Getting Started with Printing Applications for Intermec Printers

Product profile
Getting Started with Printing Applications for Intermec Printers
Intermec provides a full array of tools to help developers create printing applications for Intermec printers. To find out which tools are
needed, you must first determine whether your requirements call for printing receipts/reports or whether you need to print labels.
1. Printing Receipts with Intermec Mobile Printers
Intermec mobile printers with ESC/P firmware support printing
of receipts or reports. These printers print on continuous
roll paper in 2”, 3” or 4” widths. Full page (8 ½ x 11) printers
such as the Intermec 6822 also use ESC/P firmware.
Printers with ESC/P firmware rely on an application which resides
on a mobile computer to format the receipt/report and control
the printing process. Printers are often connected to the mobile
computer via a Bluetooth connection. The following tools are
used to create printing applications for use with ESC/P printers.
Resources
IDL Printing Resource Kit
Development tools for printing to portable printers from
a mobile computer. Print receipts and reports. Supports
line/graphics printing as well as secure printing. For C/
C++, C#, VB.NET development using Visual C++ or Visual
Studio. C/C++ development requires platform SDK.
ESC/P Programmer’s Reference Manual
ESC/P command description and syntax supported
by Intermec mobile receipt, workboard and full-page
printers. ESC/P commands are supported by the
controls included in the IDL Printing Resource Kit.
XSim Programmer’s Reference Manual (for PB2 and PB3)
XSim command description and syntax supported
by the PB2 and PB3 mobile printers.
IDL Bluetooth Resource Kit
Development tools/utilities for control of Bluetooth
(BT) features in Intermec computers. Discover, bond &
communicate with Bluetooth printers. For C/C++, C#,
VB.NET development using Visual C++, Visual Studio.
C/C++ development requires platform SDK.
2. Printing Labels with Intermec Fixed and Mobile Printers
Intermec mobile and fixed label printers print labels, tickets
and tags to a variety of media such as continuous strip
media with fixed lengths (example: an event ticket) or labels
with peel-off backing. Intermec label printers can print
labels using several different printer label-layout command
languages: Fingerprint Direct Protocol (DP), Intermec Printer
Language (IPL), ZPL (ZSim), DPL (DSim) or EPL (ESim).
Printing a label involves:
• Label layouts consisting of fields with
fixed or variable information.
– Label layouts may be created programmatically
using printer commands or they may be designed
using a WYSIWYG tool such as BarTender or LabelShop.
– Label layouts may be stored on the printer to
speed printing of labels with large graphics or
for repetitive printing of a few label formats.
• Software which sends input data and formatting instructions
to the printer. You have the option of creating printing
applications which reside on a host computer or Smart
Printing applications which reside directly on the printer.
2.1 Host-based Printing
Two types of host based printing applications are supported:
• If you have printers with IPL firmware and/or wish to leverage
existing IPL applications, then choose the IPL command language.
• If you have printers with Fingerprint firmware and/or don’t have
applications which rely on existing IPL commands, choose Direct
Protocol. Fingerprint firmware includes Direct Protocol commands.
The English-like syntax of the DP printer command language
is more intuitive and provides the flexibility to be used with
Smart Printing applications in addition to host-based printing.
2.1.1 Direct Protocol
Intermec Direct Protocol is included with Intermec
Fingerprint. The printer only needs to be connected to an
AC supply and to some host device which can transmit
characters in ASCII format. It can be anything from a nonintelligent
terminal to a mainframe computer system.
For directly communicating with the printer, a computer
or terminal with a screen, an alphanumeric keyboard,
and a communication program that provides two-way
communication via RS-232, USB or TCP/IP is recommended.
The following resources are used to program and
control the printer using Direct Protocol.
Resources
LabelShop Start
WYSIWYG Label Design Software for Windows (2000, XP and
Vista) provides a graphical design environment for design of label
formats and creation of files with embedded print commands
for easier label design (compared to programmatic creation
of labels using printer commands). LabelShop supports the
complete range of Intermec label printers. Supported printer
command languages are Fingerprint Direct Protocol and IPL.
Direct Protocol Programmer’s Reference Manual
Intermec Direct Protocol command description and syntax.

Product profile
Getting Started with Printing Applications for Intermec Printers
2.1.2 Intermec Printer Language (IPL)
Use IPL printer commands to program and control a printer
running the IPL printer command language. The following
resources are used to program and control the printer using IPL.
Resources
LabelShop Start
WYSIWYG Label Design Software for Windows (2000, XP and
Vista) provides a graphical design environment for design of label
formats and creation of files with embedded print commands
for easier label design (compared to programmatic creation
of labels using printer commands). LabelShop supports the
complete range of Intermec label printers. Supported printer
command languages are Fingerprint, Direct Protocol and IPL.
Intermec Printer Language (IPL) Developer’s Guide
Guide to IPL programming for Intermec printers. The
guide describes how to programmatically design
label formats, send formats to the printer and send
data to the printer to populate the label.
Intermec Printer Language (IPL) Command Reference Manual
IPL command description and syntax for communications
parameters, print commands, printer configuration,
program mode commands for label and tag formatting, test
& service commands to retrieve printer diagnostics, and
immediate commands for printer status and operation.
2.2 Smart Printing
Intermec Smart Printing takes advantage of the memory and
processing power available in advanced printers to run printing
operations independently, without a PC or network connection
to another host computer. Smart Printers can run software
applications and can function as PLCs to control other devices
such as scales, scanners label applicators and more. By using the
computing power that’s in the printer, organizations can reduce
their IT hardware, networking and support requirements, lower
the total cost of printing operations, and create work processes
that improve productivity and reduce opportunities for errors.
Smart Printing requires:
• A printer running the Fingerprint command language
• A development environment for creating Fingerprint applications
Resources
LabelShop Start
WYSIWYG Label Design Software for Windows (2000, XP and
Vista) provides a graphical design environment for design of label
formats and creation of files with embedded print commands
for easier label design (compared to programmatic creation
of labels using printer commands). LabelShop supports the
complete range of Intermec label printers. Supported printer
command languages are Fingerprint, Direct Protocol and IPL.
Intermec Fingerprint Application Builder Development Environment
Desktop development environment for creating,
debugging and distributing Fingerprint applications
that run on Intermec Smart Printers.
Fingerprint Developer’s Guide
Fingerprint is a programming language you use to design
printer application software. This guide includes information
on using Fingerprint to develop applications for your Intermec
printer. For information on specific Fingerprint commands,
see the Fingerprint Command Reference Manual.
Fingerprint Command Reference Manual
Description of all Fingerprint commands including syntax
examples, plus error messages, keypad code layouts and other
sections to assist in Fingerprint application development.
Direct Protocol Programmer’s Reference Manual
Intermec Direct Protocol is the label layout language used by
Intermec Fingerprint for designing labels by combining fixed
or variable input fields, graphics, text and barcodes. This guide
contains instructions for using the commands in Direct Protocol.