LN01 Programmer Reference Manual

This document is a Programmer Reference Manual for the Digital Equipment Corporation LN01 Electronic Printer.

Key information provided:

1. Printer Capabilities: The LN01 is a standalone, non-impact page printer using laser imaging and xerographic techniques, capable of printing at 12 pages per minute. It offers high-quality output on cut-sheet plain paper.
2. Compatibility & Enhancements: It is plug-compatible with LP25 and LP26 line printers, supporting most LP11 functions, and offers significant enhancements over typical line printer operations.
3. Printing Orientations & Fonts: Supports both portrait and landscape printing orientations. It comes with two built-in ROM fonts (one for each orientation) and allows loading up to 22 additional fonts from a host computer.
4. Control Functions: Provides a comprehensive set of control functions for precise document formatting, including:
   • Adjustable tabs, margins, and line spacing.
   • Drawing horizontal and vertical lines, and vectors.
   • Absolute text placement.
   • Multi-font page printing with various styles and sizes.
   • Text justification, underlining, superscripting, and subscripting.
   • Paper tray selection (two 250-sheet input trays) and offset stacking.
5. Functional Description (Internal Architecture): Details the internal components like the Communication Handler, Character Processor, Page Handler, Page Buffers, Font Handler, Band Buffer, and Engine Interface, explaining how data is processed from input to final print.
6. Programmer Commands: Describes how to control the printer using ANSI-standard escape sequences, control sequences, and control strings for character processing, font management, active position adjustments, setting margins and tabs, defining form length, paper selection, and document finishing. It specifies measurement units (decipoints, pixels) for command parameters.
7. Page Demographics & Limitations: Outlines the storage and execution time limits ("page demographics") that affect page complexity, density, and format, guiding programmers on managing potential constraints. This includes limitations on data buffers and page buffer memory.
8. Communication Interface: Describes the LP11-type parallel interface, including connector details, signals, and internal control switches.

The manual is intended for system software developers to enable them to utilize the LN01's full range of capabilities, either as a line printer emulator or a full electronic page printer.