User manual

DIAGNOSTIC MODE COMMAND - <DM>

The printer can be put in diagnostic mode by sending a <DM> command. For an explanation of diagnostic

mode, see the diagnostic supplement. This command remains in effect until power off.

PURGE PRINTER OF REMAINING TICKETS COMMAND - <PP> or <ppe><ppd>

Normally, when the printer runs out of tickets, it will save whatever ticket data it has not yet printed. Then, when

new stock has been loaded, it will continue where it left off. However, if this command has been sent to the

printer, it will not print the remaining tickets. In this mode, when the printer runs out of tickets it will purge all

remaining ticket information. It will also reset the ticket count to zero. Therefore, in this mode, the printer acts

as if it has been reset after running out of tickets. This command should be sent at the beginning of the day and

not after the printer has run out of tickets. This command remains in effect until power off. The lower case purge

printer enable command <ppe> is permanent and allows the printer to be configured for purge mode at power

on. The printer will remain in this mode until a purge printer disable command <ppd> is issued.

PARKING TICKET COMMAND - <PT> or <pt>

In normal operation, the ticket sits at the cut position while idle (approximately one inch beyond the print head).

With thick (.010") ticket stock, this can cause a bend in the ticket stock. In order to avoid this situation, a special

command has been created to reverse the ticket to the print position after the last ticket in a group has been

printed. This command remains active until power is turned off.

DELETE PARKING TICKET COMMAND - <dpt>

This command is used to delete the permanent parking ticket command <pt> and return the printer to the

normal mode of operation.

SINGLE BUFFER MODE COMMAND - <sb>

Normally, the 44 or 46 printer will accept as many tickets as it can until it determines that its 4k input buffer is

full. At that point, the printer will go busy until it has processed some of the characters and thus has room for

more data. In many applications, the printer does not go busy at all as its buffer never gets full. This is

advantageous in most applications. However, some of our customers designed their software around the busy

architecture of the old FGL2 printer. The older printer would go busy after each print command it received (a

single ticket buffer was full) and then go ready when it started printing.

For customers who require the FGL2 busy protocol, a 44 or 46 printer can be configured to act like an FGL2

printer by sending it an <sb> command. Caution must be exercised when using the FGL2 single buffer mode

because no buffer overflow check is performed on its 4k input buffer. The printer only goes busy after a print

command, not when its buffer is full. When sending very large data files to the printer you must be careful not to

overflow the buffer. The potential for buffer overflow is more probable with parallel interfaces due to their high

data transmission speeds. Note: Because of command buffering in the 44 or 46 printer this command does not

work exactly as before. The printer now goes busy when it processes the print command not when it receives

the print command (the old way). This means the 44 or 46 printer will go busy a few milliseconds later than

previous printers in this mode. This command is generally not recommended for use.

This command will be stored in flash and will remain in effect until an <mb> is sent.

MULTIPLE BUFFER MODE COMMAND - <mb>

This is the normal FGL44 default condition of the printer (see above). This command will be stored in flash and

will remain in effect until an <sb> is sent.

EXPANDED CHARACTER MODE ENABLE COMMAND - <xe>

The BOCA printer normally prints ASCII characters from character 32 (a space) to character 127 (~). Except for

certain fonts, character values over 127 will produce unexpected results. Some fonts (like font13) can print

character values over 127. In other fonts, certain values over 127 are transposed to produce our special

character set (see the special character set page). Some customers have requested the ability to not have this

transposing done on values greater than 127. This command disables that function and gives the customer the

ability to print all values over 127 provided that they have modified the font data to have valid bitmaps for those