B4A Class Bluetooth ESC/POS Printer Class

agraham · Jun 8, 2019

For the last couple of weeks I have been playing with an 80mm Bluetooth ESC/POS thermal printer I bought off eBay, new and delivered, for the ludicrously cheap price of £20. While the print quality, particularly of images with large areas of black (they are gray due to power supply or thermal dissipation limitations probably), is not great it is adequate. The printer itself seems to be a generic Chinese unit (no surprise there then!) which is re-badged by all and sundry and sold at a remarkably wide range of prices.

Here then is a Printer class that will connect by Bluetooth to the printer and enable access to most of the printer functions, including barcodes and image preparation and printing. The included demo shows the capabilities that are available. To run the demo you will need a paired Bluetooth printer that is switched on. The Printer class uses the BitmapCreator, RandomAccessFile and Serial libraries.

On my printer the only thing that doesn't seem to work properly is QR code generation. Small QR codes don't seem to be able to be decoded by scanners and larger ones look obviously wrong with part of the top of the code replicated at the bottom when printed.

The obvious capabilities missing (so far!) are user defined characters and non-volatile bit images. Also not implemented are some codes that are either duplicates of available commands or ones whose functions I don’t understand.

The class module is included as source code in the demo so you can add any missing capabilities you need. If you add a significant one then please post it for others to play with.

EDIT: Version 2 now posted includes support for creating custom characters. See post #5 for details

agraham · Jan 22, 2021

No, it imlpements only the ESC/POS protocol. You would need to draw on a Bitmap and print that.

satriadikawirian · Jan 23, 2021

agraham said:
I don't know what this means. Please give more detail.

i want to make a print preview with
using Bluetooth ESC / POS Printer, but I can't. Please help

agraham · Jan 23, 2021

satriadikawirian said:
i want to make a print preview

I still don't know what this means but the answer is probably no. Everything it can do is documented in the class code.

sfsameer · Jan 23, 2021

We have a modified SDK that prints to WIFI + Bluetooth + USB (English, Arabic or any language you send to the printer) in the project below :

Restaurant App - Source Code For Sale

Hello everyone :) today we are more than happy to announce that we have released a restaurant app on the google play store :) Below link is the free version : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quality.onlinerest Paid Version ...

www.b4x.com

Urishev · Jan 31, 2021

Dear Sir Agraham
Thanks for your reply. I did as you advised and everything worked out. Strange ESC / POS protocol. It can print images and cannot print primitive lines.
I would be glad to receive one more piece of advice from you. How do I print an image rotated 90 degrees?
bmp = bmp.Rotate (90) - doesn't work

Urishev · Jan 31, 2021

In your code, I inserted bmp = bmp.Rotate (90) and it doesn't work:

bmp.InitializeResize(File.DirAssets, "F-35Brefuel.jpg", 576, 512, True) 'ignore
bmp = bmp.Rotate(90)'
' Convert the RGB image to one with luminance values
Dim myimage As AnImage = Printer1.ImageToBWIMage(bmp)

agraham · Jan 31, 2021

You don't say in what way it doesn't work - the rotation or the printing? If it is the printing then it might be that the picture is too big when rotated, resize it smaller.

mmanso · Jan 31, 2021

sfsameer said:
We have a modified SDK that prints to WIFI + Bluetooth + USB (English, Arabic or any language you send to the printer) in the project below :

Restaurant App - Source Code For Sale

Hello everyone :) today we are more than happy to announce that we have released a restaurant app on the google play store :) Below link is the free version : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quality.onlinerest Paid Version ...

www.b4x.com

It that code "sharable"?

Thanks.

sfsameer · Jan 31, 2021

mmanso said:
It that code "sharable"?

Thanks.

unfortunately not for free
because it took us a really long time to develop it (3 months) so we are selling the source code of the restaurant POS included the printing sdk

Urishev · Feb 1, 2021

Thanks, the image is rotated thanks to your hint. However, the image was printed small, not the full width of the printer paper
Another problem arose how to print the image at the maximum size allowed by the printer.

agraham · Feb 2, 2021

Urishev said:
how to print the image at the maximum size allowed by the printer

That's what this line in the demo does. You need to adjust the sizes to suit the printer and allow for rotation.

B4X:

    ' Load an image to print and resize it to the maximum mage dimensions for the printer
    bmp.InitializeResize(File.DirAssets, "F-35Brefuel.jpg", 576, 512, True) 'ignore

Urishev · Feb 2, 2021

I tried to print the image "in length", after rotation by 90. The first button "Image" fails, the second button "Image" prints successfully. I noticed that the ratio of the width and height of the print corresponds to the ratio of the height and width of the image (1280 * 1024). Knowing the maximum print width = 576, we calculate the maximum length: 576 * (1280/1024) = 720.
bmp = bmp.Resize (576, 720, True)
And the image of the plane is printed in maximum dimensions (in length) in all its glory.
I am grateful to Mr. Agraham for his wonderful Bluetooth Class.

Inman · Apr 19, 2021

This class has been a blessing for me especially during Covid days when there was a sudden spike for delivery based apps where executives print the receipt on the spot. I develop my apps on a Sunmi V1s device which has a printer integrated along with a touchscreen and it works great. But my last couple of clients actually use a phone and an external Bluetooth printer and occasionally they are getting the error below.

The java code causing the error is below and line number 6 where the actual error is thrown is highlighted

Java:

public String  _serial1_connected(boolean _success) throws Exception{
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1198;BA.debugLine="Private Sub Serial1_Connected (Success As Boolean)";
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1199;BA.debugLine="If Success Then";
if (_success) {
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1200;BA.debugLine="Astream.Initialize(Serial1.InputStream, Serial1.";
_astream.Initialize(ba,_serial1.getInputStream(),_serial1.getOutputStream(),"astream");
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1201;BA.debugLine="Connected = True";
_connected = __c.True;
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1202;BA.debugLine="ConnectedError = \"\"";
_connectederror = "";
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1203;BA.debugLine="Serial1.Listen";
_serial1.Listen(ba);
 }else {
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1205;BA.debugLine="Connected = False";
_connected = __c.False;
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1206;BA.debugLine="ConnectedError = LastException.Message";
_connectederror = __c.LastException(getActivityBA()).getMessage();
 };
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1208;BA.debugLine="If SubExists(CallBack, EventName & \"_Connected\")";
if (__c.SubExists(ba,_callback,_eventname+"_Connected")) {
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1209;BA.debugLine="CallSub2(CallBack, EventName & \"_Connected\", Suc";
__c.CallSubNew2(ba,_callback,_eventname+"_Connected",(Object)(_success));
 };
 //BA.debugLineNum = 1211;BA.debugLine="End Sub";
return "";
}

This comes occasionally and they have to exit and come back to fix this. Any idea how we can prevent this?

agraham · Apr 19, 2021

Inman said:
Any idea how we can prevent this?

You can't I'm afraid. It looks like a low level device problem. If the Connected event is raised then the streams should be available. Perhaps it's a marginal timing thing. You could try catching the error, sleeping for 100mS or so then retry, or do an initial sleep on entry to the event and see if that makes a difference.

Inman · Apr 19, 2021

agraham said:
You can't I'm afraid. It looks like a low level device problem. If the Connected event is raised then the streams should be available. Perhaps it's a marginal timing thing. You could try catching the error, sleeping for 100mS or so then retry, or do an initial sleep on entry to the event and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks. I will try that.

AscySoft · Apr 19, 2021

Inman said:
I will try that.

Please let us know if you have found an working solution.

Inman · Apr 20, 2021

AscySoft said:
Please let us know if you have found an working solution.

I will. I have sent the modified version to my clients yesterday, after adding the Sleep mentioned by agraham. Let's see how it goes.

Inman · Apr 24, 2021

AscySoft said:
Please let us know if you have found an working solution.

Just wanted to share an update here. I first tried adding a Sleep on entry to the function but my clients reported seeing the error again. So like agraham's other suggestion I added a Try Catch to detect the error, Sleep for 100ms and then try connecting again. It has been 3 days now and so far no one has reported any issues with printing. Fingers crossed. ?

Here is the modified code.

B4X:

Private Sub Serial1_Connected (Success As Boolean)
    If Success Then
        Try
            Astream.Initialize(Serial1.InputStream, Serial1.OutputStream, "astream")
            Connected = True
            ConnectedError = ""
            Serial1.Listen
        Catch
            Sleep(100)
            Connect
        End Try
    Else
        Connected = False
        ConnectedError = LastException.Message
    End If
    If SubExists(CallBack, EventName & "_Connected") Then
        CallSub2(CallBack, EventName & "_Connected", Success)
    End If
End Sub

AscySoft · Apr 25, 2021

You should close asyncstreams if it's initilized

Inman said:
Astream.Initialize(Serial1.InputStream, Serial1.OutputStream, "astream")

so above this line you should add this

B4X:

If Astream.IsInitialized Then Astream.Close

lelelor · Jul 8, 2021

agraham said:
For the last couple of weeks I have been playing with an 80mm Bluetooth ESC/POS thermal printer I bought off eBay, new and delivered, for the ludicrously cheap price of £20. While the print quality, particularly of images with large areas of black (they are gray due to power supply or thermal dissipation limitations probably), is not great it is adequate. The printer itself seems to be a generic Chinese unit (no surprise there then!) which is re-badged by all and sundry and sold at a remarkably wide range of prices.

Here then is a Printer class that will connect by Bluetooth to the printer and enable access to most of the printer functions, including barcodes and image preparation and printing. The included demo shows the capabilities that are available. To run the demo you will need a paired Bluetooth printer that is switched on. The Printer class uses the BitmapCreator, RandomAccessFile and Serial libraries.

On my printer the only thing that doesn't seem to work properly is QR code generation. Small QR codes don't seem to be able to be decoded by scanners and larger ones look obviously wrong with part of the top of the code replicated at the bottom when printed.

The obvious capabilities missing (so far!) are user defined characters and non-volatile bit images. Also not implemented are some codes that are either duplicates of available commands or ones whose functions I don’t understand.

The class module is included as source code in the demo so you can add any missing capabilities you need. If you add a significant one then please post it for others to play with.

EDIT: Version 2 now posted includes support for creating custom characters. See post #5 for details

hello, thanks for this very useful app, I didn't understand when and how to use "IBM437" or "UTF8" and the codepages.
I have to be able to print the "€" symbol I made 2 prints with CP858 (the "€" symbol is in position 213) and in one I put "UTF8" and in the other "IBM437".
in "UTF8" the "€" symbol is printed as circled in the other one is ignored.
question: what encoding should I set to get "€"?
Thank you

B4A Class Bluetooth ESC/POS Printer Class

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