PRINTER CONFIGURATION - FGL vs. PCL4
BOCA printers are factory configured for either FGL or PCL4 operation. FGL mode is discussed in great detail in the programming guide. PCL4 mode is described in the "Windows Compatibility Supplement". Please note that the printer cannot alternate between these two modes. PCL4 is primarily a legacy configuration for printers purchased before the development of the FGL drivers. We strongly discourage the use of PCL4 drivers for new Windows-based applications.

COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR PRINTER
There are three basic ways of communicating with a BOCA printer. The simplest way to communicate with your BOCA printer is to open a port (parallel, serial or USB) and to write directly to the port. This method will work with any PC and any software while supporting full bi-directional communication.

The second means of communicating with a BOCA printer is over the Network via the Ethernet interface (see Ethernet page). The network interface can be designed for full bi-directional communication and is the only means of working with a printer independent of a PC.

The final approach is to communicate with the printer using a printer driver (see printer driver page). The printer driver interprets the data from the application and writes to the port (parallel, serial, USB or Ethernet). BOCA provides drivers for all active Windows platforms (W2K and XP), Linux and Macs. These drivers only work with all standard BOCA printers built from 2000 forward. (Older software such as FGL II, IV, 20, 40, 21 and 41 will not operate with these drivers. FGL22/42 rev C and above and all FGL24/44 are compatible.) The Generic Text Printer Driver (in Windows) can be used for text based applications on older printer models which do not support the FGL drivers. However, the generic text driver has limited capabilities and does not support certain functions such as graphics and true type fonts.

While our printer drivers do not support bi-directional communication, it is possible to selectively bypass the driver in the Windows Environment in order to communicate bi-directionally as described on the BiDirectional Interface page. (We do not have tools for communicating bi-directionally in Linux and Mac environments.)