Fixed Vtabs; Range Limitations; Horizontal Tabs - Epson FX-80 User Manual

Notice (Figure 9-3) that the automatic line feed at the end of line 260
moves the paper one line past the top of form. Since the first printed
line is line 3, the line feed doesn't disrupt the printing of the form.
The ability to set vertical tabs is a nice feature. Heavy users can also
store several different settings of vertical tabs in memory, to be re-
called as necessary. We tell that tale in the next chapter.
Fixed VTabs
The numbers in the (ESC) "B" sequence let you set vertical tabs in
multiples of the current line spacing. And once the tabs are set in a
program, any subsequent changes in line spacing do not affect the tab
positions on the paper. This terrific feature will keep us all from acci-
dentally messing up carefully planned tab settings. Test this out by
changing the line spacing in the current program from nine to seven
dots (after the VTabs are set!):
3!2J LPRINT CHR$(27)"1"
Sure enough, the line spacing in Figure 9-4 is a mess, but the tab stops
stay in the same places.
Delete line 30 before you move on:
DELETE
3!2J
Range limitations
The vertical tab counter actually starts at row O. So the 66 lines on a
normal page are numbered as tab stops 0 through 65. But the allow-
able range of tab settings in the (ESC) "B" sequence is from 1 to 254,
which means that you could tab right off the end of a page if you
wanted.
Actually, the first tab must be set to less than the last line on a page;
the rest can be set to anything up to 254 lines. For most forms, you will
want the maximum vertical tab to be 65, the last line on an 11-inch
form. This number will change if you change the form length or line
spacing. For example, the maximum first tab on an 11-inch form with
7-dot line spacing (ESC)
"1")
would be 113.
Horizontal Tabs (HTabs)
The FX-80 can also remember up to 32 horizontal tab stops. You
can use them for one or more indentations or to set up columns.
106