PRT-Menu Version 1.0 Copyright(C) 1993 Larry W. Nicholas All rights reserved. LIMITED WARRANTY If you discover physical defects in the media on which this software is distributed, the media will be replaced at no cost to you. PRT-Menu is distributed "as is". The author disclaims all warranties, either expressed or implied. The author will assume no liability for damages either from the direct use of this product or as a consequence of the use of this product. LICENSE STATEMENT PRT-Menu is not free. You may use this evaluation copy for a 30 day period. You are encouraged to pass along copies of this evaluation copy to anyone with an interest in this type of program. You are free to copy and distribute PRT-Menu for NON-COMMERCIAL use as long as NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR USE, COPYING OR DISTRIBUTION, AND IT IS NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that operate through subscription fees may post PRT-Menu for download by its subscribers. Shareware distributors may distribute PRT-Menu provided they only charge a modest distribution fee. PRT-Menu is a Shareware product. It is distributed through public access channels so that perspective buyers have the opportunity to evaluate the product before making a decision to buy. In this evaluation copy, only a few functions are active; they are marked with red arrows. TRADEMARKS Several trademarks appear in this text. The companies listed below own the marks following their names. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Panasonic is a registered trademark of Matsushita Electric. SUPPORT POLICY If you have any problems with this software, please contact me at 2619 Quail Valley Rd., Solvang, CA 93463, (805) 688-7255. REQUIREMENTS PRT-Menu requires the following equipment: . IBM PC, XT, AT, or 100% compatible . DOS 2.0+ or later . Microsoft Compatible Mouse . VGA and color monitor . Epson Compatible Printer INSTALLATION For hard drive users, either copy all the files from the PRT-Menu Disk to any directory on your hard drive, or create a directory named PRT-Menu as follows: C:\>MD PRT-MENU C:\>COPY A:*.* \PRT-MENU All files must be located in the same directory. The directory should be included in the PATH Statement of your AUTOEXEC.BAT File. This allows you to run PRT-Menu from any directory on your hard disk. Refer to your DOS manual for details on the PATH Statement. Floppy drive users can execute the program from the PRT-Menu Diskette. INTRODUCTION PRT-Menu is a printer menu program which allows you to access various features of your printer: Color Selection, Character Font, Character Highlight, Character Pitch, Word Processing, Paper Feed, Paper Feed (amount), Page Format, through software control rather than a printer operator panel. Your printer is driven by "escape sequences" and control codes con- sisting of different ASCII characters. One way to control your printer is using a batch file or language program to issue these commands. PRT-Menu eliminates the need for such programs and provides a fast and convenient way of interfacing you with your printer. PRT-Menu makes it easy for you to combine character fonts with various character pitches and character highlights; set your margins and page length, while integrating the word processing functions. If you use a text editor, you will appreciate the "text and formatting" finish you can add to your documents. Using PRT-Menu, you can set the margins, page length, and fonts for mailing labels without using special label software. It is quick and easy to run the PRT-Menu; select the features you want your printer to initialize; exit the program and print your document, labels etc. Virtually any Epson Compatible Printer can use PRT-Menu. In particu- lar, the Panasonic (KXP Series), and all Epson LQ-860 Compatibles, as well as other compatibles. Depending on your printers capabilities, most of the functions will be available to you. If you are using a text editor, you can run PRT-Menu from inside that program by using their shell command. And, some programs will allow you to execute PRT-Menu directly from inside their programs. MOUSE CONVENTIONS All input in this program is via the mouse. A single press (click) of the left mouse button controls each selection. The term "select" is used frequently throughout this document; it means to move the mouse cursor to the desired function and click. This document is divided into three brief sections: Functions - are selected from 8 different Groups, including Color Selection, Character Fonts, Character Highlight, Character Pitch, Word Processing, Paper Feed, Paper Feed (amount), and Page Format. Operation - describes the function selection process. Application - using PRT-Menu to format continuous labels. COLOR SELECTION If your printer has a "color option" installed, you may select any of the colors listed. If your printer does not have either a color kit installed or a color ribbon, then your color selection must be "black". CHARACTER FONTS There are two modes of operation available to you, draft mode and letter quality mode. In letter quality mode, you may select only one font at any one time. However the Italic Font may be combined with your selection, which in turn may then be combined with a character pitch (10cpi, 12cpi,...) and character highlight. CHARACTER HIGHLIGHT Double High - character height is twice that of a normal character. Double Strike - the print head makes two passes. Double Wide - character width is twice that of a normal character. Emphasized - this is bold printing. Outline - the outline of a normal character. Shadow - the shadow of a normal character. Underline - produces a continuous line under characters. CHARACTER PITCH There are three draft modes available to you (Pica, Elite, and Micron), with different pitches (characters per inch). Pica supports 10cpi and compressed 17cpi. Elite supports 12cpi and compressed 20cpi. Micron supports 15cpi. The Proportional and Compressed Selections are used in combination with Character Fonts. WORD PROCESSING There are three word processing functions available to you. Centering will center your text; Justification will fully justify your text (align each margin); Right Alignment will right align your text. PAPER FEED Both the Form Feed and Line Feed are live functions. Selecting Form Feed, advances your paper to the next top of form. Selecting Line Feed advances your paper one line. Both Form Feed (Page Length) and Line Feed (Paper Feed (amount)) are defined below. PAPER FEED (amount) You can select only one of the paper feed amounts at any one time: for 8 lines per inch, select 1/8th inch; for 6 lines per inch, select 1/6th inch; for 60, 180, or 360 lines per inch, make the appropriate selection. If a function requires a numerical value, select the function, then select the up or down arrow for the desired value. PAGE FORMAT This set of functions, allows you to set your margins and page length. If you select either the Left or Right Margins, you must select a column number for each. For example, in Pica 10cpi where you get 80 columns per line, you could set 5 as the left margin and 75 as the right margin. This would give you 1/2 inch margins. The Page Length and Skip Perforation (top and bottom margin) are specified in lines. Normal page length is 66 lines per page for 1/6th inch line feed and 11" page. If you want a 1" top and bottom margin, then Skip Perforation should be set for 6 lines. When using this set of functions, even if you de-select a function, the selected values still remain in effect until you either change them, reset your printer or turn your printer off. These are the only functions which behave in this manner. MISCELLANEOUS Exit - selecting this function, exits the program and initializes your printer if it is turned on. If your printer is not on, an error message will be displayed. At such time, if you choose not to initialize your printer, then click to exit. All active functions are saved, and recalled the next time you run the program. Preview - this function prints a sample sentence. This allows you to find just the right combination of font, pitch, and high- light, without printing an entire page or document. The printer must be turned on to use this function. LPT 1 - the default printer port. Select this function if you have more than one parallel printer, and want to select a different port. About - information about PRT-Menu. OPERATION To run the PRT-MENU program, type PRT at the DOS prompt. The PRT-Menu will be displayed on your screen. The operation of this program is designed to be intuitive, quick and easy to use. To turn a function on, select the function. Functions which are on, are light blue in color; those which are off, are black. Some functions require you to select another function in the same group in order to be turned off (i.e. Color Selection and Paper Feed (amount)). Other functions require you to (toggle) select the active function to turn it off (i.e. Character Highlight, Word Processing, and Paper Format). Additionally, some functions (i.e. margins and paper feed) require a numerical value. Select the desired function, then depress the up or down arrow until the appropriate value is shown. A single click will change the value by one. A continuous depression of the left mouse button will cycle through all numbers. Your printer is initialized either by selecting the Preview Function or the Exit Function. If your printer is not on, an error message will occur. If you selected the Exit Function, either turn the printer on to be initialized or click to exit the program. Whichever method of initializing you choose, your selections are saved. The next time you use PRT-Menu, those selections will be recalled. APPLICATION Using PRT-Menu, you can take an ordinary ASCII text file, combine a character font with various character pitches and character high- lights, set your margins (skip perforation is synonymous with top and bottom margins) and page length; add the word processing functions to produce a document with a polished finish. Using PRT-Menu, you can set margins, page length, and fonts for mailing labels without using any special software. For example, if you wanted to create single column, continuous feed, 4" x 1 7/16" mailing labels, create an ASCII text file with an editor or word processor as follows: 1st line of the file is a blank line name address city, state, zip name address city, state, zip . . . After you have entered each zip code, enter a form feed character by holding down the ALT Key, simultaneously pressing the number 1 and number 2 keys on the numeric keypad, then release the ALT key. You will see the "form feed" character displayed. Once you enter all the names and addresses, run the PRT Program, select a font, Pica 10cpi character pitch, Paper Feed of 1/6th inch, Page Length 9, Left Margin of 3, and a Right Margin of 30. Exit the program and print the labels using the DOS PRINT Command. By using a little math, you can extend this method to other label sizes.