NiceLabel Forums

Hi,
I have developed a project in JAVA,in which i am using JSP pages & Servlets.I am ruuning this application on PDA containing Windows Mobile 5.0 OS.I want to print (using bluetooth Thermal printer) a particular JSP page,for that i have made a button "Print" on that page.Now I need a printer solution which is not printer specific i.e which can work for any bluetooth printer brand.Currently i am using a bluetooth printer solution but that works only on that brand printers.It does not work for any other brand bluetooth printers.So i want a printer solution which can work on any bluetooth printer.Can you suggest such a print solution?

Regards:
Rohit Kumar

Hello Rohit!

When it comes to pocket solutions, the thing to remember is that mobile devices do not have printer drivers. Because of this lack of drivers each label that you print has to be run through the export feature in NiceLabel. This export process creates a file with flag characters that allows the pocket engine to fill in the data. The output is a file generated at print time contains native printer code combined with your variable data.

Now, onto your question... how to create a solution that allows you to print to any printer family.

If you are printing to all thermal printers, one method you can take is to install a driver for every family that you are printing to. The driver can be setup to communicate with LPT1. This will allow you to use a driver to its full extent.

Most thermal printers use the same language (Ex - Zebra Printers use ZPL, Intermec printers typically use IPL, etc.). This will allow you to create a label for every family you plan on printing to. When your user selects a printer, simply interrogate the printer name in your code and determine which label to send to the printer.

If you are printing to a laser printer or some other non-thermal printer, this becomes next to impossible from a native mobile printing solution. You would have to use NiceWatch (print server) as a centralized print server solution. In this solution, you can pass variable data (File Drop, TCP/IP, etc) to NiceWatch. NiceWatch would process the file and perform the printing functionality for you.

I hope this helps!

Dan Kaho
Niceware International, LLC

dkaho wrote:Hello Rohit!

When it comes to pocket solutions, the thing to remember is that mobile devices do not have printer drivers. Because of this lack of drivers each label that you print has to be run through the export feature in NiceLabel. This export process creates a file with flag characters that allows the pocket engine to fill in the data. The output is a file generated at print time contains native printer code combined with your variable data.

Now, onto your question... how to create a solution that allows you to print to any printer family.

If you are printing to all thermal printers, one method you can take is to install a driver for every family that you are printing to. The driver can be setup to communicate with LPT1. This will allow you to use a driver to its full extent.

Most thermal printers use the same language (Ex - Zebra Printers use ZPL, Intermec printers typically use IPL, etc.). This will allow you to create a label for every family you plan on printing to. When your user selects a printer, simply interrogate the printer name in your code and determine which label to send to the printer.

If you are printing to a laser printer or some other non-thermal printer, this becomes next to impossible from a native mobile printing solution. You would have to use NiceWatch (print server) as a centralized print server solution. In this solution, you can pass variable data (File Drop, TCP/IP, etc) to NiceWatch. NiceWatch would process the file and perform the printing functionality for you.

I hope this helps!

Dan Kaho
Niceware International, LLC

Thank you very much Dan Kaho!! Your solution helped me so much.
Regards:
Rohit Kumar

Before you can print via Bluetooth you first have to setup an initial connection between your phone and printer using a process known as pairing. Usually this involves putting your Bluetooth label printer into 'Discovery Mode' via its Bluetooth menu, and then starting a search for other Bluetooth devices on your phone.