Instructions for: EPIC (v1.0) PUBLIC DOMAIN Program runs on: All Amstrad CPCs and CPC+s, tape or disc With PROTEXT ROM. Program written by: Michael Beckett, July 1992 11 Steeple Gardens, Steeple Road, Antrim Co Antrim, N Ireland, BT41 1BW. ---------------------------COPYRIGHT NOTICE-------------------------- Although EPIC has been donated to the PUBLIC DOMAIN, the programmer retains full copyright of the software. This means that the program may be freely distributed and copied, AS LONG AS NO CHARGE IS MADE (other than a small copying charge) and NO ALTERATIONS ARE MADE TO ANY PART OF THE PROGRAM. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you require assistance with the program, please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope with any correspondance. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION ------------ EPIC (Enhanced PrInter Control) is a program which allows anyone who has the Protext ROM and a printer with the IBM graphics characters to include a large range of these characters in their documents - you do not need an 8-bit printer port to use EPIC. EPIC was originally written for the my own use only, but I have decided to release it into the Public Domain, as other Protext users may find it useful. 1.1 GETTING STARTED --------------- From disc: - Insert the EPIC disc in drive A. - Type: RUN"EPIC [RETURN] - EPIC will load and run. From tape: - Insert the EPIC tape in the tape deck. - Type: RUN" [RETURN] - EPIC will load and run. 2.0 USING EPIC ---------- Once EPIC has been loaded, the machine code will be relocated to the highest available memory location, leaving you around 34K free for documents. Type ùP as usual to enter Protext. Protext is used just as normal, with all the usual features retained. 2.1 EXTRA CHARACTERS ---------------- To insert one of the extra characters in your document, press ENTER (that's the small ENTER key on CPC464s). You will then see the prompt "Enter character." at the top left of the screen. You should now enter the keypress which corresponds to the character you wish to enter. For example, to get the Greek character Pi, press "P". To get a capital Sigma character, hold SHIFT and press "S". A full list of the keypresses is included on this disc, called "EPICKEYS.DOC". Load this into Protext (when EPIC is loaded) and print it out for future reference. 2.2 BOXES ----- EPIC also allows you to include boxes in your documents, for producing tables etc. Box characters are entered using the function keypad (numeric keypad on CPC464s). Each of the keys f1-f9 corresponds to a box character - see the file "EPICKEYS.DOC" for which keys to use. You may find that your printer doesn't print these box characters in perfect columns - the vertical lines in tables may not be aligned properly. To overcome this, issue the stored command ">bx on" before the boxes are used, and the command ">bx off" after the boxes. Load "EXAMPLE.DOC" to see how it works. The ">bx on" command sets the printer to one-direction printing, and ">bx off" returns it to two-direction printing again. 3.0 TECHNICAL INFO -------------- EPIC consists of six files, as follows:- EPIC.BAS Loads & relocates the machine code. EPIC.BIN The main machine code program (Start=relocatable, Length=&600) EPIC.FNT The extra characters. Can be altered using Art Studio's font editor. EPICHELP.DOC This instruction file EPICKEYS.DOC Tells you which keypresses to use EXAMPLE.DOC An example page --------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Beckett, July 1992. ---------------------------------------------------------------------