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Cognitive Frequently
Asked Questions : Printer Programming
| Where
can I find programming information? My printer User's Guide doesn't cover printer
programming.
You should have received a disk
with the printer that contain the Cognitive IntelliDriver and our
Programmer's Guide in Windows Help file format. The Programmer's
Guide covers Solus, Barcode Blaster, Blaster Advantage, and Code
Courier.
These files are readable using
WINHELP.EXE provided with Microsoft Windows.
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| What
about Pinnacle programming information?
Pinnacle uses a different language.
Refer to the Pinnacle Programmer's Guide.
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| How
does the amount of printer memory affect print capabilities?
Thermal printers map the entire
label image in memory before printing, thus the amount of
available memory limits the maximum label size. You can calculate
the memory required to print a given label by multiplying the
label's printed area width by its height (in dots) and dividing
the result by 8192. The result is in kB.
Not all printer memory is available
for label image storage. A small portion of memory (typically 4
kB) is used to store the raw ASCII data, and some memory is
required for temporary variable storage and other housekeeping
chores.
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| I'm
using Microsoft Windows and the Cognitive IntelliDriver. I
prepared a label format using Notepad and sent it to the printer,
but the format printed instead of the desired label. Why?
The IntelliDriver is designed to
print whatever appears on your screen on the label; thus, it will
print the format as it appears in Notepad (that is, the ASCII
commands) rather than the label the commands would normally
produce. If you create labels using ASCII commands in Notepad or a
similar Windows-based editor, do not use the IntelliDriver. Use
the generic ASCII printer driver supplied with Windows instead.
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| I
have several different Cognitive printers. How can I write label
formats that will work with all of them?
All Cognitive printers except
Pinnacle use the same command set (with slight variations to
accommodate printer hardware). But if you are programming for
several different models, there are some precautions you should
take to assure that your printed output remains unaffected by
minor hardware or firmware differences.
Put a string of 80 or more
uppercase C characters before the header line of the first label
format in the file. this string is required to wake up Code
Courier.
- Always use a dot time of 100.
- Place a WIDTH and PITCH command
in every label format, to assure that these settings are
always correct.
- Unless you specifically do not
want to use automatic label indexing, place an INDEX command
right before the END command in every label format.
- Always enter command names
(especially VARIABLE commands) in all uppercase letters.
- Fully spell out all VARIABLE
commands.
- Fully spell out the bar code
type in BARCODE and BARCODER commands.
- Fully spell out the font name in
STRING, R90, R180, R270, and ULTRA_FONT commands.
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