HP PCL Banner creation and printing on a server

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:37:52 Z

The following code is used to create a banner page that is pre-pended to a PCL print-stream
and then binary copied to a network printer. The concept is that since the PCL creation is
performed on a server, the banner page needs to be created and printed immediately before
the document so that the requestor is identified with the banner page.

I am just getting my feet wet with .Net and in the process of moving some of my VB6
code into .Net.

1. CreateBannerPS - This routine works fine, but it uses the Scripting.FileSystemObject. I am
    trying to replace this functionality without using the Scripting.FileSystemObject. This is the
    method I used in VB6.
2. CreateBannerPSNew is my attempt to replace this functionality. It works except an additional
    page containing some symbols is printed prior to the banner page.

Questions
1. What needs to be done to prevent the page with the symbols?
2. Is there a better method for embedding the escape characters?

Appreciate all comments
Tim

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On

Module Banner

Sub Main()
    Dim OUTPUT_DIR As String = My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath
    Dim FName As String = "Test.pcl"
    Dim sUser As String = "TBS2"
    Dim sPrinter As String = "HP78"
    'Debug.Print("Old Method: " & Banner.CreateBannerPS(Path:=OUTPUT_DIR, _
    ' FName:="Old.pcl", UserId:=sUser, sPrinter:=sPrinter))
    'Debug.Print("New Method: " & Banner.CreateBannerPSNew(Path:=OUTPUT_DIR, _
    ' FName:="New.pcl", UserId:=sUser, sPrinter:=sPrinter))
    'Exit Sub
    If Banner.CreateBannerPSNew(Path:=OUTPUT_DIR, FName:=FName, _
        UserId:=sUser, sPrinter:=sPrinter) Then
      Debug.Print("Ok")
      BinaryPrint(FName:=OUTPUT_DIR & "\" & FName, _
        sPrinter:="z_" & sPrinter & "$")
    Else
      Debug.Print("Error")
    End If
    If Banner.CreateBannerPS(Path:=OUTPUT_DIR, FName:=FName, _
        UserId:=sUser, sPrinter:=sPrinter) Then
      Debug.Print("Ok")
      BinaryPrint(FName:=OUTPUT_DIR & "\" & FName, _
        sPrinter:="z_" & sPrinter & "$")
    Else
      Debug.Print("Error")
    End If
End Sub

'Creates Banner Sheet Print-Stream file
Function CreateBannerPSNew(ByVal Path As String, ByVal FName As String, _
    ByVal UserId As String, ByVal sPrinter As String) As Boolean
    Dim Txt As String = ""
    CreateBannerPSNew = False
    Txt = "%-12345X@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCL" & vbCrLf 'Enter PCL language
    Txt += "E" & vbCrLf 'Printer Reset
    Txt += "*t600R" & vbCrLf 'Resolution - 600 DPI
    Txt += "&u600D" & vbCrLf 'Unit-of-Measure - units per inch
    Txt += "*r0F" & vbCrLf 'Presentation
    Txt += "&l0o1E" & vbCrLf 'Top Margin
    Txt += "&l0S" & vbCrLf 'Simplex/Duplex
    Txt += "&l7H" & vbCrLf 'Paper Source
    Txt += "&l2a8c1E" & vbCrLf 'Top Margin
    Txt += "*p0x0Y" & vbCrLf 'Units of Measure
    Txt += "*c0t5760x7704Y" & vbCrLf '???
    Txt += "&l1X" & vbCrLf 'Number of copies
    Txt += "*b0M" & vbCrLf 'Compression mode
    'Font Id, Typeface, Stroke weight, style, pitch, spacing
    Txt += "(19U(s4099t0b0s10h0P" & vbCrLf
    Txt += "&d@" & vbCrLf 'Underline disable
    Txt += "*v0o0T" & vbCrLf 'transparency mode, current pattern
    Txt += "*p415Y *p330X===================================" & _
      "=========================" & vbCrLf
    Txt += "(19U" 'Symbol set - Windows ANSI
    Txt += "(s4099T" 'Typeface - Courier (Scalable)
    Txt += "(s-4B" 'Stroke Weight: -4 Extra Light - Does not seem to work
    Txt += "(s0S" 'Style: 0-Upright, 1-Italic, 32-Outline - Does not seem to work
    Txt += "(s0.75H" 'Pitch - characters per inch
    Txt += "(s0P" 'Spacing - 0 for fixed, 1 for proportional
    Txt += "*p1600Y *p600X" & UserId & vbCrLf
    Txt += "(19U(s4099t0b0s10h0P&d@" & vbCrLf
    Txt += "*p2200Y *p330XPrint Server:*p1225X" & _
      Replace(Replace(Replace(sPrinter, "z_", ""), "$", ""), "\\", "") & vbCrLf
    Txt += "*p2300Y *p330XDate Printed:*p1225X" & _
      Format(Now, "MM/dd/yyyy") & vbCrLf
    Txt += "*p2400Y *p330XTime Printed:*p1225X" & _
      Format(Now, "hh:mms tt") & vbCrLf
    Txt += "*p2600Y *p330X===================================" & _
      "=========================" & vbCrLf

' Txt += "E" & vbCrLf 'Printer Reset

    My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText(Path & "\" & FName, Txt, False, _
      System.Text.Encoding.UTF8)
    If Err.Number = 0 Then CreateBannerPSNew = True
End Function

'Creates Banner Sheet Print-Stream file
Function CreateBannerPS(ByVal Path As String, ByVal FName As String, _
    ByVal UserId As String, ByVal sPrinter As String) As Boolean
    Dim fso As New Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Dim ts As Scripting.TextStream
    CreateBannerPS = False
    ts = fso.CreateTextFile(Path & "\" & FName, True) 'Overwrites existing file
    ts.WriteLine("%-12345X@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCL") 'Enter PCL language
    ts.WriteLine("E") 'Printer Reset
    ts.WriteLine("*t600R") 'Resolution - 600 DPI
    ts.WriteLine("&u600D") 'Unit-of-Measure - units per inch
    ts.WriteLine("*r0F") 'Presentation
    ts.WriteLine("&l0o1E") 'Top Margin
    ts.WriteLine("&l0S") 'Simplex/Duplex
    ts.WriteLine("&l7H") 'Paper Source
    ts.WriteLine("&l2a8c1E") 'Top Margin
    ts.WriteLine("*p0x0Y") 'Units of Measure
    ts.WriteLine("*c0t5760x7704Y") '???
    ts.WriteLine("&l1X") 'Number of copies
    ts.WriteLine("*b0M") 'Compression mode
    'Font Id, Typeface, Stroke weight, style, pitch, spacing
    ts.WriteLine("(19U(s4099t0b0s10h0P")
    ts.WriteLine("&d@") 'Underline disable
    ts.WriteLine("*v0o0T") 'transparency mode, current pattern
    ts.WriteLine("*p415Y *p330X===================================" & _
      "=========================")
    ts.Write("(19U") 'Symbol set - Windows ANSI
    ts.Write("(s4099T") 'Typeface - Courier (Scalable)
    ts.Write("(s-4B") 'Stroke Weight: -4 Extra Light - Does not seem to work
    ts.Write("(s0S") 'Style: 0-Upright, 1-Italic, 32-Outline - Does not seem to work
    ts.Write("(s0.75H") 'Pitch - characters per inch
    ts.Write("(s0P") 'Spacing - 0 for fixed, 1 for proportional
    ts.WriteLine("*p1600Y *p600X" & UserId)
    ts.WriteLine("(19U(s4099t0b0s10h0P&d@")
    ts.WriteLine("*p2200Y *p330XPrint Server:*p1225X" & _
      Replace(Replace(Replace(sPrinter, "z_", ""), "$", ""), "\\", ""))
    ts.WriteLine("*p2300Y *p330XDate Printed:*p1225X" & _
      Format(Now, "MM/dd/yyyy"))
    ts.WriteLine("*p2400Y *p330XTime Printed:*p1225X" & _
      Format(Now, "hh:mms tt"))
    ts.WriteLine("*p2600Y *p330X===================================" & _
      "=========================")
    ts.Close()
    ts = Nothing
    fso = Nothing
    If Err.Number = 0 Then CreateBannerPS = True
End Function

Sub BinaryPrint(ByVal FName As String, ByVal sPrinter As String)
    Dim p As Process = New Process
    Dim i As Integer = 0
    Dim sArg As String = "/C Copy /b """ & FName & """ \\Dcpp100\" & sPrinter
    Debug.Print(sArg)
    With p.StartInfo
      .FileName = "cmd.exe"
      .Arguments = sArg
      .UseShellExecute = False
      .CreateNoWindow = True
    End With
    p.Start()
    While Not p.HasExited
      Debug.Print("BinaryPrint CloseWindow " & CStr(i))
      i += 1
      System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000)     'Sleep for 1 second
      If i >= 10 Then
        Debug.Print("BinaryPrint kill process required")
        p.Kill()
        Exit While
      End If
    End While
    p.Dispose()
End Sub

End Module

HP PCL Banner creation and printing on a server

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:10:39 Z

I discovered that if I use "System.IO.File.WriteAllText" to replace "My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText" the

additional page and symbols are not printed.