USB in DOS???

[Robert Johnson]

Hello again
As anybody found away to print to a USB port from DOS, as it's
getting harder to find PCI printer port cards (LPT2/3).

Can you print to USB from the console PBCC.
Or do we need to move to PBDLL.

Regards


Robert


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[Tom Hanlin]

Eh, why would display handling have something to do with USB printer support?
If your USB printer comes with Windows drivers, it should work with any Windows
program. I haven't heard of anyone releasing a USB printer driver for DOS.


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Tom Hanlin
PowerBASIC Staff

[Lance Edmonds]

Most all USB-connected printers are Windows-only. You either have to write a Windows printing module that uses the Windows Printing System (WPS) or use a 3rd-party tool that has been designed to solve this exact problem:

My DOSPRINT utility!

Briefly, DOSPRINT lets you print to ANY printer that has a Windows printer driver installed (and without regard to how it is connected), and using just Epson control codes, you can attain almost complete printer-independent printing.

That is, you never have to provide support for dozens or even hundreds of different printers in your DOS apps - you only need to use Epson codes to print to ANY printer as DOSPRINT translates the Epson control codes into a printer-specific print job - and it does it completely transparently for you.

DOSPRINT also offers a Print Preview mode too!

A fully functional DEMO version can be downloaded from http://www.dosprint.com

BTW, we released Version 2 a day or two ago, and DOSPRINT now supports printing 7 graphics formats for company logo's, pictures, etc,

It's all there in the demo...

Regards,
Lance

[Clay Clear]

I, too, highly recommend Lance's DOSPRINT (*and* DLLPRINT)
libraries. I purchased both of them a while back, and am very happy
with the decision to do so.

If you're concerned about embedding printer ESC codes in your
file-to-be-printed, then all you do is create a second, temporary file,
and use the temporary file as the one to be actually printed.

E.G.:

FF1& = FREEFILE
OPEN "myfile.txt" FOR INPUT AS #FF1&
FF2& = FREEFILE
OPEN "temp.txt" FOR OUTPUT AS FF2&
'
WHILE NOT EOF(FF1&)
    LINE INPUT #FF1&, S$
    S$ = RTRIM$(S$, CHR$(13, 10))
    PRINT #FF2&, <ESC codes> + S$
WEND
'
CLOSE #FF1&
CLOSE #FF2&

SHELL "dosprint.exe temp.txt,<etc.>"
'
END(0)

Using Lance's library, this will print to the printer the file
"temp.txt", using whichever printer you specify in the SHELL
statement, including USB printers. "temp.txt" would be an exact
duplicate of the original file, except it would contain the
required printer ESC codes that Lance's libraries use. The
ESC codes would be transparent - they are only used for the
actual printing setup - they are not printed out verbatim.

I make a LOT of use of Lance's libraries, as I have printers
connected to both my LPT1 and my USB ports.

So, to recap, I would recommend purchasing Lance's libraries,
as they require a minimal amount of extra coding to use, and are
versatile enough to handle printing to just about ANY printer,
regardless of how it's connected to the 'puter.

Hope this helps!

Regards,


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Clay C. Clear

Clay Clear's Software (Frames Only)
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Lance Edmonds]

Thanks for the plug, Clay! It's much appreciated!

Regards,
Lance

[Jack Kramer]

Originally posted by Robert Johnson:
Hello again

Can you print to USB from the console PBCC.
Or do we need to move to PBDLL.

Regards

Robert

I've read the responses to the above, but don't see a definitive answer.
I donot have PBCC or PBDLL, which one of these should I purchase to print to USB?

Thanks, Jack

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[Clay Clear]

If you have PB/DOS, then Lance's DOSPRINT utility will do it.
That's what I use for my PB/DOS programs, and I use his DLLPRINT
utility for my PB/DLL programs. Both of them will print to
just about ANY printer, including those connected to USB ports
(as I stated in the previous posting, I have printers hooked up
to both my USB port, and my LPT1: port - Lance's utilities
handle printing to either one just fine. ).

Hope this helps!

Regards,



------------------
Clay C. Clear

Clay Clear's Software

[Tom Hanlin]

Aside from PB/DLL's ability to create .DLL libraries, the only difference
between PB/CC and PB/DLL is the type of user interface supported. Programs
written in PB/CC will use a console interface that looks like a DOS box.
Programs written in PB/DLL will use a GUI interface, with buttons and
menus and that sort of thing.

In short, as far as printers go, it doesn't matter. PB/CC and PB/DLL
offer identical printer support.


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Tom Hanlin
PowerBASIC Staff

[Gary Stout]

Lance,

Just curious... I own both DLLPRINT and DOSPRINT and wondering if there
are any returned result codes that would indicate a form feed has
taken place. In a particular situation, I have 3 pages to print and
would like to include a company header on each page. I guess I could
do it manually, but if font sizes change, it may not be a standard
number of rows. If DLLPRINT returns say a result code 2 or whatever
for a form feed, I could insert another header at the top of the new
page. (this is the auto-form feed by the way)

Thanks,
Gary Stout


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[Lance Edmonds]

Hmmm... there is no page reporting option at the moment, sorry! That said, adding the facility to automatically print a "header" on all pages of a job is on the cards for the next version (to be used in conjunction with the /FF auto-formfeed switch).

Currently, the only way to get a header on each page is to insert it into the print job before you submit the job to DOSPRINT... which means you'll have to do line/page "counting" in your program to know when to insert the header info.

I hope this helps!

PS: I'm always looking for suggestions for DOSPRINT V3!

Thanks!

Regards,
Lance
www.dosprint.com

[Gary Stout]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lance Edmonds:
[b]Hmmm... there is no page reporting option at the moment, sorry! That said, adding the facility to automatically print a "header" on all pages of a job is on the cards for the next version (to be used in conjunction with the /FF auto-formfeed switch).

Currently, the only way to get a header on each page is to
insert it into the print job before you submit the job to
DOSPRINT... which means you'll have to do line/page "counting"
in your program to know when to insert the header info.

PS: I'm always looking for suggestions for DOSPRINT V3!

------------------

Thanks Lance,
That would be a real handy feature for reports and things. Also,
another handy feature would be an option for printing page numbers
on the page at top or preferably the bottom of multi-page printouts.
There, I gave you 2 ideas... when did you say you would have
those done

Thanks,
GS

[This message has been edited by Gary Stout (edited February 18, 2002).]

[Allen B. Zilbert]

Robert,

If you are looking for a PCI printer port card that comes with
LPT2 and LPT3, you can get it from www.siig.com. Currently, I
have it in my computer and it functions without a problem.

Allen

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[Lance Edmonds]

Do they sell Parallel -> USB adaptors?

------------------
Lance
PowerBASIC Support
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Allen B. Zilbert]

Lance,

At siig, they carry a USB plus I/O hub. The part number is
Part Number: JU-H11012. It is an all-in-one solution, which
integrates 3 USB, 1 serial (16550) and 1 printer port into a
single unit. As I previously stated I have purchased other
hardware from them, however, I myself have not used this product
from them.

Allen


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[David J Walker]

Of late, I have fallen in love with printers with network connectors, also with standalone network print servers.
If you need more than one printer, this is the way to go, but its not cheap, unfortunately.

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[Allen B. Zilbert]

David,

Instead of dedicating a computer as a printer server, you would be
better off getting a router that supports parallel communication.
Some of these routers also will support serial communication. I
have seem some of them cost as low as $60.

Companies that make parallel port routers are the following:

1. D-Link
2. SMC Networks
3. Linksys

Allen


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