FCB Statement

The FCB statement specifies the contents of a forms control buffer (FCB) module for the 3800, 3262 Model 5, or 4248 printer: spacing codes (lines per inch), channel codes (simulated carriage-control channel punches), and the size of the form. For the 4248 printer, the FCB statement also specifies print position for the horizontal copy feature and printer speed, and whether the FCB image is to be used as a default.

The FCB statement must always be followed by a NAME statement, and can only be preceded by an INCLUDE statement if DEVICE=4248 is specified on an OPTION statement.

An FCB statement with no operands specified, followed by a NAME statement that identifies a 3800 FCB module in the image library, causes the module to be formatted and printed. 3262 Model 5 and 4248 FCB modules cannot be printed by the FCB statement unless a valid operation is performed on them. To build an FCB module, you code the FCB statement with at least one operand. The format of a printed FCB module is shown in FCB Module Listing.

The syntax of the FCB statement is:

Label	Statement	Parameters
[label]	FCB	[LPI=((l[,n]) [,(l[,n])[,...]])] [,CHx=(line[,line[,...]]) [,CHx=(line[,line[,...]])[,...]] [,SIZE=length] [,LINES=lines] [,COPYP=position] [,PSPEED={L\|M\|H\|N}] [,DEFAULT={YES\|NO}]
Note: COPYP, PSPEED and DEFAULT can only be specified for a 4248 FCB module

where:

LPI=((l[,n]) [,(l[,n])[,...]])

specifies the number of lines per inch and the number of lines to be printed at that line spacing.

l: specifies the number of lines per inch, and can be 6, 8, or 12 (for the 3800 Model 1); 6 or 8 (for the 3262 Model 5 or 4248); or 6, 8, 10, or 12 (for the 3800 Model 3).
n: specifies the number of lines at a line spacing of l. When the printer uses common-use paper sizes, n is a decimal value from 1 to 60 when l is 6; from 1 to 80 when l is 8; from 1 to 100 when l is 10; and from 1 to 120 when l is 12.
When the printer uses ISO paper sizes, n is a value from 1 to 66 when l is 6; from 1 to 88 when l is 8; from 1 to 110 when l is 10; or from 1 to 132 when l is 12. For the paper sizes, see IBM 3800 Printing Subsystem Programmer's Guide.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the total number of lines specified results in a length that is a multiple of 1/2 inch. That is 1.27cm.

The total number of lines cannot result in a value that exceeds the usable length of the form. For the 3800, do not specify coding for the top and bottom 1/2 inch of the form; IEBIMAGE does this for you.

When the SIZE, LINES, and LPI parameters are specified in the FCB statement, each parameter value is checked against the others to ensure that there are no conflicting page-length specifications. For example, SIZE=35 specifies a 3-1/2 inch length; acceptable LPI values for the 3800 cannot define more than the printable 2-1/2 inches of this length.

When you specify more than one (l,n) pair, l must be specified for each pair and n must be specified for each pair except the last.

When you specify 12 lines per inch, use one of the condensed character sets. If other character sets are printed at 12 lines per inch, the tops or bottoms of the characters may not print.

When only l is specified, or when l is the last parameter in the LPI list, all remaining lines on the page are at l lines per inch.

When LPI is not specified, all lines on the page are at 6 lines per inch.

If the total number of lines specified is less than the maximum number that can be specified, the remaining lines default to 6 lines per inch.

If INCLUDE is specified, the value for LPI may be taken from the included FCB module. See the discussion on the module name parameter for the INCLUDE statement.

CHx=(line[,line [,...]])

specifies the channel code (or codes) and the line number (or numbers) to be skipped to when that code is specified.

CHx: specifies a channel code, where x is a decimal integer from 1 to 12.
line: specifies the line number of the print line to be skipped to, and is expressed as a decimal integer. The first printable line on the page is line number 1.
The value of line cannot be larger than the line number of the last printable line on the form.

Only one channel code can be specified for a print line. However, more than one print line can contain the same channel code.

Conventions:

Channel 1 is used to identify the first printable line on the form. The job entry subsystem and the CLOSE routines for direct allocation to the 3800 with BSAM or QSAM require a channel 1 code even when the data being printed contains no skip to channel 1.
Channel 9 is used to identify a special line. To avoid I/O interruptions that are caused by use of channel 9, count lines to determine the line position.
Channel 12 is used to identify the last print line on the form to be used. To avoid I/O interruptions that are caused by use of channel 12, count lines to determine the page size.
Use of an FCB that lacks a channel code to stop a skip operation causes a data check at the printer when the corresponding skip is issued. This data check cannot be blocked.

If INCLUDE is specified, values for CHx may be taken from the included FCB module. See the discussion under the module name parameter for the INCLUDE statement.

SIZE=length

specifies the vertical length of the form, in tenths of an inch. See IBM 3800 Printing Subsystem Programmer's Guide for the allowable lengths for the 3800. The complete length of the form is specified (for example, with the 3800, SIZE=110 for an 11-inch form) even though the amount of space available for printing is reduced by the 1/2-inch top and bottom areas where no printing occurs.

When the SIZE, LINES and LPI keywords are specified in the FCB statement, each parameter value is checked against the others to ensure that there are no conflicting page-length specifications. For example, SIZE=35 specifies a 3-1/2 inch length; acceptable LPI values for the 3800 cannot define more than the printable 2-1/2 inches of this length.

When SIZE is not specified, the form length defaults to the value specified in LINES. If LINES is not specified, SIZE is assumed to be 11 inches (110).

If INCLUDE is specified, the value for SIZE may be taken from the included FCB module. See the discussion under the module name parameter for the INCLUDE statement.

LINES=lines

specifies the total number of lines to be contained in an FCB module.

lines: is the decimal number, from 1 to 256, which indicates the number of lines on the page.

When the LINES, SIZE, and LPI parameters are specified in the FCB statement, each parameter value is checked against the others to ensure that there are no conflicting page-length specifications.

When LINES is not specified, the form length defaults to the value of LPI multiplied by the value of SIZE, in inches. If no SIZE parameter is specified, LINES defaults to 11 times the value of LPI.

If INCLUDE is specified, the value for LINES may be taken from the included FCB module. See the discussion under the module name parameter of the INCLUDE statement.

COPYP=position

specifies the position (the number of character spaces from the left margin) at which the horizontal copy is to begin printing.

position: is a decimal number, from 2 to 168, which indicates where the horizontal copy printing will start. If your 4248 printer has only 132 print positions, the maximum number you should specify here is 132.
If COPYP=0 is coded, any COPYP value previously set in an included FCB module is overridden, and the horizontal copy feature is turned off. You may not specify COPYP=1.

If INCLUDE is specified, and the included FCB module is formatted for a 4248 printer only, the default is the COPYP value for the included FCB module. Otherwise, if no COPYP value is specified, the default value is 0.

COPYP is not valid for 3800 FCB modules; it is ignored for 3262 Model 5 FCB modules.

The COPYP value specified affects the maximum amount of data that may be sent to the printer. Channel programs that are run with the horizontal copy feature activated must set the suppress incorrect length (SIL) bit and have a data length that does not exceed the size of either one half the number of print positions or the smaller of the two copy areas.

PSPEED={L|M|H|N}

specifies the print speed for the 4248 printer. Note that printer speed affects the quality of printing; LOW speed provides the best quality.

L or LOW: sets the printer speed to 2200 lines per minute (LPM).
M or MEDIUM: sets the printer speed to 3000 LPM.
H or HIGH: sets the printer speed to 3600 LPM.
N or NOCHANGE: indicates that the current printer speed should remain unchanged.

If INCLUDE is specified, and the included module is formatted for a 4248 printer only, the default is the PSPEED value for the included FCB module. Otherwise, the default is NOCHANGE (or N).

PSPEED is not valid for 3800 FCB modules. PSPEED is ignored for 3262 Model 5 FCB modules.

DEFAULT={YES|NO}

specifies if this 4248 FCB image is to be treated as the default image by OPEN processing. Default images are used by the system for jobs that do not request a specific image.

If a job does not request a specific FCB image, and the current image is not a default, the operator will be prompted for an FCB image at OPEN time.

If INCLUDE is used to copy a 4248 FCB module that was originally specified as a default image, the new module will also be considered a default image unless DEFAULT=NO is now specified.

DEFAULT is not valid for 3800 FCB images.