frankie_jnr
asked on
Sending load/eject to epson lx300+ printer
Hi all,
I have a problem that i have been struggling with for some time now. I have asked this question before but still cant seem to get it working. I have used the example on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322090 and still cant seem to get it working.
What i need is to press button 2 and then my paper should be ejected
Here is what i have so far
The printer manual say the code is
ESC EM Control paper loading/ejecting
but i cant get it working
Thanks for the help!
I have a problem that i have been struggling with for some time now. I have asked this question before but still cant seem to get it working. I have used the example on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322090 and still cant seem to get it working.
What i need is to press button 2 and then my paper should be ejected
Here is what i have so far
The printer manual say the code is
ESC EM Control paper loading/ejecting
but i cant get it working
Thanks for the help!
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Drawing.Printing
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Public Class RawPrinterHelper
' Structure and API declarions:
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode)> _
Structure DOCINFOW
<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)> Public pDocName As String
<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)> Public pOutputFile As String
<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)> Public pDataType As String
End Structure
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="OpenPrinterW", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function OpenPrinter(ByVal src As String, ByRef hPrinter As IntPtr, ByVal pd As Long) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="ClosePrinter", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function ClosePrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="StartDocPrinterW", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function StartDocPrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr, ByVal level As Int32, ByRef pDI As DOCINFOW) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="EndDocPrinter", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function EndDocPrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="StartPagePrinter", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function StartPagePrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="EndPagePrinter", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function EndPagePrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
<DllImport("winspool.Drv", EntryPoint:="WritePrinter", _
SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _
ExactSpelling:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _
Public Shared Function WritePrinter(ByVal hPrinter As IntPtr, ByVal pBytes As IntPtr, ByVal dwCount As Int32, ByRef dwWritten As Int32) As Boolean
End Function
' SendBytesToPrinter()
' When the function is given a printer name and an unmanaged array of
' bytes, the function sends those bytes to the print queue.
' Returns True on success or False on failure.
Public Shared Function SendBytesToPrinter(ByVal szPrinterName As String, ByVal pBytes As IntPtr, ByVal dwCount As Int32) As Boolean
Dim hPrinter As IntPtr ' The printer handle.
Dim dwError As Int32 ' Last error - in case there was trouble.
Dim di As DOCINFOW ' Describes your document (name, port, data type).
Dim dwWritten As Int32 ' The number of bytes written by WritePrinter().
Dim bSuccess As Boolean ' Your success code.
' Set up the DOCINFO structure.
With di
.pDocName = "My Visual Basic .NET RAW Document"
.pDataType = "RAW"
End With
' Assume failure unless you specifically succeed.
bSuccess = False
If OpenPrinter(szPrinterName, hPrinter, 0) Then
If StartDocPrinter(hPrinter, 1, di) Then
If StartPagePrinter(hPrinter) Then
' Write your printer-specific bytes to the printer.
bSuccess = WritePrinter(hPrinter, pBytes, dwCount, dwWritten)
EndPagePrinter(hPrinter)
End If
EndDocPrinter(hPrinter)
End If
ClosePrinter(hPrinter)
End If
' If you did not succeed, GetLastError may give more information
' about why not.
If bSuccess = False Then
dwError = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error()
End If
Return bSuccess
End Function ' SendBytesToPrinter()
' SendFileToPrinter()
' When the function is given a file name and a printer name,
' the function reads the contents of the file and sends the
' contents to the printer.
' Presumes that the file contains printer-ready data.
' Shows how to use the SendBytesToPrinter function.
' Returns True on success or False on failure.
Public Shared Function SendFileToPrinter(ByVal szPrinterName As String, ByVal szFileName As String) As Boolean
' Open the file.
Dim fs As New FileStream(szFileName, FileMode.Open)
' Create a BinaryReader on the file.
Dim br As New BinaryReader(fs)
' Dim an array of bytes large enough to hold the file's contents.
Dim bytes(fs.Length) As Byte
Dim bSuccess As Boolean
' Your unmanaged pointer.
Dim pUnmanagedBytes As IntPtr
' Read the contents of the file into the array.
bytes = br.ReadBytes(fs.Length)
' Allocate some unmanaged memory for those bytes.
pUnmanagedBytes = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(fs.Length)
' Copy the managed byte array into the unmanaged array.
Marshal.Copy(bytes, 0, pUnmanagedBytes, fs.Length)
' Send the unmanaged bytes to the printer.
bSuccess = SendBytesToPrinter(szPrinterName, pUnmanagedBytes, fs.Length)
' Free the unmanaged memory that you allocated earlier.
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pUnmanagedBytes)
Return bSuccess
End Function ' SendFileToPrinter()
' When the function is given a string and a printer name,
' the function sends the string to the printer as raw bytes.
Public Shared Function SendStringToPrinter(ByVal szPrinterName As String, ByVal szString As String)
Dim pBytes As IntPtr
Dim dwCount As Int32
' How many characters are in the string?
dwCount = szString.Length()
' Assume that the printer is expecting ANSI text, and then convert
' the string to ANSI text.
pBytes = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAnsi(szString)
' Send the converted ANSI string to the printer.
SendBytesToPrinter(szPrinterName, pBytes, dwCount)
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(pBytes)
End Function
End Class
Public Class Form1
' Click event handler for a button - designed to show how to use the
' SendFileToPrinter and SendBytesToPrinter functions.
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
' Allow the user to select a file.
Dim ofd As New OpenFileDialog()
If ofd.ShowDialog(Me) Then
' Allow the user to select a printer.
Dim pd As New PrintDialog()
pd.PrinterSettings = New PrinterSettings()
If (pd.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK) Then
' Print the file to the printer.
RawPrinterHelper.SendFileToPrinter(pd.PrinterSettings.PrinterName, ofd.FileName)
End If
End If
End Sub ' Button1_Click()
' Click event handler for a button - designed to show how to use the
' SendBytesToPrinter function to send a string to the printer.
Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
Dim s As String
Dim pd As New PrintDialog()
' You need a string to send.
s = Chr(27) & vbFormFeed
' Open the printer dialog box, and then allow the user to select a printer.
pd.PrinterSettings = New PrinterSettings()
If (pd.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK) Then
RawPrinterHelper.SendStringToPrinter(pd.PrinterSettings.PrinterName, s)
End If
End Sub ' Button2_Click()
End Class
ASKER
if i add a string like "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" to the s variable it prints the text on the paper but the problem is it is not escaping. The manual say the code that controls the load / eject function is
"ESC EM " but i cant get it working.
I am using vb.net to do this
"ESC EM " but i cant get it working.
I am using vb.net to do this
ESC EM is not 1B 0C in hex, but 1B 19 since EM (End of Medium is hex 19, decimal 25) , so the sequence ought to be Chr(27) & Chr(25)
ASKER
if i do this
s = Chr(27) & Chr(25)
Nothing happens
s = Chr(27) & Chr(25)
Nothing happens
Sorry away with a migrane. Can you tell me which printer it is?
ASKER
it is a epson lx 300+ thanks for the help sofar
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
1) If you turn off the printing in the Spooler does your entry turn up in the list?
(If so it means that the request is at least getting to the spooler)
2) Have you tried printing "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" + vbCRLF to see if the text actually gets to the paper?
3) Are you sure that the sequence to do what you want is ESC+FF (Escape Form-Feed)