Differences Between 86Xx Printers And 86Xx Emulation; No Bel Status Response; Replacing An 86Xx, 4100, Or 3400 Printer With A 3240 Printer - Intermec 3240 User Manual

Replacing an 86XX, 4100, or 3400 Printer With a
3240
Printer
The 3240 printer provides compatibility with the 3400 printer, the 4100 printer,
and the earlier 8636 and 8646 bar code printers. The 3240 printer operates in
Advanced mode or 86XX Emulation mode. The two modes have three
operational subset modes: Print mode (contains configuration commands),
Program mode, and Test and Service mode.
Both Advanced mode and 86XX Emulation mode operate on the same basic
command set for print, configuration, program, and test and service
commands. On initial power up, the 3240 printer is in Advanced mode.
Advanced mode provides new features that make the 3240 compatible with the
4100 and 3400 printers. When you select 86XX Emulation mode, the 3240
printer is compatible with the 8636 and 8646 printers. In 86XX Emulation mode,
some of the Advanced mode features are not available.

Differences Between 86XX Printers and 86XX Emulation

While the 3240 printer can emulate most functions of the 86XX series printers,
there are some features that are different or not implemented. This section
identifies those differences.

No BEL Status Response

The 86XX printer checks all incoming messages for errors before storing them
in the data buffer for later execution. When it receives an erroneous message, it
sends a BEL character back to the host as the printer status response and
discards the whole message. It continues to process the next message without
explaining to the host why it discards the previous message.
The 3240 printer software does not ignore messages that have errors in any of
the commands. Instead, it executes all the commands as best as it can, ignoring
invalid commands and using printer defaults for erroneous parameters. As a
result, the printer treats mandatory data fields like optional data fields.
Attempting to execute all commands, in spite of errors, gives the user clues
about what went wrong and what they can do to remedy the problem.
Performing Advanced Procedures
5