Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!lll-winken!uunet!tektronix!tekcrl!tekgvs!toma
From: toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Need help with Epson printer command
Keywords: nine pin graphics
Message-ID: <5061@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>
Date: 3 May 89 21:27:24 GMT
References: <7967@killer.Dallas.TX.US> <1293@optilink.UUCP>
Reply-To: toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy)
Distribution: na
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.
Lines: 26

In article <1293@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
>In article <7967@killer.Dallas.TX.US>, bobc@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Bob Calbridge) writes:
>> Can anyone tell me how to properly use nine pin graphics on an Epson printer?
>
>Nope.  You can't get to the ninth pin.  You can only use 8 pins in graphics
>mode.  The ninth pin is for underlining.  [...]

I have an FX-85, 86e, and FX-1050 and they support 9 pin printing.  Perhaps
older versions (FX-80 and MX-80) didn't.  I have never tried it though.  

>> Also, is there something that prevents you from using the value 255 in a 
>> graphic column?  I tried and it didn't work.  It seemed to revert to test mode
>> again.  
>
>Make sure that the program you are using doesn't have some special meaning
>for 255.  BASIC interpreters used to be notoriously for their peculiar
>interpretations of "special" characters.

When you are dealing with graphics, just about all languages have a problem
because the DOS printer driver does some interpretation for you!
Typically you have to put the printer driver in "Raw mode".  Or you have
to write the data to a file and use the "copy /b file prn" command.  
The alternative is to use direct BIOS calls.

Tom Almy
toma@tekgvs.labs.tek.com