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E PTX_SETUP Commands
Overview
The PTX_SETUP commands are a superset of commands which allow the
printer to perform several tasks
by parsing commands either stored in flash or
sent to the printer by the host. Commands range from
re-routing debug
statements to downloading complete printer configurations.
This appendix describes the PTX_SETUP commands specific to thermal
printers, as well as the
commands which are not platform specific.
The PTX_SETUP Commands
Some concepts to keep in mind are as follows:
1. PTX_SETUP commands are not emulation specific. In a system with IGP emulations, the IGP level
emulation will process the PTX_SETUP commands. In
a system without an IGP, the PTX_SETUP
commands will be processed
by the base emulation (e.g., LP+ or Postscript/PDF).
2. Since there is no disk on a flash-based printer, DISK_IO commands are
now called FILE_IO.
However, for backwards compatibility DISK_IO and
FILE_IO are synonymous.
3. The PTX_SETUP command set is case sensitive; all PTX_SETUP
commands are in upper case
characters only.
4. The white space separating commands may be any number of spaces
and tabs. This allows a
PTX_SETUP file to be formatted for easier
readability.
5. The PTX_SETUP and PTX_END command should be followed by a new
line character.
6. Any unknown command will terminate the PTX_SETUP processing. The
offending command will be
the first line of printed text.
7. Although the original implementation of PTX_SETUP allowed for only a
single parameter, separated
from the sub-command by a single
semicolon (;) character, the new PTX_SETUP command set allows
for
multiple parameters separated by commas, semicolons, spaces or tabs.
General Commands
The original PTX_SETUP commands were implemented on the disk-based
legacy laser printers; however,
many commands are also supported for
thermal printers. This section describes the existing commands
which work
across all platforms, and provides a general description of how commands
are formed.
Each emulation has modes in which the PTX_SETUP commands could get
missed. For this reason, it is
highly recommended that all PTX_SETUP
commands be placed between print jobs, rather than attempting
to imbed
them within jobs.