Zebra printer - Printing from LabVIEW using ZPL commands....

[Baturin]

I wonder if this is another workaround for communicating USB Zebra printers from LabVIEW without using RS232 or Ethernet: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322090/en-us?fr=1

It seems that sending RAW printer commands is possible using win api or .NET. One just need to write one subVI that will send RAW data to printer (for example using .NET).

It is even better - it will be possibe to use any kind of printer connection without changing anything.

Feasible?

[JÞB]

While we are on the subject-

You'ld think that there would be a fantastic ZPL - LabVIEW interface maybe even along the lines of an Express.vi (Actually, that would be a good use for one.  Never thought I'ld say that.)

Now, if we only knew someone with intimate knowledge of both LabVIEW and ZPL......

[Mark_Yedinak]

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@Jeff Bohrer wrote:

While we are on the subject-

You'ld think that there would be a fantastic ZPL - LabVIEW interface maybe even along the lines of an Express.vi (Actually, that would be a good use for one.  Never thought I'ld say that.)

Now, if we only knew someone with intimate knowledge of both LabVIEW and ZPL......

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No promises but I have been suggesting we do something like this. We do have an SDK for communicating with our printers. It would be a matter of wrapping this up in some LabVIEW code. I'll see how much traction I get and if I can find the time to do this as a side project.

[Baturin]

Why not EPL&ZPL - LabVIEW?

[Baturin]

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@A.C.E. wrote:

We went away from using the USB connection and instead are talking directly to our label printer using the serial port on the TLP-2844 (and a standard serial-to-usb cable).  

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Is there any performance issues due to using RS232 instead USB?

Ok, if using storing templates, I think the amount of data sent for each lable is negligible...

[Mark_Yedinak]

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@Baturin wrote:

Why not EPL&ZPL - LabVIEW?

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For the labels themselves you would still use ZPL or EPL. The LabVIEW interface would simply control of the printer and in some cases it could create the ZPL for you. For instance, if you used a stored format on the printer with variable fields. The LabVIEW could could use simply the name of teh stored format and the list of the variables with their data. The VI could then create the necessary ZPL to send to the printer to print the label. This would mean the programmer wouldn't have to learn ZPL in order to print the labels.

[Baturin]

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@Mark Yedinak wrote:

For the labels themselves you would still use ZPL or EPL. The LabVIEW interface would simply control of the printer and in some cases it could create the ZPL for you. For instance, if you used a stored format on the printer with variable fields. The LabVIEW could could use simply the name of teh stored format and the list of the variables with their data. The VI could then create the necessary ZPL to send to the printer to print the label. This would mean the programmer wouldn't have to learn ZPL in order to print the labels.

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I have fot the idea. I mean that there should be at least two VI groups for using with EPL as well as with ZPL (though, I don't know how big is the difference in syntax...).

PS Just 30 minutes ago, before recent posts I have created a test LV app that create an arbitrary form and then print labels with variables 🙂 (hiding specific EPL commands that create, store and use forms from user, only form code itself) . I really love LV so much for simplicity and clearness of the code :).

[JÞB]

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@Mark Yedinak wrote:

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@Jeff Bohrer wrote:

While we are on the subject-

You'ld think that there would be a fantastic ZPL - LabVIEW interface maybe even along the lines of an Express.vi (Actually, that would be a good use for one.  Never thought I'ld say that.)

Now, if we only knew someone with intimate knowledge of both LabVIEW and ZPL......

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No promises but I have been suggesting we do something like this. We do have an SDK for communicating with our printers. It would be a matter of wrapping this up in some LabVIEW code. I'll see how much traction I get and if I can find the time to do this as a side project.

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I'd really love it! especially as an Express.vi to configure lines and formatting.  I don't use the printers on every project but find myself digging through the zpl command reference manual a couple times a year.  You'ld save your customers uncountable man hours if they only had to configure the label with a wizard.

[drummaniac83]

I used a ZPL based zebra printer a few years ago and had good luck printing to it by using the "Generic/Text Only" driver.  I went into the properties of the printer and changed the driver to Manufacturer - Generic, Printer - Generic/Text Only

This seemed to work for my zebra printer really well.

The note I left for myself in the code was "Must print to generic/Text only printer that uses the Zdesigner driver"

I used this to both load up a custom font and also print several different variations of the barcode.

Hope this helps!

Josh

[Zwired1]

FWIW, I was able to get code 128 barcodes and formatted text or graphics by

    1] generate the label you like in the Zebra GUI

    2] print to file to get a .prn file  (ZPL code, you could write your own manually)

    3] use string functions to programatically adjust the label (e.g. change the name on the label)

    4] share the USB label printer

    5] use "net use" to assign the printer to "LPT1" or similar

    6] use "cmd /C copy filename.prn LPT1" to send the prn file to the printer

Not terribly elegant or dynamic,but it works and you don't have to understand/learn ZPL.