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Printing to rs232 printer

 
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mbailey



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 2

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Printing to rs232 printer
PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 12:51 pm     Reply with quote
Hi,

I don't have much experience with printers so I apologize if this question seems somewhat open-ended or trivial.

I have a device (uses 16F877) that I would like a user to be able to attach an rs232 printer to and have it print out some log data. This data is very simple and only needs to contain plain ascii text (no graphics etc.).

Is there a protocol that most printers support at a very basic level for just printing some text? I've read about the ESC protocol and wonder if maybe this is what I should be using?

Does anybody have an example that just prints out a line of plain ascii text to a printer, or even a file that I can write out to the printer to display a line?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Mike
Ttelmah
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Re: Printing to rs232 printer
PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 1:00 pm     Reply with quote
mbailey wrote:
Hi,

I don't have much experience with printers so I apologize if this question seems somewhat open-ended or trivial.

I have a device (uses 16F877) that I would like a user to be able to attach an rs232 printer to and have it print out some log data. This data is very simple and only needs to contain plain ascii text (no graphics etc.).

Is there a protocol that most printers support at a very basic level for just printing some text? I've read about the ESC protocol and wonder if maybe this is what I should be using?

Does anybody have an example that just prints out a line of plain ascii text to a printer, or even a file that I can write out to the printer to display a line?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Mike

Most RS232 printers, will print plain text 'as is'. So the old traditional 'Hello world' application will drive them. However in some cases there will need to be small 'extras'. For instance, on Laser printers, in general, nothing prints, until a 'form feed' character is sent, or an entire page is filled. The only place for data on this, is the manufacturer of your particular printer. There is no 'standard'. Some manufacturers have their own standards, but most of these apply to extensions beyond 'plain text' printing. Epson has their ESC/P2 language, and HP has HPGL. The name of the latter though shows why these should not be needed. The letters stand for 'Hewlett Packard _Graphics_ Language'. The key here is that it is only needed when sending graphics.
Try sending plain text, with a carriage return, and a line feed. If the printer is at all 'normal', it'll print.

Best Wishes
mbailey



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 2

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:49 pm     Reply with quote
Thanks for the help... this is what I was hoping for. The only printer I currently have does not run at the baud rate that I need so I will not be able to test it until I pick up a new printer.

I appreciate the help.

thanks again,
Mike
Ttelmah
Guest
PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 5:08 am     Reply with quote
mbailey wrote:
Thanks for the help... this is what I was hoping for. The only printer I currently have does not run at the baud rate that I need so I will not be able to test it until I pick up a new printer.

I appreciate the help.

thanks again,
Mike

Remember that you can test this, by attaching the printer to a PC serial port, going to a command prompt, setting up the baud rate etc., and then typing:
copy con: com1:
Hello world
<CTRL>Z

The first line says to copy what you type to the com1 port (change to suit which port you are trying it on), then you type some text (the 'Hello world'), and then an 'EOF' (<CTRL>Z).
The text is then sent directly out the com port, allowing you to see what happens. :-)

Best Wishes
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