Dec 13, 2005
AFP Q&A: Units of Measurment
Question:
I know that there are several choices for unit of measurment when defining the SETUNITS command in form definitions and page definitions - INCHES, MILLIMETERS, PELS, etc. Is there any one compelling reason for using one unit of measurement over any other?
Answer:
Certainly, using a unit of measure that you are familiar with is the easiest way to calculate the placement of objects and data. In addition, there is the consideration of the tools available – rulers in inches or millimeters are readily available, while rulers marked in PELS are not. The ability to change units of measurement within a page defintion or form defintion also gives you the capability to place items with very finite measurments – changing from INCHES to PELS and back as in the following example:
SETUNITS 1 IN 1 IN
LINESP 6.00 LPI;
PAGEDEF ABC123
WIDTH 8.5
HEIGHT 11
LINEONE 0 0.0
DIRECTION ACROSS
REPLACE YES;
FONT F1 CS H2100C CP 000437;
PAGEFORMAT P2ABC123
WIDTH 8.5
HEIGHT 11
DIRECTION ACROSS;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 10
CHANNEL 1
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 0.6 0.57
FONT F1;
SETUNITS 1 PELS 1 PELS
LINESP 8.00 LPI;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 3
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 20 50
FONT F1;
SETUNITS 1 IN 1 IN
LINESP 6.00 LPI;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 1
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 30 100
FONT F1;
You also have the option of defining the unit of measure for specific printlines in a page defintion, without changing the defined unit of measurement in the SETUNITS command, as in the following example:
SETUNITS 1 IN 1 IN
LINESP 6.00 LPI;
PAGEDEF ABC123
WIDTH 8.5
HEIGHT 11
LINEONE 0 0.0
DIRECTION ACROSS
REPLACE YES;
FONT F1 CS H2100C CP 000437;
PAGEFORMAT P2ABC123
WIDTH 8.5
HEIGHT 11
DIRECTION ACROSS;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 10
CHANNEL 1
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 0.6 IN 0.57 IN
FONT F1;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 1
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 20 PELS 50 PELS
FONT F1;
PRINTLINE REPEAT 1
DIRECTION ACROSS
POSITION 1.00 IN 4.00 IN
FONT F1;
Check out the Page Printer Formatting Aid (PPFA) reference materials available from IBM at:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/search.wss?rs=0&lang=en&loc=en_US&r=10&cs=iso-8859-1&rankfile=0&cc=us&spc=&stc=&apar=include&q1=ppfa&q2=&sort=desc&tc=&Go.x=10&Go.y=12&dc=DA410+DA450&dtm
If you would like some additional information on PPFA contact COPI at: 1-888-999-COPI or visit www.888999copi.com