Peripheral Options Menu for Printer Peripheral
Type
Definition
This menu provides access to functions that set and modify the printer emulation behavior. Each function is explained below.
There is also a toolbar, the Peripheral Options Toolbar, which relates directly to this menu:
The relationship between each button and the menu item is further explained in the next table.
Use
There are two buttons that are status indicators. These indicate if the printer:
· is Online or Offline
· returns a Busy or Ready status
The status indicators are explained below and then the function each of the buttons perform.
Status Indicators
Icon |
Status Description |
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The printer is online. It is equivalent to having a printer turned on, and connected to the device. |
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The printer is offline. It emulates a printer that is turned off or/and disconnected from the device. |
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If queried, the printer will return a "ready" status after a print job. Another job can be sent to the printer. |
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If queried, the printer will return a "busy" status after a print job. If another job is sent to the printer, an exception will be thrown. |
Peripheral Options menu functions for the printer
Menu option |
Button |
Description |
Unit |
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Toggles the ruler unit of measure in the peripheral panel from points to centimeters, to inches, to points again. |
Online |
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Turns the printer status to Online. After clicking the button, its icon will change to the icon in the next line. |
Offline |
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Turns the printer status to Offline. After clicking the button, its icon will change to the icon in the previous line. |
Linefeed |
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Moves the printer cursor forward by one line (10 points).
This function is only available for the continuous media type. |
Reset |
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Resets the printer. Clears the printer buffer, image buffer, virtual printout area, and closes the connection. Sets the Print Head property value in the State Buffer to (0.0,0.0). |
Capability... |
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This function is only available while the printer is Offline. It provides access to printer configuration attributes in each of the available categories. These categories are explained in the structure section below.
The PIOS Emulator emulates attributes supported by the Printer API.
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Setup... |
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This function is only available while the printer is Offline. It allows set up of the media, font, and printer resolution. |
Busy After Printing |
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Turns on the "Busy" status after the next print job. The button icon will change to the icon in the next line. If an application requests the printer status after this button has been pressed, it will receive a busy status. If a print job is sent to the printer, an exception will be thrown. |
Recover From Being Busy |
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Turns off the "Busy" status after the next print job; meaning the printer will recover and return a "ready" status. The button icon will change to the icon in the previous line. If an application requests the printer status after this button has been pressed, it will receive a "printer ready" message. |
Structure
When you click on Capability… a window with several tabs is displayed. Each tab is explained in the next table:
Capability... Categories
Category |
Description |
General |
Contains general printer attributes. The state of each attribute can be modified by clicking on the attribute node selection checkbox or selecting the node and pressing the space bar. |
Barcode |
Contains a list of the printer barcodes capabilities and barcode attributes. The state of each attribute can be modified by either clicking on the attribute node selection checkbox or selecting the node and pressing the space bar. |
Font |
Displays the available fonts for emulation. Emulation support for bitmapped, scalable fonts, or both can be selected. |
Media |
Displays the list of supported paper media. Selection of the type of media, Continuous or Non-Continuous, and the Print Head Width is possible. This automatically selects the media that match these two settings. |
· Some attributes displayed in the General and Barcode tabs are grouped in folders. The first entry inside these folders is referred to as the base attribute. This base attribute is automatically selected if any of the other options within the folder is selected. If the base attribute is unselected any other selected entries within the folder are cleared as well.
Under the Barcode tab, the Code 39 symbology allows to uncheck Standard. However, this is not a real case because whenever a printer supports Code 39, the Standard codeset is supported.
· Selecting a folder will select all attributes in that folder.
Setup... Options
When you click on Setup… in the peripheral options menu or toolbar a window with several tabs is displayed, each tab is explained below:
Option |
Description |
Media |
Select the media (paper size) that the virtual printer will use. Only the ones selected in the Capability Media category will be available for selection in this window. Paper Length / Count - For continuous media, the paper length can be specified in either inches or centimeters. For non-continuous media, the paper count can be specified. Size - Displays the size (width and length) of the media in inches. Note: For continuous paper, the length is represented as a tilde (~). Margin - Displays the top, left, bottom and right margins in inches. Pre-print - Displays the width, length, horizontal, and vertical separation of pre-printed media. This is often used to represent labels on a paper backing. Margin and Pre-print fields are only showed when there are pre-defined areas in the media. |
Default Font |
Select default font type, style, and size for the virtual printer. Type - Displays the type (Bitmapped, Scalable) of the default font selected. Style - Select the default font style (PLAIN, BOLD, ITALIC, BOLD+ITALIC) Size - Select the default font size from the list of available sizes. |
Resolution |
Select the desired resolution for the virtual printer from the list. |
Integration
The peripheral options menu contains options specific to an individual peripheral type. Menu options will vary per peripheral type.