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9.6 Sending Default Start-of-Day Destination Ports
At the start of each day, each port will be routed through to port 1. However,
for IBM compatible PCs, individual start-of-day destinations can be set for
each computer. To do this, create a text file containing the desired selection
command (see
Section 9.5
) and modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to send
this command when your computer powers on. For example, by including
the line “TYPE CONNECT2.TXT>COM1:” in your PC’s AUTOEXEC.BAT file
(after copying CONNECT2.TXT from the utility software disk to a suitable
directory on your PC), you can set the start-of-day default port for your
computer to be number 2.
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Where {name} is the name of the batch file that you are going to create and
{channel number} is the number of the port that you are going to connect to.
For example:
COPY CON: CONNECT2.TXT [enter]
<PM CONNECT 2>[function key 6][enter]
No spaces should be typed after the close angle bracket and before the
function key 6 is pressed. When function key 6 has been pressed, a ^Z will
appear on the screen at the end of the line. When the enter key is pressed,
the screen will display:
1 File(s) copied
This indicates that a file {name}.TXT has been created that contains the
software command text. It is not normally possible to use a word processor to
create this file, since most word processors insert a line feed and carriage
return at the end of each line. A file created with these extra characters could
upset your printouts by inserting a blank line at the top of your printout page.
This could cause laser printers to output a blank page and label printers to be
offset by one line.
At the DOS prompt, type:
COPY CON: {name}.BAT [enter]
TYPE {name}.TXT > {pc printer port}: [function key 6] [enter]
Where {name} is the name of the batch file that you are going to create and
{pc printer port} is the port that you wish to be routed to the required
printer—COM1, COM2, LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3. For example:
COPY CON: CONNECT2.BAT [enter]
TYPE CONNECT2.TXT>COM1: [function key 6][enter]
As before, the screen will display “1 File(s) copied,” which indicates that a
batch file {name}.BAT has been created containing the text “TYPE
{name}.TXT>{pc printer port}:.”
To send the software command that you have created in {name}.TXT, type
the batch file name at the DOS prompt. The above procedure can be used to
create a batch file to send any software command to any of your PC’s ports.