OT - switching from oki590 color to epsonc84

[Brian K. White]

That printer uses Epsons ESCP/2 language which is very filepro-friendly like 
PCL for lasers and the epson/ibm matrix print codes.
I thought there was a escp/2 print code table but I don't see one in my box 
but maybe someone else has one.
The "epson" table is the old epson/ibm dot-matrix codes not escp/2 .

Maybe I made one myself on my first filepro site which I no longer have 
ready access to. They had an escp/2 printer and I think I played with it but 
don't remember if it fully worked in the end or how far I got or ran into a 
snag etc..

You could construct a new print code table by looking at escp/2 references 
like this:
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/epson/impact/esccode.htm

Specifically, almost to the bottom there is a set of color picker commands:
---snip---
Feature                                Escape Code
Set Absolute Print Position   ESC $ n1 n2
Set Relative Print Position    ESC \ n1 n2
Repeat Data                        ESC V n data
Color Selection:                   ESC r n
n = 0 Black
n = 1 Red (Magenta)
n = 2 Blue (Cyan)
n = 3 Violet
n = 4 Yellow
n = 5 Orange
n = 6 Green
---snip---

That page is really for 9 & 24 pin dot matrix printers, some of which can 
have a optional 4-color ribbon.
I played with a few myself, owned one myself, but not recently.
But the language is "ESCP/2" and the ink-jet you have claims to speak 
"ESCP/2" and so it should work. Or at least, if these particular commands 
don't work, then other equally easy to use commands should. The main point 
is it's not a "windows-only" printer. It has a text drawing engine and high 
level language built in. And that language takes the form of a "markup" 
language like HTML or PCL vs. a procedural language like postscript. That 
all means you can make a filepro print-code table for it.

Many Epson ink-jet and matrix printers, heck maybe laser too if they make 
any, speak escp/2 so I'm surprised if there is not already an escp/2 print 
code table out there.
Maybe it exists but is just named after the printer (instead of the 
language) like Stylus-something or Epson-LQ-something or LQ-something or 
AP-something, and if people look someone may discover they have one.

Myself, I would leave everything alone and fix or replace the original 
printer with the same exact thing or something that claims to emulate it.

The cost of the parts and your time to put them in will likely be less than 
the cost of your time to make the number and level of changes to use a 
different printer unless the application is very simple and there is very 
few output formats or programming code that need to be adjusted.

Also, How long did that matrix printer last? How long does the average 
inkjet printer last? How much does it cost in ink to print a months worth of 
invoices & reports on that dot-matrix vs any ink-jet?

Brian K. White  --  brian at aljex.com  --  http://www.aljex.com/bkw/
+++++[>+++[>+++++>+++++++<<-]<-]>>+.>.+++++.+++++++.-.[>+<---]>++.
filePro  BBx    Linux  SCO  FreeBSD    #callahans  Satriani  Filk!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daniel Bauer" <dan at onlinemgt.com>
To: <filepro-list at lists.celestial.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 11:14 AM
Subject: OT - switching from oki590 color to epsonc84


> I'm wondering if this is an option.  I've got a site running a standard 
> SCO
> 5.0.7 Box and filePro 5.014 and using an Oki590 with a color kit.  Very
> simply it prints some simple plain text forms using different colors to
> highlight information. It looks like the printer is fried. (the alert 
> light
> is on and I haven't been able to reset it) The Oki was configured with a
> serial adapter and I was printing directly to it thru filePro and UNIX
> /dev/tty1a4
>
> There is already an EpsonC84 jet ink printer there on the local PC network
> and I was able to reroute printing to it but w/o color.  I set up the
> printer for UNIX use using Facetwin configured with an Epson driver. Does
> anyone have print codes to switch colors? Is it even possible? Thanks in
> advance for your assistance.
>
> I'd like to use the existing hardware if possible rather than order a new
> oki and possibly another serial card.  I did pull the serial card out and
> the printer alert light is still light.
>
> Dan Bauer
> dan at onlinemgt.com
>
>
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