Adding lowercase to Apple Writer. Randi J. Rost.

Adding Lowercase To Apple Writer

As part of the ongoing series of articles in the magazine dealing with modifications to Apple Writer, I offer the following patch.

I don't have a lower case adapter, but still wanted to send printer control codes to my Epson MX-80 printer. The patch to the PRINTER program of the Apple Writer package in Listing 1 lets you send such codes to your Epson MX-80 with Graftrax if you don't have a lower case adapter and haven't made any of the previous modifications to PRINTER or TEDITOR.

The jump at $12D8 lets us jump to the modified character conversion routine at $18E0. The first three compare check for escape, underscore, and master space (@) characters respectively. The fourth compares checks for a $26 (&) which is used to represent a backspace. If a $26 is found, we load the accumulator with $08, the true value for a backspace character. If any of these four is found, we jump back to the main routine, skipping over the part that sets the high bit of every character sent to the printer. If none of the four is found, we execute the character conversion routine as if nothing happened.

The reason we use a $26 to represent a backspace and then change it to a true backspace just before printing is simple. A true backspace ($08) appears on the screen as an inverse H. Since this is also the way a capital H is maintained by Apple Writer, this will cause a conflict. Selecting some seldom used symbol to represent a backspace and then converting just before printing resolves this conflict.

The printer control codes can then be incorporated as suggested on page 142 of the June 1982 issue of Creative Computing. Create a file with escapes (hex code = $1B), underscores ($5F), backspaces ($26) and master spaces ($40). Then use this file to create files to turn the various characteristics on and off (e.g., ESC E to turn on emphasized print, etc.) These can then be inserted via CTRL-I anywhere in your text. Some comments about this modification:

1. To turn off double strike or compressed modes, use the reset printer code (ESC @). This will return all printer characteristics to standard settings.

2. Using compressed and expanded type styles can spoil a line of printout unless the entire line is printed in that mode. Apple Writer counts characters to determine line length, and one line of regular size letters is about two lines if printed double-width and half a line if printed in compressed mode.

3. I was unable to use compressed and emphasized modes simultaneously. Use compressed and double strike to give essentially the same results.

4. Use the reset printer code (ESC @) on a line by itself when you use it. I had problems with left margin alignment when including to in the same line as other text.

5. Underlining can be accomplished by inserting the appropriate number of backspaces, and then the appropriate number of underscore characters. The Epson does respond to the backspace character, but Apple Writer counts all characters, so you may want to increase line length to insure that everything will be printed on one line. Underlining may enhance column titles, but italics are easier to use within the text (if you have Graftrax 80, that is.) $There you have it. I hope this lets you make better use of your Apple Writer and Epson printer.

Table: Figure 1.

Table: Listing 1.