Ricoh InfoPrint Manager for AIX, Manual

Page: 185 / 418

What Is line data?
Line data is simply unformatted data — that is, data with few or no embedded
control characters to create font changes, page breaks, and so on. The line data is
typically created by an application program. For example, an application might
produce a bank statement that has line data indicating an account’s daily balance.
The InfoPrint line-data transform lets you format these kinds of data with a page
definition and form definition for printing on InfoPrint-managed printer devices:
v
Single-byte ASCII data with no embedded control characters except for newlines.
v Single-byte ASCII data that contains ANSI carriage-control characters,
table-reference characters, or both.
v
Single-byte ASCII data that contains carriage returns and form feed controls if
you specify the
asciinp or asciinpe user-exit program.
When you transform the line-data job, you must specify a page definition and a
form definition.
Notes:
1. You cannot use the line-data transform when printing files containing
Proprinter ASCII.
2. When the line2afp command processes any unrecognized or unsupported
keyword, line2afp issues a message, ignores the keyword, and continues
processing any remaining keywords. The
line2afp
command then stops
processing.
3. InfoPrint also lets you transform and print DBCS ASCII data without a page
definition. See
InfoPrint Manager: Reference or the db2afp man page.
ANSI and machine carriage controls
In many environments (including IBM
®
mainframes and most minicomputers),
printable data normally contains a carriage control character. The carriage control
character acts as a vertical tab command to position the paper at the start of a new
page, at a specified line on the page, or to control skipping to the next line. The
characters can be one of two types: ANSI carriage control or machine carriage
control.
ANSI carriage control characters:
The most universal carriage control is ANSI,
which consists of a single character that is a prefix for the print line. The standard
ANSI characters are:
ANSI Action
space Single space the line and print
0 Double space the line and print
- Triple space the line and print
+ Do not space the line and print
1 Skip to channel 1 (the top of the form, by convention)
2-9 Skip to a hardware-defined position on the page
A,B,C Defined by a vertical tab record or forms control buffer (FCB)
All ANSI control characters perform the required spacing before the line prints.
Using
line2afp command keywords and values, ANSI controls can be encoded in
EBCDIC ( cctype =a) or in ASCII ( cctype =z).
Chapter 15. Working with transforms
171