After printer restart, settings are lost - printing

I am using GX430t Zebra printer.
My problem is that after printer restart, printer is no longer printing special characters for Slovenia.
(example file for printing is below).
Example:
Printer is restarted and then we print example file from our application (we have our own app for printing labels). Slovenian characters are not printed:
Next step is to send that same file into printer via printer settings:
File is printed correctly:
What is even more interesting is that every file printed from our application is OK, after that step is done.
My question is: where does printer stores info about that? What I would like to do is include (if possible) this information into every file that I am printing, so regardless if printer was restarted or not, Slovenian characters will be printed correctly. Otherwise, we must use printer settings and sending example file to printer each time printer is restarted.
Example file with zebra language:
^XA^LH300,10^FO10,10^A0,20,20^FD Šazoćeđa gostinstvo d.o.o.^FS^FO10,20 ^A0,20,20^FDIme polizdelka: ^FS^FO10,40 ^A0,35,35^FDŠABAN ŠAULIĆ^FS^FO10,80 ^A0,30,30^FDDatum predpriprave: 25.04.2018^FS^FO10,120 ^A0,30,30^FDUporabno najmanj do: 25.04.2018^FS^FO10,160 ^A0,20,20^FDOddelek predpriprave: Centralna predpriprava^FS^FO10,190 ^A0,30,30^FDOddelek finalizacije: HKJ_topla kuhinja^FS^FO10,230 ^A0,30,30^FDKoličina: 7 (nar.); 0 (dos.); 7 (ned.); kg^FS^FO10,265 ^FB650,12,, ^A0,20,20^FDSestavine: MOKA PSENICNA T500 1KG (aler.: Gluten; psenica;); SOL KAMENA ; JAJCNI MELANZ (aler.: Jajca;); MLEKO SVEZE 10L (aler.: Mleko;)^FS^FO10,560 ^A0,20,20^FDPripravil: Šaban Šaulić^FS^XZ

Thanks to #banno - solution was to put proper encoding into .ZPL file. In my case, taken from this it was enough to add ^CI28 after ^XA

Related

Print QR-Code with curent EPC-number from RFID label to Printronix T4000

we bought a Printronix RFID printer T4304 with these dates:
FirmwareP301189 V1.21A
Serial NumberT4K431948007
Our wish is
to produce RFID-Labels with an QR-Code which includes the EPC-number
of the label. The QR-Code shall look like this:
http://qr.mycompany.com/epc/E280689123456789012345
We were hoping to use it with the Software Nicelabel. But Nicelabel
is only able to produce a QR-Code with only the EPC-Number but not
with our http://qr.my..../epc/ in front.
I had the idea to save the printjob as file. So I was able to
manipulate the file and send that file as printjob to the Printronix
printer like this:
lpr -S 192.168.1.2 -P raw myprintjob.prn
I found the document PTX_PRM_PGL_P7_253642C.pdf
which describes how the printer language is working. But I cannot
fulfill my destination.
My myprintjob.prn looks like this:
!PTX_SETUP
ENGINE-IMAGE_SHFT_H;0
ENGINE-IMAGE_SHFT_V;0
ENGINE-WIDTH;04146.
PTX_END
~NORMAL
~PIOFF
~DELETE LOGO;*ALL
~PAPER;INTENSITY 8;MEDIA 1;FEED SHIFT 0;CUT 0;PAUSE 0;TYPE 0;LABELS 2;SPEED IPS 6;SLEW IPS 6
~CREATE;FRM;99
SCALE;DOT;300;300
RFRTAG;96;EPC
96;DF511;H
STOP
ISET;0
FONT;FACE 92250
ALPHA
AF511;24;INV;POINT;329;1033;10;10;
STOP
BARCODE
QRCODE;INV;XD9;T2;E0;I1;95;843;
"http://qr.mycompany.com/epc/","EPCCODE"
STOP
END
~EXECUTE;FRM
~REPEAT;1
~AF511;<DF511>
~NORMAL
The result is a QRcode which only includes the first part of the string:
"http://qr.mycompany.com/epc/"
but not the "EPCCODE". I am looking for a hint how to do this.
Maybe I could find out the EPC-code via REST or telnet or so and create a special printjob for every single label?
Thanks for your help,
Richard
Printronix T4000, talk with port 9100 to get info from the printer
Author
Richard Lippmann, Stadt Zirndorf, EDV
Documentinformation
name: talk-with-port9100-to-get-infos-from-printronix-rfid-printer.md
revision: 2021-12-02 - init
What I want to achieve
I want to know the RFID-code from the label which is under the print-head.
With this information I am able to build a printjob with Qrcode which includes
the RFID-EPC.
I was not able to find out how to create a print-job with a qr-code.
I do not want this information in qrcode: ABC1234...567
But I want this information in qrcode: http://qr.mydomain.com/rfid/epc/ABC1234...567
With that I am able to take a picture of the label and go to a web-application
which helps me further with the device the label is on.
Documenation, where to find information
The printer language is described in the document which is easy to google: PTX_PRM_PGL_P7_253642C.pdf
My environment
Printronix T4000 printer with RFID-unit to read the RFID from the current label.
How to get info back from my printer
Usually Port 9100 is used to send a printjob to the Printronix-printer. Send job,
don't receive data. But you can switch the printer to be verbose, to send you
back information over the 9100-connection.
Glossary
EPC = this is the unique number which is in every RFID-label, just like
a MAC-address in a network card
PGL = the printer language. We can send printjobs with it, but also get information
from the printer about Configuration etc.
Human connect to the printer via Linux commandline
ssh me#shell.mydomain.com
export MYPRINTER=192.168.100.3
nc -v $MYPRINTER 9100
Put verbose mode on
The printer usually only receives information, but does not talk back.
You have to switch on the back-communication.
~CONFIG
SNOOP;STATUS
END
Put verbose mode off
I you are programming this interface with a programming
language like python, perl, ... it's a good idea to switch
verbose mode off after you did your job.
~CONFIG
SNOOP;OFF
END
IDENTITY
To see information:
put verbose mode on
send ~IDENTITY command
put verbose mode off
~CONFIG
SNOOP;STATUS
END
~IDENTITY
The result is:
T43040,V1.21A,12,131072KB
STATUS
To see information:
put verbose mode on
send ~IDENTITY command
put verbose mode off
~CONFIG
SNOOP;STATUS
END
~STATUS
The result is:
BUSY;0
PAPER;0
RIBBON;0
PRINT HEAD;0
COUNT;000
GAP;0
HEAD HOT;0
CUT COUNT;000000000
PRINT DIST;000001529
PRCT COMPLETE;000
TOF SYNCED;1
SENSED DIST;00450
END
Read one RFID-EPC-code from current label
These are things mentioned in this command:
~CREATE - start creating a new "form" (or subroutine to execute later)
VERIFY - the name of the subroutine we are creating. Keep it simple,
less than 15 characters, no special signs (see docu PTX_PRM_PGL_P7_253642C
page 60 under "CREATE" and page 29 under "Form Name" for exact informations)
NOMOTION - don't move the label to the next one after executing this job
DF511 = This is a variable-name, there seem to be a lot of variables in the printer
which are called by their numbers: DF1, DF2, ... I don't know which one I am
allowed to use, DF511 seems to work
96 = the RFID-EPC on my labels are 96 Bits long
H = Hexnumbers, the code is 96 Bit long, but I would like to see it like this:
ABC1234...567
VERIFY - a command to send information to the commandline.
~EXECUTE;VERIFY;1 - execute the form 1 time
~CONFIG
SNOOP;STATUS
END
~CREATE;VERIFY;432;NOMOTION
RFRTAG;96;EPC
96;DF511;H
STOP
VERIFY;DF511;H;*STARTEPC=*;*=ENDEPC\n*
END
~EXECUTE;VERIFY;1
~NORMAL
The result is:
STARTEPC=E28068940000501EC931EC87=ENDEPC
Read two RFID-EPC-codes
Reads 2 Barcodes and gives back the EPC-codes. With this command the label get
sent (moved) through the printer.
These are things mentioned in this command:
~CREATE - start creating a new "form" (or subroutine to execute later)
VERIFY - the name of the subroutine we are creating. Keep it simple,
less than 15 characters, no special signs (see docu PTX_PRM_PGL_P7_253642C
page 60 under "CREATE" and page 29 under "Form Name" for exact informations)
NOMOTION - don't move the label to the next one after executing this job
DF511 = This is a variable-name, there seem to be a lot of variables in the printer
which are called by their numbers: DF1, DF2, ... I don't know which one I am
allowed to use, DF511 seems to work
96 = the RFID-EPC on my labels are 96 Bits long
H = Hexnumbers, the code is 96 Bit long, but I would like to see it like this:
ABC1234...567
VERIFY - a command to send information to the commandline.
~EXECUTE;VERIFY;1 - execute the form 1 time
~CONFIG
SNOOP;STATUS
END
~CREATE;VERIFY;432
RFRTAG;96;EPC
96;DF511;H
STOP
VERIFY;DF511;H;*STARTEPC=*;*=ENDEPC\n*
END
~EXECUTE;VERIFY;2
~NORMAL
The result is:
STARTEPC=E28068940000501EC931EC87=ENDEPC
STARTEPC=E28068940000401EC931EC86=ENDEPC

Zebra g420d - light flashes green but nothing is printed

I'm trying to print labels on a Zebra g420d printer, it's setup with CUPS and connected through USB to a Raspberry PI. It works excellent for printing PDF-labels so no problems with communication.
Now I create a secondary queue which is setup as a raw local printer in CUPS to print another type of labels, this time it's not PDF's, instead it's just ZPL. I print with the following command:
lpr -P <PRINTER_NAME> -o raw <FILENAME.zpl>
The green light flashes and file disappears from queue but nothing is printed. Things I have tried:
Using ZPL-driver instead of raw
Different very basic ZPL-labels, some directly from ZPL examples in documentation.
Rendering the label on http://labelary.com/viewer.html, downloading file and send to printer
ZPL with and without linebreaks after each command / at the end
I suspect something might be wrong with encoding of ZPL-commands so I enabled dump mode, here's a photo of the output with hex codes. Note that it's three tries after each other.
dump mode output
One of many ZPL-labels tried:
^XA^FO1,80,0^ADN,25^A0N,100,80,3214^FD123^FS^FO280,80,0^BY3^BCN,150,Y,N,Y,A^FD456^FS^XZ
CUPS Setup:
Description: Zebra Technologies ZTC GK420d
Location:
Driver: Local Raw Printer (grayscale, 2-sided printing)
Connection: usb://Zebra%20Technologies/ZTC%20GK420d?serial=28J2007020XX
Defaults: job-sheets=none, none media=unknown
Any ideas what the reason for this behaviour could be or what to try next?

Sending IFS File to Outq Prints Line of "#" Symbols

I am attempting to send a file from IFS to an outq on our AS/400 system. Whenever I do, I get exactly what I send, as well as a line of "#" symbols of varying lengths appended to the end.
Here's the command I'm using:
qsh cmd('cat -c /path/test.txt | Rfile -wbQ -c "ovrprtf file(qprint)
outq(*LIBL/ABCD) devtype(*USERASCII) rplunprt(*no) splfname(test) hold(*no)"
qprint')
The contents of test.txt is just Hello World!
The output I get when I send the command is
Hello World!####################################################################
I have not found any posts online about a similar problem, and have tried changing values and looking for additional switches to get it to work. Nothing I'm doing seems to fix the issue.
Is there a command or switch that I am missing, or is something I have in there already causing this?
EDIT:
I found this documentation which is the first time I've seen this issue mentioned, but it's not very helpful:
“Messages for a Take Action command might consist of a long string of "at" symbols (#) in a pop-up message. (The Reflex automation Take Action command, which is configured in situations, does not have this problem.) A resolution for this problem is under construction. This problem might be resolved by the time of the product release. If you see this problem, contact IBM Software Support.”
The only differences are: 1) this is not a pop-up message, it's printed. 2) I don't believe we use Tivoli Monitoring, although I could be wrong.
Assuming we do use Tivoli Monitoring, what would the solution be? There's no additional documentation past that, and I am not a system administrator, so I can't really make the call to IBM Software Support myself. And assuming we DON'T use it, what else could cause this issue?
I get different results, yet similar. I created a test.txt with Windows Explorer, put in Hello, world!, saved it and tried the script. I got gibberish for the 'Hello, world!' and then the line of # symbols.
My system is 7.3 TR5, CCSID 37 (US English) and my IFS file is CCSID 1252 (Windows English). Results did not change if I used a stream file of CCSID 819 (US ASCII).
I didn't have any luck modifying Rfile switches.
I found that removing devtype(*userascii) produced printed output in plain English without the # symbols. Do you really need *USERASCII? I would think that would be more for a pre-formatted 'print-ready' file like Postscript or the like.
EDIT: some more things to try
I don't understand why *USERASCII is adding those # symbols; it looks like a translation issue.
I tried this and still got the extra ###... You might have to play with the TOCCSID() parameter. Although a failure, it did give me an idea: what if those # symbols are EBCDIC spaces being sent as-is to the *USERASCII print stream? All we'd need is a way to send only the number of bytes in the stream file, without any padding.
CRTPF FILE(QTEMP/PRTSTMF) RCDLEN(132)
CPY OBJ('/path/test.txt') TOOBJ('/qsys.lib/qtemp.lib/prtstmf.file/prtstmf.mbr') replace(*yes)
ovrprtf file(qprint) outq(*LIBL/prt3812) devtype(*USERASCII) rplunprt(*no) splfname(test) hold(*no)
cpyf prtstmf qprint
The data in QTEMP/PRTSTMF is in ASCII; DSPPFM shows that much. It also shows a bunch of spaces: after all, it is a fixed length file. My next step was to write an RPG program to read the stream file and print it, but Scott Klement already did that: http://www.scottklement.com/PrtStmf.zip
This works on my system:
ovrprtf file(qsysprt) outq(*LIBL/abcd) devtype(*USERASCII) rplunprt(*no) splfname(test) hold(*no)
prtstmf stmf('/path/test.txt') outq(abcd)

Command line print via GhostScript is handling printer settings differently if using print dialog

I'm trying to print a PDF file via GhostScript command and want
to keep alive the default printer settings be done within the system environment (Windows 10 - set paper tray 3 as default).
When is done so without silent mode by using the upcoming printer dialog this works fine (even without setting up paper tray especially)
BUT - as I want the process to be done without dialog - I've also tried it with defining the printer name within the command line.
What works properly, is that the print out happens without dialog - BUT the default configured paper tray doesn't get used - when I print silently - paper tray 1 is used
Is there a possibility to keep the default paper tray settings alive while naming the printer within the command line?
Here is my codeline:
gswin64c.exe -dPrinted -dNoCancel -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -dNOSAFER -q -dBitsPerPixel=4 -sDEVICE=mswinpr2 -sPAPERSIZE=a4 -sOutputFile=%printer%" + "\"" + printerName + "\"" +" " + "\""+pdfFileName+ "\"";
To the best of my knowledge, the mswinpr2 device always uses the default setup of the printer, unless you get a print dialog, in which case you can override the default.
Perhaps the default tray isn't the one you think it is.
Yes - I'm sure that the paper tray is set correct (tray3)
It is used when printing with other applications and also when I print via Ghostscript using a print dialog but not when I send a print job silently via command line.
Oliwan

How to send text file to printer

As i read in some fingerprint manual we can send text file to the printer. Means we can write the program in the text editor and send the whole program as a text file to the printer using the communication program using some transfer commands.
for in my host there is a file called myfile.txt in D:/ with the fallowing data
10 PRPOS 200,200
20 DIR 3
30 ALIGN 5
40 PRIMAGE “GLOBE.1”
50 PRINTFEED
RUN
How can i send this file to printer and execute the instrucations to print the image.
Please give me some code reference.
There are several ways to do this from the command line. For example:
type foo.txt > lpt1:
Or
copy foo.txt lpt1:
Or
print foo.txt
Or
notepad /p foo.txt
If you need to do it programmatically, you can execute any of those commands using the system() function or CreateProcess().
If you're on an Intermec handheld and you're connected to a Bluetooth printer, you should be able to open a serial port to COM6 and send your file over. What programming language? There should be plenty of Serial Port communication code examples out there.
My experience with Intermec PM4i label printer was a roller coaster but know I have a working app.
I tried Windows printer pipeline through generictext driver. It does work from Notepad but with few corner cases.
Printing directly from Notepad works fine until I tried QRCODE image with a very long text line. Image did not print out. Made qrcode text a short few characters and same script worked fine.
INPUT OFF
NASC 1252
BF OFF
FT "Swiss 721 Bold BT",12,0,100
PP 50,500:PT "Text line goes here"
PP 400,400:AN 7:BARSET "QRCODE",1,1,7,2,4
PB "ABC123 aabbcc....very long text goes here...I mean about 200 chars or more"
PRINTFEED
It was like Notepad cut text to a right side border and command string was broken. I made a printing preferences A3-landscape and it accepted longer text but still was not enough for all use cases.
All printers have a physical max printing width but it should not be considered in a fingerprint/directprotocol script files. After all we are not printing this text as-is but submitting commands to the printer.
My solution was to create Java application which opens a raw TCP socket to 11.22.33.44:9100 address and writes text lines, lines terminated by NL(#10). Works fine. Another helper tool I did was Delphi app.exe to read IP address from Windows printer object. I can submit label printouts "directly" from Excel application.
End users edit Excel data rows and click PRINT LABELS button
vba macro parses a fingerprint template file with ${FIELD1} find-and-replace substitutes
file is written to %wintemp%/intermec_script.txt folder
call app.exe to read IP address of user chosen printer
call java app to submit intermec_script.txt to IP:PORT socket
I should create same socket submit app in Delphi to drop javavm dependency but this solution was faster for my use case. I am more familiar with Java than my Delphi skill level.

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