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Most programminglanguages,and someversionsof BASIC,let you treat
the printeras a fileto whichyoucan senddata.Whenyou writea program
withoneof theselanguagesyou"open"theprinterfile,printintoit,andthen
"close"the file when you'redone.Thisprogramming jargon soundsfunny
if you'renot used to it— but it works.
A fewprogramminglanguageslet yousendcommandsto theprintera third
way. Applesoft BASIC is one. With it, you can switch between printer
outputand screenoutput.
Printer emulations
You noticedthat we said "in EX-800 mode" up there? Your Star Laser-
Printer8respondstothesameescapesequencecommandsthatseveralother
printersuse.Beingableto emulateprintersliketheDiabloor EpsonEX-800
lets youuse yourStarLaserPrinter8 witholderprogramsthathaven'tbeen
updatedto take advantageof laserprinters.In fact,becauseit emulatesfour
of the most popularprinters,you can use the Star LaserPrinter8 withjust
aboutany microcomputerprogramaround.
Unfortunatelythose printers often use different escape sequences for
exactly the same function.Those printers, moreover,provideescape se-
quences for functionsthe Star LaserPrinter8 doesn't need, such as the
Diablo'sChangePrintwheelcommand.(Printwheels— sometimescalled
"daisywheels"- are flatmetalor plasticprintelementsthatholdcharacters
out from a hub on "petals".)Whenyourprintergets a commandit doesn't
support,it just ignoresthe command.
Macrosaresinglecontrolcodesyoucandefineyourself,whichdo the work
of awholelongseriesofprintercommands. I fyouareaprogrammer youwill
be happyto hear the Star LaserPrinter8 supportsup to 99 macrosat once.
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