HP Pcl 5 Manual

ENCharacter Code Command 11-49
Character Code Command 
The Character Code command establishes the decimal code that is 
associated with the next character downloaded. This value is used to 
reference the character for printing.
E
C * c # E
# =character code 
Default =0
Range =0 - 65535
NotesFor unbound fonts, the character code for a given character equals its 
symbol index value. 
For TrueType fonts, a special code must be used to download glyphs 
which never stand alone as characters. FFFF (hex) should...

11-50   Soft Font CreationEN
Character Definition Command 
The Character Descriptor and Data command is used to download 
character data blocks to the printer for both bitmap and scalable fonts.
E
C ( s # W   [character descriptor and data] 
Default =N/A
Range =0 - 32767
The value field (#) identifies the number of bytes in the immediately 
following character data block. The maximum number is 32767.
For a detailed description of the Character Descriptor fields for bitmap 
fonts refer to Character...

ENCharacter Descriptor Formats 11-51
Character Descriptor Formats 
Character definition formats for PCL Bitmap, Intellifont Scalable 
and TrueType Scalable fonts are shown on the following pages.
NoteThe following notation is used to define the data type of each field in 
the character descriptors.
Character Descriptor and Data Format for PCL 
Bitmap Fonts    
The descriptor of a PCL bitmap character is at least 14 bytes long and 
contains information such as the character’s width and height.
The...

11-52   Soft Font CreationEN
Format (UB)  
This is the first byte of every character data block header. It specifies 
the format of the character descriptor and data. The format number 
used for bitmap fonts is 4. This format must match that of the Font 
Header.
If the format number is different from that expected by the device, the 
character is discarded.6 Left Offset
8 Top Offset
10 Character Width
12 Character Height
14 Delta X
16  Raster Character Data: (in bytes)
M
Table 11-36 PCL Bitmap...

ENCharacter Descriptor Formats 11-53
Continuation (B)
This is the second (and last) byte of every character data block 
header. It specifies whether the following data is the first (0) data 
block of a new character definition, or a continuation (1) block for a 
character definition which has already been received by the printer. 
Because the value field in a Character Definition command is limited 
to 32767 bytes, characters whose byte count exceed this must be 
sent in two or more blocks.
Descriptor...

11-54   Soft Font CreationEN
Class 1 - Bitmap Data
Class 1 or bitmap (raster) character data is a string of bytes 
containing the dot-per-bit image of the character, no data 
compression. If a bit is set to one, the corresponding dot is printed. 
The data is grouped in dot rows. A row describes a one-dot-high strip 
of the character from left to right, in the direction of the printer’s raster 
scan (see the Portrait Bitmap Character Data Example, at the end of 
this chapter). Zeroed bits must be added to...

ENCharacter Descriptor Formats 11-55 Figure 11-5 Class 2 Character Data 

11-56   Soft Font CreationEN
Orientation (UB)
Orientation byte specifies the orientation of the character. The 
orientation of the character must match the orientation of the font.
If the orientation is not supported or is different from the orientation 
specified in the font header, the character is discarded.
Left Offset (SI)
Left offset specifies the distance in dots from the reference point to 
the left side of the character pattern on the physical page coordinate 
system (this value is orientation...

ENCharacter Descriptor Formats 11-57
Character Width (UI)
The Character Width, used for bitmap fonts only, identifies the width 
of the character in dots on the physical coordinate system. Generally, 
this width is from the farthest left black dot to the farthest right black 
dot. Character width is orientation dependent.
The legal range for character width is 1 to 16384 dots.
Character Height (UI)
Character Height specifies the height of the character in dots on 
the physical coordinate system....

11-58   Soft Font CreationEN
Figure 11-6 Portrait Character Example