Printronix P9000 Series, User'S Reference Manual

Page: 314 / 334

Appendix E-2
{A}; is the single-character attribute flag identifying whether the character
contains descenders (a portion of the character descends below the botĆ
tom of the print line) or extenders (2 dot rows near the bottom of the
character are repeated until what would be the next line boundary at 6
lpi). Extenders are used for graphics characters. 0 = no attributes; 2 =
descenders; and 6 = extended characters. The semicolon ( ; ) is the hexaĆ
decimal data terminator.
{data} are the data values for each dot column of the character cell. The Least
Significant Bit is the bottom-most dot of the character. The size of the
character cell is determined by the selected print mode and pitch { PP }
and the attributes { A } applied to it. If there is not enough data to define
each dot column in the character cell, any subsequent bytes will be used to
complete the dot column data; if more data is sent than expected, the exĆ
cess data will be treated as printable data. The character size is deterĆ
mined using the data in Table E-2. The semicolon (;) is the hexadecimal
data terminator and must follow each dot column entry.
Depending on the memory requirements for each character, six or more characters can be
created. When memory to store downloaded characters has been exhausted, the printer will
beep and display DOWNLOAD CHAR. MEMORY FULL for one second; characters downĆ
loaded after this point will not be saved. Downloaded characters can be saved into printer powĆ
erup configuration when the configuration is saved. User-defined characters have priority
over standard Printronix characters.
The largest permitted symbol point is 65,535 decimal; values greater than 65,535 are invalid.
Non-numeric characters in a numeric data field will also render the character invalid. If the
defined character format is invalid, all downloaded characters in working memory are cleared.
(Characters saved in nonvolatile memory are not affected.)
The Extend attribute causes the character to be extended to what would be the next line boundĆ
ary at 6 LPI. This attribute is useful for graphics characters that need to be connected with
graphics characters on the next line. The Extend attribute is achieved by repeating the lowest-
most two dot rows. Characters with the Extend attribute are assumed to be characters with desĆ
cenders. Table E-1 below shows by print mode the number of dot rows and the number of
times the dot rows are repeated when the Extend attribute is used.
Table E-1. Extended Character Attributes
Print Mode # of Dot Rows # of Times Repeated
DP
NLQ
HS
HSB
HSC
OCR-A
OCR-B 2
2
2
2
2
N/A
N/A 1.5
2
1
2.5
2
N/A
N/A