Reply to post: Re: backward compatibility NOT a thing with Micro-shaft

Windows Update borks elderly printers in typical Patch Tuesday style

david 12 Silver badge

Re: backward compatibility NOT a thing with Micro-shaft

>To output ASCII characters at the correct speed over a parallel or serial port<

"Dot matrix" is not the same as "Daisy wheel".

The problem is, of course, somewhere with the connection between the Printer Drivers and the OS: the printers didn't suddenly stop working because of an electrical fault.

There are 3 ways to do printer control: (1) Send Windows print script direct to the printer as text. (2) Translate the Windows print script language to Postscript, and send the Postscript script to the printer as text. (3) Translate the Win print script to PCL (hp) or ESC/P (epson), and send the print language to the printer as a series of 7 or 8 bit bytes.

All three methods are used for dot matrix impact printers, dot matrix inkjet printers, and (dot matrix) laser printers.

All three methods commonly send blocks of characters as text (ascii) if the characters will be represented by a native printer font, and as bit-mapped images if the characters will not be represented by a native printer font.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon