Question

How do I send #0 character to the POS driver as escape code?

Asked by: subicz

I'm using a Citizen CT-S2000 POS (Point Of Sale) printer from my Delphi code.
I try to send some escape sequences to the printer using the OPOSPosPrinter driver.
It seems, if the sequence contains #0 character, it simply does not work, as the string will be cut there. The PrintNormal function has a WideString parameter for the string, and the OCX has a BSTR variable for that.

Thanks in advance!

procedure TestPrint;
var
  LPrinter: TOPOSPOSPrinter;
  s: WideString;
 
begin
  LPrinter := TOPOSPOSPrinter.Create(nil);
  LPrinter.Open('CTS2000.CITIZEN.POSPrinter');
  LPrinter.ClaimDevice(1000);
  LPrinter.DefaultInterface.Set_DeviceEnabled(TRUE);
  
  s := #27'L'; // page mode
  s := s + #27'W' + chr(0) + chr(0) + chr(0) + chr(0) + chr(0) + chr(1) + chr(0) + chr(1); //   defining the print area
  s := s + #27'$' + chr(0) + chr(0); // text horizontal position
  s := s + #29'$' + chr(0) + chr(0); // text vertical position
  s := s + 'ÁrvíztqrQ tükörfúrógép';
  s := s + #12; // print and leaving page mode
 
  LPrinter.PrintNormal(PTR_S_RECEIPT, s); // print
  LPrinter.Close;
  LPrinter.ReleaseDevice;
  LPrinter.Free;
end;

                                  
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Asked On
2009-09-14 at 07:56:03ID24729741
Tags

POS Printer Delphi

Topic

Delphi Printing

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
5

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Answers

 

by: Florian1Posted on 2009-09-17 at 00:52:00ID: 25353630

Did you try the String type instead of WideString?

The type WideString is a null (#0) terminated string. That should be the reason why your string ends unwanted if you put a chr(0) into it.

The type string declares a pascal string, that means the first bytes defines the length without a terminator, so you should not have the described problem.

For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_(computer_science)#Implementations

A good helper to debug such output is to write it into a file first and look with a hex editor what excactly is into it.

 

by: Florian1Posted on 2009-10-06 at 14:50:20ID: 25510295

Did my suggestion helped you?

 

by: subiczPosted on 2009-10-16 at 01:31:09ID: 25587739

No, it didn't.
Unfortunately I cannot change the type of the parameter in the SDK function.
So I stuck with it :(

 

by: Florian1Posted on 2009-10-16 at 02:11:56ID: 25587869

Thats not amusing!

Then you have only two possibilities:
a) You have to find another character instead of #0, if possible
b) Write your own parallel output routines e.g. via inpout32.dll
http://logix4u.net/Legacy_Ports/Parallel_Port/Inpout32.dll_for_Windows_98/2000/NT/XP.html

A sample for Delphi
http://sheepdogguides.com/dt4j.htm 

uses
  Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
  Dialogs, StdCtrls;
 
 function Inp32(PortAdr: word): byte; stdcall; external 'inpout32.dll';
 function Out32(PortAdr: word; Data: byte): byte; stdcall; external 'inpout32.dll'; 
 
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
    Port: word;
    Data: Byte;
begin
    Data:= StrToInt(Edit1.Text);
    Port:= StrToInt(Edit2.Text);
    Out32(Port, Data);
end;

                                              
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