Star Micronics 8 Series - Page 19

Mostprogramminglanguages,andsomeversionsof BASIC,let youtreat
theprinteras a fileto whichyoucansenddata.Whenyouwriteaprogram
withoneoftheselanguagesyou“open”theprinterfile,printintoit,andthen
“close”thefilewhenyou’redone.Thisprogrammingjargonsoundsfunny
if you‘renotusedto it—butit works.
Afewprogramminglanguagesletyousendcommandstotheprinterathird
way. Applesoft BASICis one. With it, you can switchbetweenprinter
outputandscreenoutput.
Printer emulations
You noticedthat we said “in EX-800mode”up there?YourStar Laser-
Printer8respondstothesameescapesequencecommandsthatseveralother
printersuse.BeingabletoemulateprintersliketheDiabloorEpsonEX-800
letsyouuseyourStarLaserPrinter8 witholderprogramsthathaven’tbeen
updatedtotakeadvantageoflaserprinters.In fact,becauseitemulatesfour
of themostpopularprinters,youcan use the StarLaserPrinter8 withjust
aboutanymicrocomputerprogramaround.
Unfortunatelythose printers often use different escape sequences for
exactlythe same function.Thoseprinters,moreover,provideescapese-
quencesfor functionsthe Star LaserPrinter8 doesn’tneed, such as the
Diablo’sChangePrintwheelcommand.(Printwheels— sometimescalled
“daisywheels”- areflatmetalorplasticprintelementsthatholdcharacters
outfroma hubon “petals”.)Whenyourprintergetsa commandit doesn’t
support,itjust ignoresthe command.
Macrosaresinglecontrolcodesyoucandefineyourself,whichdothework
ofawholelongseriesofprintercommands.Ifyouareaprogrammeryouwill
behappyto heartheStarLaserPrinter8 supportsup to 99 macrosatonce.
11