Canon Laser Printer

Supported device

Canon LBP-8/A2 Laser printer. Conforms to ISO 646, 2022, 2375 and 6429 specifications. VDM (graphics) conforms to proposed American National Standard VDM mode.

Device type code

/CAnon or /BCAnon (landscape mode); /VCAnon (portrait mode). Device type /CANON or /VCANON uses vector instructions for printing, while type /BCANON produces a bitmap. The default bitmap size is 1556 blocks and takes 5 min (parallel) or 15 min (serial 9600 baud) to print. Thus for simple line graphs /CANON produces much smaller files (typically <100 blocks) that that plot in <30 sec. However, for complex graphs, for example those obtained with PGGRAY, /BCANON will produce the smaller file and plot faster.

Default file name

PGPLOT.CAN.

Default view surface dimensions

24 cm by 19 cm (landscape); 19 cm by 24 cm (portrait).

Resolution

300 pixels per inch in both directions.

Color capability

Color indices 0 (erase) and 1 (black) are supported. Note: hardware polygon fill is used and colors 0--11 control the fill pattern.

Input capability

None.

File format

Variable length records with Carriage control of LIST.

Obtaining hardcopy

If printer is connected to a terminal line (RS-232 option) then printing the file on the corresponding queue should suffice. If the printer is connected using the Centronics interface, which appears the to VAX as an LP device, then it is important to ensure that (1) all 8 bit characters are passed to the printer (2) lines longer than 132 bytes are not truncated, and (3) no extra formatting commands (e.g. form-feeds) are sent to the printer. This can be done with the VMS command:

$ SET PRINT/PASSALL/LOWER/CR device

Note, some interface boards have a option to append a carriage return after a formfeed or LF character, it is suggested that this be disabled. The file should be printed with the /PASSALL qualifier i.e.,

$ PRINT/PASSALL filename

Note: SET PRINT/PASSALL and PRINT/PASSALL do not do the same things and hence PASSALL is required in both locations.

Author

Allyn F. Tennant, 1988; Martin Shepherd, 1991.