The following describes how to configure and use ATE with an Alpha Micro computer to enable printing via ATE to printers visible on the Windows network.
1. The files that you'll need to install on the AM machine are listed below. If you don't already have these files, request them from MicroSabio. The AM62CG.TDV goes into the DVR: account, and the others into the [7,0] account.
AM62CG.TDV
AM62CG.XEX
AM62CG.VUX
AM62CG.AMX
AM62CG.IFX
2. Add the following statement to the AMOS32.INI, after the other TRMDEFs, to make it available:
TDVDEF AM62CG.TCV
3. Reboot.
4. Install ATE on the workstation, and configure as you normally would, making special note of the following:
Tab |
Setting / Value / Description |
|---|---|
Transport |
TELNET |
Emulation |
AM62CG |
Login |
Specify your AMOS login; 300 ms delay recommended; nothing else needed on this tab |
Fie Transfer |
Uncheck the Link to Transport option; specify FTP as the protocol; port 21, and your FTP login credentials |
Printer |
Here you can start out with <Prompt>, or if you know which printer you want to use, select it. Later we can get into how to override it from the application.) Note that if you are embedding ESC codes in your printfiles, you'll need to set the Passthrough and uncheck the Auto Pitch option. And you'll need to select a compatible printer. If your print files are plain text, then set the GDI radio button option, and you can take advantage of Auto Pitch. |
5. Connect to the Alpha Micro.
6. From the dot, check if you got the right terminal driver by entering:
.SET TERM
The system should respond with:
Current terminal settings for TSKAAA are:
Terminal driver:Â AM62CG
...
If it isn't set to AM62CG, that means that the telnet system hasn't been properly configured to allow auto-setting the terminal driver based on the emulation specified by the terminal emulator. Fixing that properly may require studying the AMOS docs. But the quick fix is to just force it with:
.SET TERM DRIVER AM62CG
7. To print, replace XCALL SPOOL, REPORT$ with something like the following...
ATE'PRINT:
MAP1 PRINT'LINE$,S,1024
?TAB(-1,242); ! Turn Off Multi (if applic)
?TAB(-1,82); ! Turn On Printer Port
OPEN #65501,REPORT$,INPUT
ATE'PRINT'LOOP:
INPUT LINE #65501,PRINT'LINE$
IF EOF(65501) <> 0 THEN GOTO ATE'PRINT'DONE
?PRINT'LINE$
GOTO ATE'PRINT'LOOP
ATE'PRINT'DONE:
CLOSE #65501
?CHR(12); ! You'll probably need a trailing FF for lasers
?TAB(-1,83); ! Turn Off Printer Port
?TAB(-1,243); ! Turn On Multi (if applic)
RETURN
In other words, open the aux port, copy the file to the terminal (ATE will capture and redirect it), and then close the port.
8. If you want to override the printer selection from the application, you can use this command prior to the TAB(-1,82) ...
?TAB(-10,54); ",";PRINTER$; CHR$(127);
TAB(-10,54) is the AG_SPOOLCFG command, which has many other options you can read about if so inclined, but the above will probably suffice. Note that the specified printer name must either be a name that matches (up to its length) a Windows printer name visible to the client or an ATE printer init file resident on the client. You can get the combined list in the ATE Connection Properties > Printer tab printer selection drop-down. Also note that again, if you're sending raw ESC codes in the file, the printer must be set to PASSTHRU mode and the driver must support that mode. Failure on the former will cause your ESC sequences to be interpreted as text, and failure on the latter will cause nothing to print—although the printer might act like it was going to and then does nothing. Also note that another way to force passthrough on, which you can do from the application side, is to start the output with this GDI printing directive:
? "//PASSTHROUGH ON"
9. GDI printing. Printing via ATE opens up the possibility of using the full range of A-Shell GDI printing directives.
10. Debugging: Settings > Connection Properties > Printer and then check the Debug check box. This will cause the debug message window to open up when printing and spit out a lot of details which may helpful in understanding what is happening.
11. Licensing: ATE cannot get its license from the AMOS server, so each workstation must be individually licensed. There is also a way to do it by loading ATE from a Windows server, but let's not get into that unless it becomes necessary. If you already have a license for your in-house ATE and you can telnet to an AMOS machine, you can test all of this. Otherwise, even without a license, it all still works, it will just pop up an annoying nag message ever so often. But that shouldn't interfere with your testing.
