FAQ:  Printing from EscapeE

Can I change between different paper sizes, e.g, letter and legal, within the same document when printing from EscapeE?

Yes, EscapeE adjusts for different paper sizes. If your document does not explicitly select a paper size then you you may need to change the default paper. This can be done using the Options|Configure|Printer menu.

Can I print in automatic mode?

Yes. You can do this from the command line e.g:
ESCAPEE TEST.PCL /PRINT /PAGE 5-9 /WINDOW 1 /X
prints pages 5 to 9 of a document called TEST.PCL
The only limitation is that in this mode there is no way of selecting the printer: EscapeE will use the default one.

I exported an HP document to PDF but when I printed the page on the same HP printer, it was reduced in size?

This does not normally happen. One possible reason is if the document uses a paper size bigger than the default paper for the printer then Acrobat uses the 'Shrink to fit' option, which would give the effect you describe. If EscapeE shows the document correctly on the screen, then try the Print option and check that the result is correct. Then check that Acrobat displays the page correctly (note the paper size displayed on its status bar at the bottom of the screen). If so, select a suitable size paper in the Print dialogue and you should get correct results.

We currently use a COBOL program to produce hard copy and are having problems with page breaks

EscapeE behaves exactly like the printer you have configured it to emulate. Check that you have the correct set-up for your printer. The Options|Configuration|Printer dialogue can be used to set up the default orientation, paper size and (if non-standard) the number of printable lines per page. Click on Save to remember the settings. If you do need to force a new page then the Form Feed control code (12 decimal, 0C hex) is the simplest way of doing this. There are also PCL commands to force a front or back page in duplex mode:
<Escape>&a1G = Front side,
<Escape>&a2G = Back side.

I tried using EscapeE's plain text export, and the file produced seems to be a lot of jibberish

Some printer drivers assign non-standard code to the characters in their download fonts - try selecting a different driver. For example the Windows 98 HP driver is systematic in the way it allocates codes - it adds 3 to each one, so in EscapeE if you select Options|Configuration and set 'Type' to 'Windows HP Driver' the correct code conversion will be engaged. Other drivers (notably those of Windows2000) assign character codes arbitrarily, in order of their occurrence in the text. This means that for example if the text began with the word 'Hello' the character 'H' would have code1, 'e' code 2 etc. which as far as EscapeE's display is concerned is fine but does cause problems in making use of the text. The default configuration is 'Windows Driver' but you can also try 'Other' which applies no code conversion at all.
A workaround is to use only the printer's resident fonts in your document, since the driver is compelled to use standard codes in this case.
If the driver has downloaded TrueType fonts that are also resident on your PC then EscapeE will automatically recognise the correct character codes - check the Fonts Character recognition database. Some drivers allow you to tell them which fonts are resident so you could try that.