PCL Right Justify

[Jim Asman]

No. That doesn't change anything in terms of alignment. In fact, the
character widths of  ; : , .  are all the same in most, if not all, LJ
fonts.

Besides, we aren't really concerned with the absolute printing width of
the field, just that the width is consistent, regardless of the value it
contains. So if instead of a "." or a "," we had a "&" as the alignment
character, the field width would be a little wider but it would still be
consistent with different values.

The "-" sign on a negative number is only an issue because it normally is
displayed just BEFORE the first numeral.



--------------- Original Message ---------------
At 10:20A Fri Apr 22 2011, flowersoft at compuserve.com wrote:

> One thing Jim forgot to say (I think) is that this only works if the field
> has a .2 (or .3 or .4 etc.) edit but not with a ,2 edit.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces+flowersoft=compuserve.com at lists.celestial.com
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces+flowersoft=compuserve.com at lists.celestial.com]
> On Behalf Of Jim Asman
> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 10:55 PM
> To: scott.filepro at aanet.com.au
> Cc: filepro-list at lists.celestial.com
> Subject: CC: Re: PCL Right Justify
> 
> --------------- Original Message ---------------
> At 09:42A Thu Apr 21 2011, Scott wrote:
> 
> > Sorry 
> > 
> > Maybe I wasn't clear , I need a pcl code to right justify and proportional
> > space font not a fixed space .... I am using filepro .2 field types ...
> but
> > with the 'client requested' font it is printed from the left side.
> >  
> > 
> > So I need to move to a pcl location then print it backwards from there.
> > 
> 
> First, there is NO command in a PCL context to right justify a field.
> Printer drivers typically calculate the printing with by referring to
> a character width table that contains the font metrics and then determines
> the necessary starting point to end at the desired position.
> 
> However, if you are printing to a proper LaserJet that can speak HP-GL/2,
> and you can speak HP-GL/2, you CAN right justify a field using the
> Label Origin (LO) command.
> 
> There ia a cheat, though, in the PCL context. The reason that justification
> fails on numeric fields is that the character width of the space is smaller
> than the numerals, typically about half. So, if there are only leading 
> spaces before the first numeral, we can make it work. This precludes
> a negative number with a minus sign(-) to the left of the numerals. All
> we need to do is make the space width the same as the numeral width and
> we can treat the field as if it were fixed pitch. If you must have negative
> numbers, then have the "-" trail the numerals.
> 
> This magic is performed by a PCL command, the "horizontal motion index".
> The HMI is designed to very precisely set the pitch of a fixed pitch font.
> For example, if you needed to fit some text somewhere and it worked out
> that your pitch needed to be 9.888 cpi, you could start out with a 10 cpi
> font, apply the appropriate HMI command and you would truly get 9.888.
> 
> The HMI effectively changes the width for all characters in a fixed pitch
> font. Now back to our story. When the HMI is applied to a proportional
> font, ONLY the width of the space is affected. So we make the space the
> same width as the numeral and go for it.
> 
> I talked about this in an article I wrote about 20 yrs ago, and that very
> article should still be in the filePro online manual. Check it out on the
> fpTech website.
> 
> Is the customer supplying you with a soft font or are you using one of the
> printer's internal fonts?
> 
> 
> Jim 
> --
> jlasman at telus.net                      Spectra Colour Services Ltd.
> Jim Asman                              10221 144a Street            
> Phone: (604)584-0977                   Surrey, BC  V3R 3P7   CANADA
> 
>  Cell: (604)619-0977                   www.spectracolorservices.com
> 
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Jim 
--
jlasman at telus.net                      Spectra Colour Services Ltd.
Jim Asman                              10221 144a Street            
Phone: (604)584-0977                   Surrey, BC  V3R 3P7   CANADA            
 Cell: (604)619-0977                   www.spectracolorservices.com