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

[Mark_Yedinak]

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@Zwired1 wrote:

FWIW, here's managed to modify labels reflect variable data:

I used the Zebra label designer software and placed text fields everywhere I wanted variable data.  I used something easily recognizeable and roughly the same length as my expected data (e.g. "111111").  I then created the prn file through the Zebra driver.  To print the label with updated/variable data I read the prn file as a text file and do sequential "search and replace" calls to replace all of the "111111", etc.  I save the prn file to a temporary location and send that to the printer, preserving my original "template" prn. 

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That works if your file is all ZPL. Doug's was graphics and therefore his fields were replaced with bitmaps (represented in an ASCII format). His "search" strings were all replaced with the graphics. Different label designer packages generate the label format in different ways. Some do it as graphics. Others use native ZPL.

[drummaniac83]

I recall when I did some Zebra work I used the zebra label designer.......and the 2d barcode I printed came out as native ZPL so it was easy to build the barcode dynamically with labview code.....

[Zwired1]

Ah. So the dynamic data was a bitmap? 

I did a label with a mixture of graphics, barcode, and text fields using the method I described but the graphics never needed to change.

[ygribel]

Mark,what is involved in distribution VISA driver to another PC (running Win7) ?

I've created VISA driver on XP machine (where is LV development located)

Zebra TLP3842 works perfectly fine on XP machine after that.

.INF file created for Win7 (following NI Tutorial) was installed on Win7 PC.

Device manager on Win7 PC sees the right, updated NI VISA driver/printer, but Measurement and Automation doesn't see it.

Am I missing something?

Thanks!

[Tandre]

Hello,

Thank you for all this vi. I have the same problem exept my Zebra printer is not connected with USB port but with Ethernet (Network printer). How I can do the same thing ?

[Mark_Yedinak]

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@Tandre wrote:

Hello,

Thank you for all this vi. I have the same problem exept my Zebra printer is not connected with USB port but with Ethernet (Network printer). How I can do the same thing ?

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Your situation is even easier. I woudl recommend that you send the ZPL directly to the printer. SImply open a TCP connection on port 9100 and send the label. When finished close the port. If you will be sending lots of labels at one time you could leave the port open and send all the data to the printer over that connection. One thing to note though is if you will long breaks between sednign data you might want to open/close the connection for each label. By default Zebra printers will automatically close a connection if it has been idle for more than 5 minutes.

What your ZPL would look like depends on what you want your label to look like.

[Raydur]

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@ygribel wrote:

Mark,what is involved in distribution VISA driver to another PC (running Win7) ?

I've created VISA driver on XP machine (where is LV development located)

Zebra TLP3842 works perfectly fine on XP machine after that.

.INF file created for Win7 (following NI Tutorial) was installed on Win7 PC.

Device manager on Win7 PC sees the right, updated NI VISA driver/printer, but Measurement and Automation doesn't see it.

Am I missing something?

Thanks!

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I am having a similiar issue with Measurement and Automation not seeing the printer (Zebra ZM400 - 600dpi on USB). I have used the NI-VISA Driver Wizard to create/install the INF files, however no matter what I do I can't get it to show up in the device list. I've tried with and without the windows drivers that automatically install.

Any thoughts on what I might be missing?

Thanks!

[Raydur]

I had to work around my windows 7 issue by simply finding an XP machine. But now I'm running into this again on a Windows 7 PC. Has anyone had luck with getting the printer to show up in Measurement and Automation explorer using the VISA driver wizard? Is this the best way or is there an alternative I should be looking at? We have several VI's that print using a VISA alias, so I'm a bit set into using that method, but I can't get MAX to see the printer in order to give it a VISA alias.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Kaitlin-N]

Hi Raydur,

Are these the steps you followed? If not, what steps did you follow when using the VISA driver wizard and how did you install the inf file?

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/4478/en

The above method is the recommended way to setup a VISA reseource.

[testtech13]

Here is a VI to print to a zebra printer using ZPL over TCP network.  Tested on GX430t