linemode 0.4.0

Drivers and templates for thermal printers

Python library for communicating with line-mode thermal printers. Currently works only with printers that support the star line mode protocol but adding support for other similar printers should be possible.

Also provides a module for compiling an xml description of a page to a list of commands.

Developed at Newman Online Ltd and open sourced with permission.

Examples

Basic, without template system:

from linemode import open_printer

printer = open_printer('star+lpt:///dev/usb/lp0')

printer.run_commands([
    ('fontsize-large'),
    ('select-bold'),
    ('write', "Hello world\n"),
    ('cut-through'),
])

Running templates:

from linemode import open_printer
from linemode.renderers import xml

printer = open_printer('star+lpt:///dev/usb/lp0')

printer.run_commands(xml.render("""
<document>
  <line>
    <bold>Hello world</bold>
  </line>
</document>
"""))

With jinja:

from jinja2 import Template

from linemode import open_printer
from linemode.renderers import xml

printer = open_printer('star+lpt:///dev/usb/lp0')

# jinja2 template
template = """
<document>
  {% for potatoes in [1, 2, 3, 4] %}
  <line>
    {{ potatoes }} potato
  </line>
  {% endfor %}
</document>
"""
# line mode printer document
document = Template(template).render()

# iterator of generic printer instructions
commands = xml.render(document)

# printer specific compiled representation
program = printer.compile(commands)

printer.execute(program)

Command Language

Printer drivers accept an iterable of command tuples. Tuples should contain a command name followed by any number of primitive arguments. For convenience, a tuple containing just a command name can be replaced with the command name.

The following commands are supported:

reset

Reset everything to it’s initial state.

select-bold/cancel-bold

Toggle printing bold text.

select-highlight/cancel-highlight

Toggle printing white on black instead of black on white.

fontsize-small/fontsize-medium/fontsize-large

Set the line height for the current line and all following lines. If not sent at the beginning of a new line then behaviour is undefined. Characters should remain the same width.

Default: fontsize-small

write <string>

Print the contents of a unicode string. If any characters are unsupported, they will be replaced with ‘?’.

barcode <style> <data>

TODO

newline

Flush the line buffer and start a new line.

cut-through

Create a cut at the next mark

cut-partial

Create a perforated cut at the next mark

cut-through-immediate

Create a cut at the current cursor position

cut-partial-immediate

Create a perforated cut at the current cursor position

Bugs

Please post any problems or feature requests using the issue tracker. Pull requests welcome. New drivers would be greatly appreciated.