filePro printing question

[Dan Snyder]

Hello all,

The configuration
------------------
We are running filePro 5.0.06 on SCO 5.0.6.  Our client PC's are a mix of
Win 98 through Win XP connecting to the SCO server via ethernet.  All of our
outputs were designed for 66 lines per page to work on old dot matrix
printers.  Our PC's are running ICETCP by J River to fetch spooled print
jobs on the server and print them to the printer connected to the client
computers parallel port and/or an HP Laserjet 2200 on the network.  Our
forms are all plain text, nothing fancy.

The problem
------------
We would like to be able to print our forms to both dot matrix printers and
HP laserjets (or compatibles) without creating duplicate forms.  I'm having
problems with printouts creeping (not aligning properly on successive pages)
due to the default of 60 lines per page on lasers and 66 lines per page on
the dot matrix printers.  I tried the initialization string $1b
&l2a0o6d0e66F recommended in the email below and that did solve the creeping
problem.  However, when using that intialization string the first line on
the form is not being printed.  The output starts printing right at the top
edge of the paper but the text that is printing there is line #2 in the form
(line #1 just disappears and isn't printed).  While I could just go into all
forms and add a blank line at the top (and probably will if no one provides
a better suggestion) I would rather find out what exactly is causing this.

I pulled out a PCL manual and tried to mess with the initialization string,
but I couldn't find a way to fix it.  The magic portion of the
initialization string is the "0e" which sets 0 lines between the top of the
paper and the text area.  If I increase this to "1e" the first line isn't
cut off, but the creeping comes back.  I also tried "1e" and "67F" but that
didn't make any difference.

Has anyone seen this and know what is causing it?  My first guess would be
that it's some interaction due to ICETCP.  Does anyone know if that is
correct?  Any suggestions of other things I could try?

I know 3rd party printing add-on applications are available (especially on
Windows) to assist with printing.  I'm not interested in any of those at
this time.

Thank you,

Dan Snyder
Mercury Electronics
717-854-9557 ext. 224
http://www.mercuryelectronics.com/


> --------- Original Message ---------
> DATE: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 11:26:49
> From: GCC Consulting <gcc at optonline.net>
> To:Filepro 2 List <filepro-list at nospam.celestial.com>
> 
> You need to set the printer, assuming an HP-LaserJet
> compatible printer, to print 63 line.
>
> Try adding the following print code to initialize your printer
> 
> $1b &l2a0o6d0e63F
> 
> If I got it right, this will tell your printer that your page is 63 line
> long.  I am using this for a form that that is 66 lines (66F)
> 
> Richard Kreiss
> GCC Consulting