-useBuiltinSS
(Merge only)
PCL printing only. Control the symbolset handling done by Merge.
Syntax
-useBuiltinSS Y|N
Description
Some old printers (we've encountered it on a Kyocera) are incapable of handling downloaded symbolset definitions. Supplying -useBuiltinSS Y will instruct Merge to use the printer's built-in symbolset definitions for its resident fonts. With any modern printer you are unlikely to use this option.
Normally, Merge will keep track of all of the characters that a document uses. Merge then creates a dynamic symbolset definition that is perfect for the given document. In that symbolset definition, the first 127 characters are the standard 7-bit ASCII characters. After that, a new symbolset codepoint is added for each character outside of 1 to 127 range. Merge will download that symbolset definition before and when selecting a font it will specify that downloaded symbolset.
Note that in this dynamic symbolset the 0x80 (128) codepoint does not refer to the Euro symbol but is rather whatever first character, outside of the 1 to 127 range, that was encountered for this font for this document. It might refer to the é character or whichever character valued greater than 127 was first encountered. If you peer into .pcl files, do not be misled by the existence of the 0x80 codepoint.
If you specify -useBuiltinSS Y then Merge will not use the above dynamic symbolset technique for resident fonts. Instead, it will use symbolsets that are built into the printer. PCL printers from different manufacturers may support a variety of built-in symbolsets for their resident fonts. These printers generally have a control panel, or some means, to cause them to print out the set of fonts they have and in so doing also show the symbolsets that those fonts use. Merge is aware of only certain symbolsets. These are defined in file .../DO/Bin/Default-DOpclSymbolsets.ss. The symbolsets that are defined in there are far and away the most common, and probably cover everything you need. If you happen to want to use a symbolset that is not there you can create a custom override file, $O/DOpclSymbolsets.ss. Of course, it is a plain text file.
It's incredibly unlikely that you would ever have to do this. A useful resource, if you do go down this path, is http://www.pclviewer.com/resources/pcl_symbolset.html.
As Merge processes a text string it will detect when it encounters a character that is not in the currently selected built-in symbolset. When that happens, it will work out just what symbolset the offending character is in and switch to that symbolset. Later, possibly even "soon", it may have to switch back or to some other symbolset that contains the next character(s). Notice that symbolset selection is independent of font selection. By using -useBuiltinSS Y you are saying that the printer does not understand downloaded dynamic symbolsets but rather understands only built-in symbolsets.
