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Accessing Printer Devices
For either a program-described or an externally-described file, you can specify an
indicator, *IN01 through *IN99, using the keyword OFLIND(
overflow indicator
) on
the File Description specification. This indicator is set on when a line is printed on
the overflow line, or the overflow line is reached or passed during a space or skip
operation. Use the indicator to condition your response to the overflow condition.
The indicator does not condition the RPG overflow logic as an overflow indicator
(*INOA through *INOG, *INOV) does. You are responsible for setting the indicator
off.
For both program-described and externally-described files, the line number and
page number are available in the printer feedback section of the INFDS for the file.
To access this information specify the INFDS keyword on the file specification. On
the specification, define the line number in positions 367-368 and define the page
number in positions 369-372 of the data structure. Both the line number and the
page number fields must be defined as binary with no decimal positions. Because
the INFDS will be updated after every output operation to the printer file, these
fields can be used to determine the current line and page number without having
line-count logic in the program.
Note: If you override a printer file to a different device, such as a disk, the printer
feedback section of the INFDS will not be updated, and your line count logic
will not be valid.
For a program-described PRINTER file, the following sections on overflow indica-
tors and fetch overflow logic apply.
Using Overflow Indicators in Program-Described Files
An overflow indicator (OA through OG, OV) is set on when the last line on a page
has been printed or passed. An overflow indicator can be used to specify the lines
to be printed on the next page. Overflow indicators can be specified only for
program-described PRINTER files and are used primarily to condition the printing of
heading lines. An overflow indicator is specified using the keyword OFLIND on the
file description specifications and can be used to condition operations in the calcu-
lation specifications (positions 9 through 11) and output specifications (positions 21
through 29). If an overflow indicator is not specified, the compiler assigns the first
unused overflow indicator to the PRINTER file. Overflow indicators can also be
specified as resulting indicators on the calculation specifications (positions 71
through 76).
The compiler sets on an overflow indicator only the first time an overflow condition
occurs on a page. An overflow condition exists whenever one of the following
occurs:
A line is printed past the overflow line.
The overflow line is passed during a space operation.
The overflow line is passed during a skip operation.
Table 23 on page 319 shows the results of the presence or absence of an over-
flow indicator on the file description and output specifications.
The following considerations apply to overflow indicators used on the output
specifications:
Spacing past the overflow line sets the overflow indicator on.
Chapter 17. Accessing Externally Attached Devices 317