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Zebra EPL2 Printing in .Net

funkotron76

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7 Jul 2006CPOL

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Print to zebra printers using EPL2 commands

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Introduction

Attached is a good example on how to print to Zebra printers using the EPL2 commands in .Net. In the attached file you will find 2 VB.Net 2003 Projects. The project ZebraPrint is a good reuseable dll file (or you could just use the class) that you can use in VB.Net 2003 or 2005. The project ZebraTest demonstrates how to print using ZebraPrint. I have tested it using a Zebra TLP 2844 over a TCP/IP network. I have not tested it over a COM or Parallel port yet, but in theory it should work.

Referances:

https://support.zebra.com/cpws/docs/zpl/zpl_elp_vbnet.htm

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Written By

funkotron76

Software Developer (Senior)

United States

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Comments and Discussions

Re: Zebra ID Card Printing

orcl_cnsv11-Aug-07 22:10

11-Aug-07 22:10

Did you find any solution for that ? I have 430i card printer and same thing happens.

how to retrieve the values of ~HS/~HI

jagger_mack28-Feb-07 22:16

28-Feb-07 22:16

Hi! is there a way to retrieve values return from calling ~HS and ~HI. I don't know if i'm asking the correct question here.

(",)

Trigrhapy29-Jan-07 7:16

29-Jan-07 7:16

Thanks for the code, seems like it works great (mostly). I have tried this on two pc's and it worked flawlessly. I just tried it on another one, and I am getting the "Invalid handle" error.

I am using your dll files, and have tried a variety of handles from LPT1, "ipaddress/sharename", all which worked on the other computers but not this one. Any idea what might cause this?

printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

Joonbug4721-Dec-06 4:21

21-Dec-06 4:21

Is it possible to use either the DLL or class as part of a web application to print labels on the server side? I have included it in a windows form without problems. In a web form, I get the following error messages:

with DLL:
"Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle"
at line: "print.StartWrite("\\M-shippingxp\\putaway")"

with VB class:
"Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle "
at line: "_outFile = New FileStream(hPortP, FileAccess.Write)"

Any help would be appreciated!

Re: printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

mircea_de_autogari21-Oct-08 22:16

mircea_de_autogari

21-Oct-08 22:16

you should put ("\\\\M-shippingxp\\putaway")

Re: printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

mihaiantofi29-Oct-08 5:29

29-Oct-08 5:29

Hey! i have a similar problem.
If i'm printing from a local application in works fine, even when printing to a shared printer on a different PC.
When i try to print from my asp web site, it throws the "invalid parameter: handle" error.

How do i resolve this issue?

Mihai

Re: printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

mircea_de_autogari29-Oct-08 7:36

mircea_de_autogari

29-Oct-08 7:36

If your web site runs on Windows Server 2008 most likely the error comes from insufficient rights NETWORK SERVICE has on accessing external resources. In this case the only solution I found was to create a normal user, and set pe application pool run on it.
If this is not the case try to get the last IO error using:

System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception ex = new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception();
errMsg = ex.Message;

and investigate from there...

Mircea

Re: printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

mihaiantofi31-Oct-08 3:56

31-Oct-08 3:56

10x Mircea.
Changing the user solved my problem Smile | :)

Smile | :)

Mihai

Re: printing from web app- Invalid handle. Parameter name: handle

GeniousSal14-Jan-09 22:08

14-Jan-09 22:08

Please can you explain where you changed the user in the web config file??
Thank you.

Printing images

madval6-Nov-06 10:21

6-Nov-06 10:21

Has anybody been able to print images (PCX format) to a zebra printer? could you post an example code?. thanks

Re: Printing images

Luis Abreu8-Feb-07 3:20

8-Feb-07 3:20

Hello.
i've just finished doing this. it's not complicated: you just need to share this code so that the filestream you're using uses the correct encoding (i've used the 1252 encoding).

After changing this, you just need to use the bitmap class and its lockbits method in order to get the stride in order to copy the bits to the stream that is sent to the printer.

i'll be publishing an article about this in my blog in the next days:

http://msmvps.com/blogs/luisabreu

--
Regards,
Luis Abreu

Re: Printing images

madval8-Feb-07 4:47

8-Feb-07 4:47

Hi Luis, thank you for your reply, I've been able to print images to my zebra printers (QL320, QL420+) using an excellent project developed by Vino Rodrigues. His project is "Z-Bar: .NET for Zebra Printer" hosted on http://sourceforge.net/projects/z-bar/[^], wich works with CF2. I didn't specify that I was working with CF1 and it's bitmap class doesn't have a lockbits method. Anyway, I'll read your post as soon as possible.

How can use this code for an USB printer?

txarlie_thomas9-Oct-06 0:09

9-Oct-06 0:09

The code has been create to use with the LTP port, it works perfect, but if I want to print using the USB port, how can i do it?

Thank you

Re: How can use this code for an USB printer?

txarlie_thomas9-Oct-06 4:06

9-Oct-06 4:06

Ha sido un error mío. He confundido la solución con el enlace de partida, que solo estaba pensado para LPT. Cambiando el nombre de la impresora funciona perfectamente.

Siento la confusión.

Re: How can use this code for an USB printer?

Dermot O S24-Oct-06 1:40

24-Oct-06 1:40

what?! this website is english.

Re: How can use this code for an USB printer?

rcmacdon2-Dec-06 16:30

2-Dec-06 16:30

Within your Printer Properties, you can enable printer spooling and map it to both the USB00x AND LPT1 ports. Then even a USB connected printer will work when printing to LPT1

-----------------------------
Clint MacDonald, BASc, Civ. Eng
InterGlobal Solutions
Waterloo, Ontario Canada
519-576-1644
http://www.interglobal.ca

Re: How can use this code for an USB printer?

Vino Rodrigues13-May-07 1:45

13-May-07 1:45

I've included USB support in Z-Bar project (http://z-bar.sf.net) - may not be an "out of box" solution for you - but you can leverage the source base to expand to your needs.

Vino Rodrigues

Re: How can use this code for an USB printer?

jeremy_jackson3-Jul-08 10:53

3-Jul-08 10:53

Set up the printer with a USB connection and then share the printer - after it is shared you can use the UNC path (\\mycomputername\printername).

I was unable to get my Zebra S4M USB printer to work, I kept getting invalid handle errors, using the UNC path I was able to get it to work.

Mobile printers

madval2-Aug-06 8:59

2-Aug-06 8:59

Does this work with zebra mobile printers (I need to print in QL420 from a PocketPC via Bluetooth)? If so, which will be the printerPath? thanks

Re: Mobile printers

funkotron762-Aug-06 9:17

2-Aug-06 9:17

I don't know, I'm not fimiliar with bluetooth and haven't done much development on a pocket PC. I guess the only to know is to try it. You could try the name of the bluetooth device as the printerPath.

Kidan1-Aug-06 6:25

1-Aug-06 6:25

I get an exception when using this, during the create filestream, complaining about an invalid parameter (parameter name: handle).
This is the exception:

System.ArgumentException: Invalid handle.<br />
<br />
Parameter name: handle<br />
<br />
   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(SafeFileHandle handle, FileAccess access, Int32 bufferSize, Boolean isAsync)<br />
<br />
   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(SafeFileHandle handle, FileAccess access, Int32 bufferSize)

And this is the line the error is coming from:
_outFile = New FileStream(hPortP, FileAccess.Write)

Any thoughts or suggestions?

funkotron761-Aug-06 7:07

1-Aug-06 7:07

It's probably has something to do with the printerPath variable. What I used to test it was a network unc printer path. The example is using the literal "\\pc-0556\\VantageT" so you would have to replace that with your own.

whnloo18-Oct-06 20:27

18-Oct-06 20:27

i am having the same issue as well. i am using
print.StartWrite("\\50.33.94.74\\50.33.94.111")

50.33.94.74 is my unix server which i put my printer to.
50.33.94.111 is the printer address

please help

damndodgeitcom18-Sep-06 4:16

18-Sep-06 4:16

That actually means that a safefilehandle has to be implemented instead of an unsafe pointer..
well, just use the dll that comes with the sample

Sending data directly using print spooler

ArciI13-Jul-06 22:28

13-Jul-06 22:28

In .Net is written here: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=320741&SiteID=1[^]
or for unmanaged code is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/gdi/prntspol_93g2.asp[^]

Tomas

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