HP PCL/PJL reference - Printer Job Language Technical Reference Manual

6-34 Environment Commands EN
Setting the Printer to a Desired State
At the beginning of each print job, printer features which affect the
printed output must be set to a desired state to print the job as
expected. This can be accomplished in two ways:
• If the printer has a control panel, the user sets the control
panel to values that are appropriate for all users sharing the
printer.
• For features that must be set on a job-by-job basis, use printer
language commands. If a feature cannot be set with a printer
language, use PJL.
Applications that generate print data, such as word processors,
spreadsheets, and graphics programs, should ensure that the printer
is set to a desired state as follows (see Chapter 10 for a description of
the various application types):
1 Send the UEL command (<ESC>%-12345X) to start PJL and to
default the print environment to the User Default Environment
settings.
2 Use the SET command to modify any currently defined
environment variables that cannot be set using the desired printer
language. For example, use PJL to set variables such as RET or
PAGE PROTECTION that cannot be set with a printer language;
then use PCL or another printer language to set the remaining
environment variables, such as orientation and number of copies.
Note Do not set features that you do not enable users to set from your
application. Any feature set by the application should enable the user
to control that feature—this strategy prevents the user from being
“locked out” of a particular feature.
3 Enter the desired printer language and use printer language
commands to set all other environment variables to the desired
settings.
4 If using a SET command to modify an environment variable, use
a RESET command to return to its default state.