Accessing Character Sets Internal to Your Printer in WinWord

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

Because Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Word for Windows use the ANSI character set, character sets available from your printer (also called symbol sets) may not be directly accessible or viewable; however, you can print most of these characters by using a PRINT field in a Word for Windows document.

Some characters, such as the printer control characters, are not accessible and cannot be printed. Word usually differentiates these characters from accessible characters by displaying them in a different color.

MORE INFORMATION

To access the printer's character sets, you need to know the escape sequence for the character set you want to access, the escape sequence for the default character set of the printer, and the character number of the symbol you want to print. This information is usually found in the back of your printer manual.

Steps to Access Printer Character Sets with a PRINT Field

1. Place the insertion point at the beginning of the line in which you want the special character to appear.

2. Press CTRL+F9 to insert a field code. Between the field braces, type "print" (without the quotation marks), followed by the escape sequence of the character set you want to access. Place the escape sequence within quotation marks. For example, on the Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet IIIp printer, the escape sequence to access the PC-8 character set is "ESC(10U". The Word for Windows PRINT field appears on-screen as follows:

         {print "|(10U"}
   

   Notes: The | character appears as a box when using Microsoft Windows 3.1x and 95. See the section How To Include the "ESC" (|) Portion of Code later in this article as to how to insert that symbol into Microsoft Word.

   The PRINT field codes must appear on the left margin so that they do not send linefeeds to the printer.

3. Position the insertion point where you want the special character to print in the sentence. Press ALT+0 plus the character's decimal value on the numeric keypad (with NUM LOCK turned on). Note that the screen displays either a vertical line or the ANSI equivalent symbol because the screen font displays only ANSI characters. For example, to print the "smiley" face symbol (available in the PC-8 character set on an HP LaserJet IIIp printer), type "ALT+0001" (without the quotation marks). A vertical line appears on the screen, as shown in the following example:

         {print "|(10U"}This is the smiley face symbol for the
         PC-8 character set |.
   

   Note: The vertical bar that follows the above text indicates the position where the smiley face symbol prints.

4. At the beginning of the next line, press CTRL+F9 to insert a field. Between the braces, type "print" (without the quotation marks) followed by the escape sequence (within quotation marks) of the default character set. For example, to return to the default character set of the HP LaserJet IIIp printer (Roman8), you need the sequence "ESC(8U". (See the section How To Include the "ESC" (|) Portion of Code later in this article as to how to insert that symbol into Microsoft Word.)

   {print "|(10U"}This is the "smiley" face symbol from the PC-8 character set |. {print "|(8U"}

How To Include the "ESC" (|) Portion of Code

Microsoft Word 1.x

In Microsoft Word for Windows version 1.x, you can enter the escape sequence into the PRINT field by:

1. Click Field on the Insert menu and then select Print. Click OK.

   or

   Press CTRL+F9 to enter field braces into the document and then type PRINT inside the field braces.

2. Type ALT+027 key combination in the Field Code box. The 027 needs to be entered using the Numeric Keypad.

Microsoft Word 2.x-7.x

In Microsoft Word for Windows version 2.x-7.x, you must enter the escape sequence directly on-screen by:

1. Press CTRL+F9 to enter Field braces into the document

2. Type PRINT inside the Field Braces.

Microsoft Word 97

In Microsoft Word 97 for Windows version, you must enter the escape sequence directly on-screen by:

1. Click Field on the Insert menu and then select Print from the Field Names: list. Click OK.

   or

   Press CTRL+F9 to enter field braces into the document and then type PRINT inside the field braces.

2. Press the Spacebar to enter a space after the PRINT field and then type 27" for the escape code.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, page 752

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Reference," version 1.x, page 352