Suppressing CR/LF on "LPT1: BIN" after Every 80 Printable Bytes (42663)

SUMMARY

The two sample programs shown below suppress the automatic forcing of a LineFeed (LF) character that normally follows a Carriage Return (CR) character sent to the printer.

The "LPT1:BIN" device requires a WIDTH#n,255 statement to suppress CR/LF pairs added by Basic after every 80th printable ASCII character. The "LPT1" device doesn't require a WIDTH#n statement.

This information applies to QuickBasic Versions 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50, to Microsoft Basic Compiler Versions 6.00 and 6.00b, and to Microsoft Basic PDS Version 7.00.

MORE INFORMATION

Example 1, which uses the Basic device name "LPT1", does not require a WIDTH#n statement to suppress extra CR/LF pairs.

Example 2, which uses the Basic device name "LPT1:BIN", requires the statement WIDTH#n,255 to prevent Basic from appending a Carriage Return plus LineFeed (Hex 0A plus Hex 0D) pair to the characters Hex 6F (decimal 111) and Hex BF (decimal 191). (Bytes 111 and 191 are 80 bytes apart. Bytes 0 through 31 at the beginning are not counted in the width.)

To examine printer byte values more easily, the printer should be initialized in Hex dump mode. (On an Epson printer, Hex dump mode is turned on by holding down the Form Feed button while turning on the printer. Refer to your printer manual if your printer differs.)

Code Example

REM **** Program 1 ****
OPEN "LPT1" FOR BINARY AS #1
FOR I = 0 TO 255
    C$= CHR$(I)
    PUT #1,,C$
NEXT

REM **** Program 2 ****
' Adding WIDTH#1,255 eliminates the CR/LF addition for "LPT1:BIN":
OPEN "LPT1:BIN" FOR RANDOM AS #1
' WIDTH#1,255    ' Required to suppress CR/LF at bytes 111 and 191.
FOR I = 0 TO 255
   PRINT#1, CHR$(I);
NEXT