Custom PCL Separator File Example

The first line of any separator file is a delimiter character by itself. The separator file interpreter looks for the backslash (\) character on the first line, and uses it as the delimiter for its command strings in the rest of the separator file.

If you want to send printer language commands, and those commands include unprintable characters, you must send those characters by writing "\H" followed by the character's hexadecimal value. Because most PCL commands begin with an ESC character (hex value 0x1B) and are followed by printable text, many PCL separator file lines begin with \H1B, followed by \L, and then a literal string containing the rest of the PCL command. Remember that PCL commands are case sensitive. The line above tells HP print devices with multiple languages ("personalities") to switch to PCL.

This line toggles job separation and moves the cursor down one line.

There are two PCL commands in this line; the first sets the symbol set and the second sets the font spacing, size, and name:

<ESC>(19U sets symbol set to 19U (Windows 3.1 Latin 1)
<ESC>(s1p sets spacing to 1 (1=proportional, 0=fixed)
16v sets font size to 16 points
0s0b16602T sets font to Arial (Plain)

If you want to use a different symbol set, size, or font, you need to change this command (spacing is usually defined by the font, and is not configurable). To get a list of the available fonts on an HP 4 Si print device, use its front panel: from the TEST menu, choose the PCL TYPE LIST entry and push the ENTER key. The resulting pages include lines that provide the commands to set the font spacing and name. For example:

Arial Scale

<esc>(<xx><esc>s1p<yy>v0s0b16602T I 029

where <xx> represents an open box symbol designating "Symbol set" and <yy> represents a closed box symbol designating "Point size"

Note: You will see the above all on one line.

The <xx> box is a placeholder for the symbol set value. The example PCL command above sets this value to 19U; other useful values are 579L (Wingdings), 19M (Symbol), 10U (PC-8, code page 437), and 12U (PC-850, Multilingual). Symbol set lists are available in many printer user manuals, and in Appendix C of the PCL 5 Comparison Guide (available from Hewlett-Packard).

The <yy> box is a placeholder for the point size.

The PCL command <ESC>&a#L sets the horizontal cursor position on the current line to column #. This line positions the Date:, Job:, and Time: labels horizontally at columns 10, 60, and 94, respectively, and prints the current date, the job number, and the time after their respective labels.

This line moves the cursor position down 14 lines. The \n separator file command moves the cursor down n lines. Although n must be a single digit (0 through 9) number, you can move nine lines, and then five lines, to move a total of 14 lines.

This line redefines the current font, increasing the size from 16 to 36 points.

These lines set the left margin at column 17, print "\\Server\Share", and then move down 15 lines. You can change the "Server" and "Share" strings to the names of your print server and it's print share. This command sets the left margin at 17 because this roughly centers the text "\\Server\Share" horizontally. If your server and share name create a longer or shorter string, you may want to adjust this margin to maintain the centering. There is no separator file command to center text automatically.

This line redefines the current font to 96-point Marigold Windows 3.1 Latin 1 symbol set). This example uses the Marigold font simply to demonstrate that you can get multiple fonts on the same page; you can change it to the font of your choice.

This line sets the left margin to column 10 and then prints the user's name.

There are two final lines in the file. The first is a PCL printer reset command (<ESC>E), and the second is the carriage return-linefeed pair that follows the printer reset command. Don't forget the carriage return-linefeed pair.