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PC-SIG Diskette Library (Disk #1769)
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Information about “DOWNLOAD”
DOWNLOAD is an utility program that manages the process of downloading
soft fonts to a Hewlett Packard LaserJet, DeskJet, or compatible
printers. DOWNLOAD can also select fonts as they are being sent.
DOWNLOAD can send a font, or group of fonts, through the standard
parallel printer port to your LaserJet or DeskJet printer. You have
optional control over the soft font ID number, whether the font is
permanent or temporary, and whether it is a primary or secondary font.
A list of fonts may be sent to the printer by specifying the individual
fonts names in an ASCII text file. All fonts resident in your laser may
be optionally deleted before new fonts are downloaded, or you can reset
the printer first.
DOWNLOAD.TXT
DOWNLOAD
Version 1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Elfring Soft Fonts
P.O. Box 61
Wasco, IL 60183
312-377-3520
CIS: 32417,3437
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY....................................................... 1
REQUIREMENTS.................................................. 1
FONT CHARACTERISTICS.......................................... 1
RUNNING DOWNLOAD.............................................. 2
ERROR MESSAGES................................................ 5
COMMON PROBLEMS............................................... 5
DISTRIBUTION.................................................. 6
WARRANTY...................................................... 6
ORDER FORM.................................................... 7
SUMMARY
DOWNLOAD.EXE is an IBM PC utility program that manages the process
of downloading soft fonts to a LaserJet, DeskJet, or compatible
printers. DOWNLOAD can also select fonts as they are being sent.
DOWNLOAD can send a font, or group of fonts, through the standard
parallel printer MS-DOS devices to your LaserJet or DeskJet printer.
You have optional control over the soft font ID number, whether the
font is permanent or temporary, and whether it is a primary or sec-
ondary font. A list of fonts may be sent to the printer by specify-
ing the individual fonts names in an ASCII text file. All fonts
resident in your laser may be optionally deleted before new fonts
are downloaded, or you can reset the printer first.
This package is now distributed as shareware and you are expected to
register it if you use it! You may try this package out for a period
not to exceed 15 days. Registration costs $15 and bring you a number
of benefits. See the end of this documentation file for a registra-
tion form.
Elfring Soft Fonts now offers a memory resident (TSR) version of
DOWNLOAD with features you won't believe. This version finds your
soft fonts and presents a list of them for you. You can download or
select any font on either a laser printer or a DeskJet. Font memory
requirements are shown and the program keeps track of all fonts that have
been sent to your printer. Finally, you can change printer orrienta-
tion, character size, default font, or reset the print. TSR Download
is $30.00 by itself or $45.00 with a set of soft fonts, (Helv & Roman
portrait 8, 10, 12, 14 point medium/bold/italic + 18 point bold),
plus our 28 page soft font manual. (The manual explains all there is
to know about what a soft fonts is, how they are named, and how to
select them!)
REQUIREMENTS
DOWNLOAD requires a minimum of 128K of memory, an HP LaserJet, DeskJet,
or compatible printer, and a parallel port to talk to the printer.
Parallel printer ports LPT1:, LPT2:, LPT3: are supported by the program.
FONT CHARACTERISTICS
All soft fonts have three characteristics associated with them.
Each font must have a unique ID number assigned to it. This lets
you select a soft font through software commands. Each font must
be defined as either temporary or permanent. Temporary fonts are
deleted whenever the LaserJet is reset and are thus not as widely
used as permanent ones since most software that controls the
LaserJet sends a reset command out first, (deleting all temporary
fonts). Finally, a font may be defined as either primary or sec-
ondary. (Note that only one primary and one secondary font can
exist at one time and you don not have to have a primary or sec-
ondary font.)
1
The LaserJet lets you switch between primary and secondary fonts
with simple control characters. Control-N selects the secondary
font, while control-O selects the primary font. Embedding these
characters in your text file will let you switch between fonts.
Fonts that have ID numbers assigned to them may be selected based
on that ID number. To do this you send an <Esc>(#X to the printer,
where <ESC> stands for the escape key (1BH), and # is replaced by
the ASCII soft font ID number. (To select soft font ID 15 you would
send <Esc>(15X. Finally fonts can be selected by font metrics.
In this method you describe the font. A sample Times-Roman selection
string would be: <Esc>&l0O<Esc>(0U<Esc>(s1p12v0s0b5T (12 point, por-
trait, medium weight, US ASCII, Times-Roman). This method is too
complex to explain here. We do offer an inexpensive Soft Font Manual
that explains everything there is to know about how to name, use,
select, and recognize soft fonts if you want more information.
The DOWNLOAD program is designed to send soft fonts to the laser
printer and to help you manage all these font characteristics.
You can select the font ID number, and font status at the same
time that you download the font. You can also make list files
to manage the process of sending a number of soft fonts to your
printer at one time. Finally, soft fonts may be archived into a
common file and automatically extracted for downloading.
RUNNING DOWNLOAD
DOWNLOAD is easy to use. The only thing you need to remember is
that DOWNLOAD will automatically prompt you with a brief descrip-
tion of how to use it if you want it to. Simply type DOWNLOAD
followed by a carriage return. The program will print a short
explanation of its operation and options as shown below:
Send soft fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet printer, V1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Use ──> download fontname [device ID ─options]
where: everything the between '[]'s is optional and...
fontname = the name of the font to download or the name of
a list of fonts to download preceded by an '@'
character
device = LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3
ID = starting ID number to assign font to (0 ─ 32767)
options = T to make font temporary, P to make font primary
S to make font secondary, Q for quiet operation,
D for delete all fonts prior to downloading, or
R to reset the printer.
When optional arguments are not present, download defaults to:
LPT1, ID = 0, permanent font, and font is NOT selected.
2
For example:
download he100rpn.usp lpt1: 5 ─tp
download @font.lst ─q
download od300rpn.usp 1000 ─sq LPT2
To run DOWNLOAD you must specify either the name of the soft font
to send to your printer, or the name of a disk file that contains
a list of soft fonts to send to the printer. You can optionally
specify the device to send the file to, LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3. In
addition, you can optionally control the three font attributes,
(ID number, permanent/temporary, primary/secondary), specified
above. To invoke DOWNLOAD type:
download yourfont [port ID# -options]
All items between the "[" and "]" characters are optional. This
means you do not have to include them. Note that the "[" and "]"
characters are not actually used in a command. Also note that
these optional items can be specified in any order. So, to down-
load a Times-Roman 24 point bold font you would enter:
download tr240bpn.usp
The DOWNLOAD program will find that file, (if it doesn't exist
DOWNLOAD will let you know), and defaults to: printer port LPT1,
soft font ID 0, and permanent status. The font will not be sel─
ected as either primary or secondary. The screen will look as
follows:
Send soft fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet printer, V1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Sending font tr240bpn.usp with ID 0, 12427 bytes
Sent 1 file, with a total of 12427 bytes.
A more complicated command might involve using a different print─
er port and assigning a soft font ID number. For example:
download tr100bpn.usp 1000 lpt2 ─s
sends the bold faced Times─Roman font to the LaserJet via LPT2:
and assigns it font ID 1000, permanent and secondary status. The
secondary status lets you select this font in a document by em─
bedding a control─N, (you can change back to your primary font
with a control─O).
DOWNLOAD is capable of using a list of file names created with any
ASCII text editor. To do this type:
download @fonts.lst 10
This instructs the program to find the disk file "fonts.lst".
This file is assumed to contain a list of font file names to send
to the LaserJet. All files will be sent in the order they appear
in the list. For example, if the file "fonts.lst" looks as fol─
lows:
3
he100rpn.usp
he100bpn.usp
he100ipn.usp
he180bpn.usp
he300bpn.usp
then the command "download @fonts.lst 10" will load all five
fonts to your LaserJet through LPT1. The "he100rpn.usp" font
will be assigned font ID 10 and loaded first. Font "he100bpn.usp"
will be loaded next with font ID 11. This process will continue
sequentially until font "he300bpn.usp" is sent to the printer as
font ID 14. All fonts will be assigned permanent status. The
screen will look as follows after the downloading process is finished:
Send soft fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet printer, V1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Sending font he100rpn.usp with ID 0, 12427 bytes
Sending font he100bpn.usp with ID 1, 18834 bytes
Sending font he100ipn.usp with ID 2, 33754 bytes
Sending font he180bpn.usp with ID 3, 48531 bytes
Sending font he300bpn.usp with ID 4, 68929 bytes
Sent 5 files, with a total of 133944 bytes.
For a more detailed explanation of soft font ID numbers, and font
status see you LaserJet user's manual.
Another useful option is the "D" command. This command lets you
delete all soft fonts resident in your laser printer prior to
downloading. For example, if you have limited font memory you
can lose track of how many fonts have been sent to the laser
printer. Rather than blindly sending more fonts, (which can
result in a "20" error), you can tell DOWNLOAD to delete
all soft fonts first, and then send the new fonts to the printer.
download @batch.lst 1 -d
Finally, the "quiet" option lets you disable much of the screen
output from DOWNLOAD. This is particularly useful with batch
files since you are probably not interested in file statistics
when downloading a batch of files. To use the quiet option you
would type:
download @batch.lst 1000 -qt
This would result in the following display:
Send soft fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet printer, V1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Note that the "-t" option used above would give all soft fonts
listed above "temporary" status. They would automatically be
erased after the first reset command is sent the the laser
printer.
4
ERROR MESSAGES
DOWNLOAD automatically checks the status of your laser printer
before sending anything to it. If the printer is off, not con-
nected, deselected, or out of paper DOWNLOAD will display an er-
ror message. For example, if your printer was out of paper you
would see:
download cp300rpn.usp
Send soft fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet printer, V1.8
Copyright 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts
Sending font cp300rpn.usp with ID 0
Printer I/O error
Printer out of paper
Abort, Retry, Ignore?
Answer with the appropriate letter (A/R/I) followed by a carriage
return. This process lets you select the printer or add more
paper to correct the problem.
COMMON PROBLEMS
1) MY LASER PRINTER WORKS FINE NORMALLY. HOWEVER, WHEN I USE DOWNLOAD
TO SEND A SOFT FONT TO IT THE FONT IS GARBLED, DOESN'T APPEAR, OR WIERD
THINGS HAPPEN.
This is a common problem and is almost certainly due to bad hardware!
When a soft font is downloaded your printer will be receiving data at
the maximum possible speed. If you do not have a printer cable that
meets minimum specifications, or if your parallel printer port is marginal
the problems mentioned above may occur. For the record: your parallel
printer port cable should be 6 feet long or less and made of quality
materials. You should NOT have a switch box in series with this cable!
If your cable is OK try switching to a different parallel port. These
ports are easy to damage with static electricity. They may appear to
work- but they fail during high speed transfers.
2) I DOWNLOAD A SOFT FONT AND MAKE IT MY PRIMARY FONT, JUST AS YOUR
MANUAL SAYS. IF I COPY FILES TO THE PRINTER THEY PRINT IN THAT FONT.
IF I USE MY WORD PROCESSOR I ALWAYS SEEM TO RETURN BACK TO MY DEFAULT
INTERNAL FONT (COURIER).
The first thing a word processor does, (before printing anything), is
to reset the printer. Resetting a laser printer (or the DeskJet) auto-
matically causes the printer to return back to the default font,
(Courier). The only practical way around this problem is to provide the
word processor with a printer driver that tells it how to use soft fonts.
3) WHEN DOWNLOADING A NUMBER OF SOFT FONTS MY PRINTER STOPS WORKING AND
DISPLAYS A FLASHING "20" ON THE LCD DISPLAY.
Congatulations, you have run out of memory in your printer. If you are
sending new fonts to the printer try deleting the old ones before sending
the new ones. (-D option in Download) If the problem occurs regularly
you should start looking for a 1 meg memory add on board.
5
4) THE SOFT FONT ID NUMBERS I ASSIGN WITH DOWNLOAD DO NOT MATCH THE
NUMBERS SHOWN ON MY SAMPLE FONT PRINT SHEET.
The Soft Font ID numbers assigned by DOWNLOAD can be used to select soft
fonts. However, these ID numbers have NO relationship to the numbers
displayed on a font print sheet. Font print sheet numbers always start at
1 and go up. Soft font ID numbers can range from 0 - 65,535. There is no
way to display a Soft Font ID number on a print sheet. Ignore the numbers
shown on these sheets.
5) MY WORD PROCESSOR DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK WELL WITH SOFT FONTS. WHAT CAN
I DO?
At present, the following word processors will work well with most soft
fonts. Note that most of these word processors come with printer drivers
that support common soft font sets. (Some of these word processors build
their own printer drivers automatically.)
WordStar 2000 v3.0, WordStar 5.0, Word 4.0 & 5.0, Word Perfect 4.1 & 5.0,
PC Write 2.71 & 3.02.
DISTRIBUTION
This program is provided on a trial basis as shareware to all who
are interested in it. To use this product on other than a trial
basis you must register it for $15.00. Copies of this program may
be freely exchanged as long as no fee is charged for them. Please
distribute this package with BOTH this documentation file and the
executable program. This program and documentation are Copyright
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 by Elfring Soft Fonts. All rights are reserved.
Commercial use without registration is strictly prohibited.
We offer a large number of different downloadable fonts including Roman,
Helv, Century, Rockford, Broadway, Script, Square, Old English, Univer-
sity, Courier, Line Draw, Prestige, Letter Gothic, Casual, LCD, Lotus
fonts, Symbol Sets, and title fonts for both laser printers and the
DeskJet. If you don't see the font you are looking for, call or write
me. I am always creating new fonts. I also do inexpensive custom fonts.
In addition I have a number of soft font utility programs including:
download- send and select fonts to a LaserJet or DeskJet, dispfont- dis-
play a sample sheet of a soft font, and TSR Download- an interactive easy
to use soft font management program. For more information on these in-
expensive downloadable soft fonts for your LaserJet or DeskJet contact
me at the address listed below.
WARRANTY
Elfring Soft Fonts specifically disclaims all other warranties, ex-
pressed or implied, including but not limited to, implied war-
ranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose
with respect to defects in the disk or documentation, and the
program License granted herein. In no event shall Elfring Soft Fonts
be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage,
including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential,
or other damages.
6
SHAREWARE REGISTRATION FORM
To register this copy of DOWNLOAD and to receive a copy of my
LaserJet or DeskJet font brochure, please fill out the following
form, and mail it along with a check for $15.00 to:
Elfring Soft Fonts
P.O. Box 61
Wasco, Illinois 60183
312-377-3520
CIS: 72417,3437
Make all checks payable to: Elfring Soft Fonts.
Please register my copy of DOWNLOAD V1.8:
Name: _________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________
City, State, Zip: _________________________________________
Comments: _________________________________________
Source of public domain version: _________________________
Printer: [ ] LaserJet, [ ] DeskJet, [ ] Compatible
FILE1769.TXT
Disk No: 1769
Disk Title: LaserLabel and Download
PC-SIG Version: S1
Program Title: LaserLabel
Author Version: 1.1
Author Registration: $24.95
Special Requirements: HPLaserJet, DeskJet, or compatible printer, and Gr
LASERLABEL has been created to allow users of the GRAB Plus Envelope
Printer (PC-SIG disk # 1145) to turn their data files into a powerful
label printing system. Now you can take the data files from GRABDB and
print labels on your LaserJet printer. The program will allow you to
use different label formats from Avery as well as using soft fonts for
added impact to your mailings. The program recognizes the tag fields of
GRABDB and will select by tags if you like. The LASERLABEL system comes
with a sample set of soft fonts to show you how your labels can have a
creative appearance for greater impact.
You must have a copy of the GRAB Plus system to use this program.
LASERLABEL utilizes the data files created by the GRABDB.EXE program
from the GRAB Plus system to make great looking labels.
Program Title: Download
Author Version: 1.8
Author Registration: $15.00
Special Requirements: HP LaserJet, HP DeskJet, or compatible printer.
DOWNLOAD.EXE is an IBM PC utility program that manages the process of
downloading soft fonts to a LaserJet, DeskJet, or compatible printers.
DOWNLOAD can also select fonts as they are being sent. DOWNLOAD can
send a font, or group of fonts, through the standard parallel printer
MS-DOS devices to your LaserJet or DeskJet printer. You have optional
control over the soft font ID number, whether the font is permanent or
temporary, and whether it is a primary or sec-ondary font. A list of
fonts may be sent to the printer by specify-ing the individual fonts
names in an ASCII text file. All fonts resident in your laser may be
optionally deleted before new fonts are downloaded, or you can reset the
printer first.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk #1769 LASERLABEL AND DOWNLOAD >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To start LASERLABEL, type: LL (press enter) ║
║ To start DOWNLOAD, type: DOWNLOAD (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To print LASERLABEL documentation, type: README.COM ║
║ To print DOWNLOAD documentation, type: COPY DOWNLOAD.TXT PRN ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #1769
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
DLFONTS BAT 53 7-31-89
DOWNLOAD EXE 15719 7-31-89
DOWNLOAD TXT 19647 12-20-89 11:05a
FILE1769 TXT 3405 12-20-89 11:22a
GO BAT 38 1-01-80 1:37a
GO TXT 694 12-20-89 11:30a
HV100BPN USP 10106 7-31-89
HV100RPN USP 9939 7-31-89
HV120RPN USP 12340 7-31-89
LL EXE 88496 7-31-89
README COM 10429 7-31-89
11 file(s) 170866 bytes
144384 bytes free