[WinPrnDev] Re: Intercepting data sent to the printer
- From: akshay gupta <akshaygupta202@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2011 15:18:54 +0530
Hi Abdul,
I dont want printer to print what I see, first I want to some how get what
I see(not in the raster format ,I want it in a readable format) , then I
want to edit it and may be append some extra information , and finally sent
the edited version of what I see for the printer to print. So in the end
printer wont be exactly printing what I see it would be printing some
altered version of what I see.
Regards,
Akshay
On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 2:04 PM, Abdul Qader mohammed <
abqader.iqbal@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Akshay,
>
> The info that you obtained in the hex editor is basically pixel
> information. It tells the printer how to render each pixel on to the paper.
> You have to understand that the driver is not responsible for modifying the
> content that is sent to the printer. In fact the driver is responsible for
> WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get !!).
> Why would you want to change the content sent by an APP?
>
> On the other hand :
>
> Is this "readable text" some command that needs to be sent to the printer?
> If so then you will have to start taking a look into the language monitor.
>
> Thanks
> Abdul.
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 1:47 PM, akshay gupta <akshaygupta202@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> Hi Christoph,
>>
>> First of all thanks for all your valuable suggestions.I will now share
>> with you some of my experiences trying to figure out what to do based on
>> your suggestions. I read about esc/p2 printer language , its basically a
>> set of printer instructions instructing the printer how to choose fonts,set
>> printing area, setting printing positions and lot other things.I found a
>> tool printcapture http://printcapture.com/index.html
>> <http://printcapture.com/index.html>which would read epson printer format
>> and render the file content as an
>> image.I tried opening the print to file output from EPSON TM-T88IV with
>> this tool , but it could not open it.This led me to thinking that the
>> format is not exactly esc/p it could be some variation,because when I open
>> that file in hex editor I can see some of the esc character commands
>> listed in the programers manual.Now my question is how can I extract
>> readable text from the file containing esc character commands, is there any
>> library that do this kind of work? Or Is there some way for me to intercept
>> and interpret the data before it is sent to the Epson printer driver?
>> Because doing this I would remove my dependency on Epson printer divers and
>> also I would save myself from first interpreting the esc character commands
>> then encoding the edited text back to the esc character commands.
>>
>> PS : I could not try using QPCPrint as setting it up require redmon
>> which does not work for windows 7 :-( .
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Akshay
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Christoph Lindemann <
>> Christoph.Lindemann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> **
>>>
>>> Hi Akshay,****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> The data stream is probably encoded as Esc/POS, a variation of Esc/P or
>>> Esc/P2.****
>>>
>>> http://www.undocprint.org/formats/page_description_languages/esc_p2****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> You can try the following tool****
>>>
>>> QPCPrint http://www.kilgus.net/qpcprint/index.html****
>>>
>>> QPCPrint is an emulator that accepts input in ESC/P2 format, be it text
>>> or raster graphics, and outputs the result to any Windows compatible
>>> printer. The emulation has a precision of 1440dpi and matches the output of
>>> a real printer extremely well.****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> If the third party application prints directly to the printer, without
>>> using the Windows printer driver, then you can do your own application,
>>> which modifies the Esc/P data. You can get reference manuals at the Epson
>>> Developer website.****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> If the third party application uses GDI and the Windows printer driver
>>> (You could check that by testing if the application can print to any
>>> printer installed in windows. For example a HP LaserJet.). Then you could
>>> build your own virtual EMF printer driver, or license one of the many
>>> available EMF printer driver SDK’s:****
>>>
>>> http://www.colorpilot.com/emfprinterpilot.html****
>>>
>>> http://www.verypdf.com/artprint/mini-emf-printer-driver.htm****
>>>
>>> http://www.blackice.com/Printer%20Drivers/EMF%20Printer%20Drivers.htm***
>>> *
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Best regards,****
>>>
>>> Christoph****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> ** **
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> *From:* winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
>>> winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *akshay gupta
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 29, 2011 9:30 AM
>>> *To:* **winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx**
>>> *Subject:* [WinPrnDev] Re: Intercepting data sent to the printer****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Thanks for quick replies, Ill tell exactly what i want and what i have
>>> tried till now.
>>>
>>> What I want :
>>> There is a third party application whose task is to generate a document
>>> (which is sort of a bill) and after generating it, it prints that document.
>>> Now I want to some how get the text that printer will printing before it
>>> actually prints it, and modify it and send the modified text back to the
>>> printer.
>>>
>>> What I have tried:
>>> I have Experimented with EPSON TM-T88IV Receipt printers.
>>> 1) I first though that I would print to a file and then read and edit
>>> the contents of that file and send it to the printer for printing. But the
>>> file that it created didnt contained what I expected. It had unreadable
>>> data which I had no idea how to convert it to a readable format.
>>>
>>> 2)I tried hooking to the com port and intercept the data that is flowing
>>> through it. But again all I got was a stream of unreadable data.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Akshay
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 1:25 PM, **Christoph Lindemann** <
>>> Christoph.Lindemann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:****
>>>
>>> Hi Akshay,****
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> Check out the Windows Driver Development Kit (WDK) documentation about
>>> how the print spooler is working.****
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> The available options depend on how the application is sending data to
>>> the printer, and what you are trying to accomplish. Is the application
>>> using the GDI API to render the job, or is it sending the data directly to
>>> the printer? Do you want to capture the print like a virtual printer? Or do
>>> you just want to “listen” to the job data, but the data should still go to
>>> the printer? Do you want to modify the data stream? What type is the
>>> printer?****
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> I think it would be best, if you give us more context information,
>>> describe what you want to accomplish? Why? And what your own ideas are, on
>>> how to do this.****
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> Best regards****
>>>
>>> Christoph****
>>>
>>> ****
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> *From:* winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
>>> winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *akshay gupta
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 29, 2011 8:32 AM
>>> *To:* winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx****
>>>
>>>
>>> *Subject:* [WinPrnDev] Intercepting data sent to the printer****
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> Hi,****
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am working with an application that prints to a thermal POS printers
>>> in windows environment.
>>> Can somebody please tell me how can I get the actual text(readable)
>>> after a print command is fired from that application. I have no control
>>> over the code of that application therefore I want to do it at the spooler
>>> level or at the driver level , or some how interpret the data flowing
>>> through the COM port.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> akshay****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>
>>
>
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