “|”