1. ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
  2. ZPL Commands
  3. ~DB
  • ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
~DB

~DB

The
~DB
 command sets the printer to receive a downloaded bitmap font and defines native cell size, baseline, space size, and copyright.

Download Bitmap Font

This command consists of two portions, a ZPL II command defining the font and a structured data segment that defines each character of the font.
Format:
~DBd:o.x,a,h,w,base,space,#char,©,data
Parameters
Details
d =
 drive to store font
Values:
R:
,
E:
,
B:
, and
A:
Default:
R:
o =
 name of font
Values:
 1 to 8 alphanumeric characters
Default:
 if a name is not specified, UNKNOWN is used
x =
 extension
Format:
.FNT
a =
 orientation of native font
Fixed Value:
 normal
h =
 maximum height of cell (in dots)
Values:
1
 to
32000
Default:
 a value must be specified
w =
 maximum width of cell (in dots)
Values:
1
 to
32000
Default:
 a value must be specified
base =
 dots from top of cell to character baseline
Values:
1
 to
32000
Default:
 a value must be specified
space =
 width of space or non-existent characters
Values:
1
 to
32000
Default:
 a value must be specified
#char =
 number of characters in font
Values:
1
 to
256
 (must match the characters being downloaded)
Default:
 a value must be specified
© =
 copyright holder
Values:
1
 to
63
 alphanumeric characters
Default:
 a value must be specified
data =
 structured ASCII data that defines each character in the font
The # symbol signifies character code parameters, which are separated with periods. The character code is from 1 to 4 characters to allow for large international character sets to be downloaded to the printer.
The data structure is:
#xxxx.h.w.x.y.i.data
#xxxx =
 character code
h =
 bitmap height (in dot rows)
w =
 bitmap width (in dot rows)
x =
 x-offset (in dots)
y =
 y-offset (in dots)
i =
 typesetting motion displacement (width, including inter character gap of a particular character in the font)
data =
 hexadecimal bitmap description
Example:
 This is an example of how to use the
~DB
 command. It shows the first two characters of a font being downloaded to DRAM.
~DBR:TIMES.FNT,N,5,24,3,10,2,ZEBRA 1992,
#0025.5.16.2.5.18.
OOFF
OOFF
FFOO
FFOO
FFFF
#0037.4.24.3.6.26.
OOFFOO
OFOOFO
OFOOFO
OOFFOO