Two Questions About 80-Col HP-IL Video

[toml_12953]

I was lucky enough to grab an HP-92198 80-Column Interface on eBay for my HP-71B. On reading the manual, however, I have a couple questions.

1. I'm trying to find the best way to print a word in reverse video. I've written a function which works but I'd like to know if there's a better, faster way:

Code:

DEF FNR$(X$)
FOR I9=1 TO LEN(X$)
X$[I9,I9]=CHR$(NUM(X$[I9,I9])+128)
NEXT I9
FNR$=X$
END DEF

2. The manual says the result of the memory test can be found in the status word but I don't see a way to read the status word. What am I missing?