XCALL HP

XCALL HP gives you the ability to:

• Download fonts
• Manipulate font characteristics
• Address the page
• Draw lines and rectangles
• Shade areas in different densities
• Display Raster Graphics
• Display Text

Although DISPLAY statements and Synergy Xcall's typically output to the screen while XCALL HP typically outputs to the Laser, note the similarities in the following:

        DISPLAY      (ch, $scr_pos(5,1), 'This is normal',
         &                $scr_att(bold),
         &                $scr_pos(20,1),'This is bold')

        XCALL W_DISP (id, wd_pos,5,1,    'This is normal',
         &                wd_attr,attr_set+attr_bold,
         &                wd_pos,20,1,   'This is bold')

        XCALL HP     (ch, hpPOS,5,1,   0,'This is normal',
         &                hpFONT,hpBOLD,
         &                hpPOS,20,1,  0,'This is bold')

The hpPOS function, for example, positions the cursor. (Did you know the LaserJet had a cursor?) It takes two qualifiers which are row and column.

Need a TIFF converter? We've got one here!

Are you interested? The distribution for this product is all in source code. I've taken the liberty of including some documentation excerpts in hopes of whetting your appetite.

Should you wish to order XCALL HP, its cost is $400.00 US funds. Here's our licensing blurb.

Sincerely,
Alan Cohen
416-783-9826
Computer Advocacy Inc
-------------------------------------------------
P.S. I get a lot of spam, so if you send email to
alan at domain name computeradvocacy.com,
expect to get a challenge request so I know you really mean it.
-Alan

Table of Contents

OUTPUT destination

XCALL HP sends its output to a channel. (It does not open a channel.) The channel number is the first parameter in the xcall.

XCALL HPSTRING appends its output onto the end of a string. The string is the first parameter in the xcall. Thus, you can use it to build strings.

All examples of the form:	XCALL HP (ch, ...)
could be written as:	XCALL HPSTRING (variable, ...)

The exception is the situation where XCALL HPSTRING is instructed to output an entire file (a raster graphics for example). In such a case, it only appends the file name not the file's contents to the string.

How XCALL HP works

If a parameter is zero, the next parameter is expected to be an alpha string and is output as is.

If a parameter is greater than zero and less than 32, the corresponding ASCII value is output. For example, specifying 13,10 as two parameters would cause a carriage return and linefeed to be output.

If a parameter is greater than or equal to 32, the parameter is assumed to be a function as defined in HPSUB.DEF

Some of these functions require qualifiers. For example, hpPOS expects that the next two parameters will be a row and column.

XCALL APPEND

When XCALL HPSTRING is appending its output to a string rather than outputting to a channel (see Output destination above), it uses XCALL APPEND to do the appending.

REFERENCE

The bulk of this document, the Reference section, describes each of the available functions. The structure of each section is:

               Function
               Description
               Notes
               See also
               Example

There is a section entitled "MACROS" which is not a function but is a discussion of the nature of LaserJet macros and the various hpMACRO functions which follow.

List of functions

hpBOX

Notes:
Drawing a box does not change the cursor position.

See also: hpAREA, hpFILL, hpTHICK

Example:

               xcall hp (ch,  hpPOS,12,50,           ;position cursor.
&                             hpAREA,9,10,           ;define area.
&                             hpBOX,                 ;draw a box around it.
&                             hpPOS,13,51,           ;position just inside box
&                             0,'Hello')             ;and display 'hello' there

hpLM,col

Notes: When the laser is reset, (by hpFLUSH for example,) the margin is reset to 0.

Example:
The following code prints a phone book with 3 columns, of 50 lines each.

The traditional print technique is to count your lines as you print them. When that counter hits some number (say 50), you clear the counter, eject the page and start again. Here, it's similar except we increment the margin by 30 and reposition the cursor back to the top of the same page. (We've also drawn some vertical lines to separate the columns.)

        clear line, margin
        do forever
               begin
               reads (1,rec,eof)
               if (line.gt.50)
                       begin
                       line =
                       margin = margin+30
                       if (margin.gt.60)
                              begin
                              margin =
                              xcall hp (ch,  hpPOS,0,29,hpVLINE,50,
               &                             hpPOS,0,59,hpVLINE,50,
               &                             hpFLUSH)
                              end
                       xcall hp (ch,  hpLM,margin,
               &                      hpPOS,0,margin)
                       end
               writes (ch,rec)
               incr line
               end

hpPOS,row,col

See also: hpMOVE, hpHTAB, hpVTAB, hpDOTS

Notes:
The top of page is hpPOS,0,0 not hpPOS,1,1

Example:

               xcall hp (ch,  hpDOTS,$false,
                       &      hpPOS,4,10,    0,'Name',
                       &      hpPOS,5,10,    0,'Rank',
                       &      hpPOS,6,10,    0,'Serial#',
                       &      hpFONT,hpBOLD,
                       &      hpPOS,4,20,    0,'Alan',
                       &      hpPOS,5,20,    0,'slave',
                       &      hpPOS,6,20,    0,'1234',
                       &      hpFONT,hpMEDIUM)