Automatic Printing Label

[tallrain]

Hi there!

I have a requirement to print out barcode labels automatically.

I have a Zebra web printer, which can print out barcode labels based on ZPL command text.

Basically, the process is to generate ZPL command codes and output it as a long string, and then send this string to Zebra printer.

However in ThingWorx, I cannot call Windows printers automatically.

Any ideas or advise?

Thanks a lot!

[slangley]

Hi @tallrain.

We don't understand why this isn't possible as long as the printer is capable of processing the request.  We have had other customers that worked with Zebra printers in the past and they were able to communicate via REST.  From what we know so far, we can't say whether your printers support the same type of communication, but we don't see why there would not be some mechanism available for communicating with the printer using REST or via our SDK.

We would recommend that you reach out to the Sales team for engaging with our Services team to assist with any help that is needed for assessing and coding a solution.

Regards.

--Sharon

[tallrain]

Thanks Sharon!

I checked Zebra site, it seems only Zebra Mobile Printers support REST API, and Zebra Industrial Printers don't.

In our factory we only use Zebra Industrial Printers, so that would be an issue.

One possilbe solution is to output printer commands into txt files, and print them out via DOS command, but that's not a good solution, because you don't know the exact real time print result.

[slangley · Accepted solution]

Hi @tallrain.

You may want to contact Zebra to see what communications protocols are supported by your printers.  You may then be able to use one of our SDK's to translate it to the correct message format.

Regards.

--Sharon

[tallrain]

Thank you Sharon.

[Constantine]

Hello,

Are you able to print barcodes by copying files into this printer via Generic Printer approach, as described here? If that works than theoretically (I've never tried that) you might be able then to create a symbolic link (via mklink) to map this network printer (e.g. \\127.0.0.1\zebra) to a ThingWorx file repository (e.g. /ThingworxStorage/repositories/SystemRepository/printout), and then write to this file using standard SaveText service defined on this FileRepository thing.

/ Constantine

[tallrain]

Thank you Constantine, I will try.

[slangley]

Hi @tallrain.

If one of the previous responses allowed you to solve your issue, please mark the appropriate one as the Accepted Solution for the benefit of others on the community.

Regards.

--Sharon