{
I am writing a Program that Uses the Printer to (whatelse?) print
out a report.  Now, the problem that I am having is that the Printer
Function in TP 6.0 (ie Writeln (lst,'BLA BLA BLA');) Dosn't
check For errors (if the Printer is not on, or is not online)
basicaly I need something that weill check and give out the
famous line ('Printer not Ready (A)bort (R)etry')


Your're in luck, I just got a new Printer and started writing routines to
control it (TFDD etc..). These are probably the most important ones:



{ note: This routines are not throughly tested on Various Printers.}
{       Thus it may of may not work on your Type of Printer.       }
{       But, as a rule, experiment With it and have fun............}

Uses
  Dos;

Functio PrinterOutofPaper( Port : Byte): Boolean;
Var
  Regs : Registers;
begin
  Regs.AH := $02;
  Regs.DX := Port;          { 0=LPT1,  1=LPT2,  2=LPT3 }
  Intr($17, Regs);          { Print Service Please }
  PrinterOutofPaper := (Regs.AH and $20 = $20)
end;

Function PrinterReady( Port : Byte): Boolean;
Var
  Regs : Registers;
begin
  With Regs Do
  begin
    AH := $02;
    DX := Port;          { 0=LPT1,  1=LPT2,  2=LPT3 }
    Intr($17, Regs)
    PrinterReady := (AH and $80 = $80) and       { Printer Busy?   }
                    (AH and $10 = $10) and       { Printer Online? }
                    (AH and $08 = $00)           { Printer Error?  }
  end;
end;

Procedure PrintChar(Port: Byte; Ch: Char);
Var
  Regs : Registers;
begin
  With Regs Do
  begin
    AL := ord(Ch);             { Char to print            }
    DX := Port;                { 0=LPT1,  1=LPT2,  2=LPT3 }
    AH := $00;                 { Print Char Service       }
    Intr($17, Regs);           { Call Bios                }
  end
end;

Procedure BootPrinter( Port: Byte);
 { Initializes IBM- or EPSON- Compatible Printer  }
 { Other Printers may not understand this command }
 { and may produce unwanted results               }
Var
  Regs : Registers;
begin
  Regs.DX := Port;                { 0=LPT1,  1=LPT2,  2=LPT3 }
  Regs.AH := $01;
  Intr($17, Regs)
end;