Chapter 1: Designing Using Lds2; 1.1 Special Control Codes - Microcom LDS2 Programming Manual

Chapter 1: Designing Using LDS2

Label formats or scripts are very easy to design using LDS2 by following these basic steps below.
LDS2 printers require the use of hardware flow control (CTS/RTS) for proper data management to
occur. Do not use Software flow control to manage data sent to an LDS2 printer.
1. Determine the media type, media size, and print speed desired for your application; enter this
data into the script header.
2. Determine the type of handling operation desired and use the appropriate LDS2 printer control
commands.
3. Define the formatting instructions for the type and placement of data.
4. Enter the text data that corresponds to the formatting instructions.
5. Send the script to the printer.

1.1 Special Control Codes

The printer can accept either the one-character control code ("Ctrl + E") or the two-character caret
(^) plus alpha character ("^E"). Control codes are processed immediately while the ^Dxx commands
are processed in the order they are issued. It is recognized that some mainframe and mini-
computers cannot use the ASCII carat "^" character. The ASCII pipe symbol "|" can be used as a
substitute for these instances. Below is a list of special control codes used by LDS2.
^A Begin Script: Marks the beginning of an LDS2 script file entry.
^C Clear Halting Error: When issued five consecutive times with a one second delay between
each ^C the printer will clear blocking or halting error conditions returning ^Dxx command
responsiveness. If the printer has remaining jobs in the queue, the printer will return to a
>PAUSED< state instead of the >READY< state. Please note that if the condition that
caused the error still exists, pressing the print button and/or sending further scripts will cause
this error to be reported again. Halting error messages are conditions that must be corrected
before printing may resume. Refer to section 6.3 for additional information regarding error
conditions.
^D Standard Command Preface: Combined with three-digit number issues a command. See
Chapter 2 for more information regarding ^D commands.
^E Printer Enquiry: Causes the printer to list its current status to an active communications
port.
^K Print Test Label: Causes the printer to print a test pattern consisting of diagonal lines used
to test the condition of the dots on the print head.
^L Form Feed: Scrolls one label out of the printer using the previous formats layout.
^M Carriage Return: Represents a Carriage Return (CR) character or 0x0D.
^O Top-of-Form (TOF): Instructs the printer to perform a TOF operation that uses the Label
Present Detector (LPD) in order to retract the media to the proper alignment in regards to the
print head.
LDS2 Programming Manual – 880019-0202 1-1