I am developing a software which require to print receipts.
What is the most common type of receipt printer?
Are there any industry standards for receipt printer API?
Are there any .net library for that? Tried to find but didn't find anything.
+5
A:
Epson has a system that's pretty standard.
Zebra is another big player.
When searching google for additional help, you probably want to be looking for a "pos printer", rather than a "receipt printer", where POS stands for "Point of Sale". You'll get more better hits that way.
Joel Coehoorn
2009-01-15 20:53:03
Having worked with those printers, I have to say that "the other" meaning of POS also applies. But +1 to Epson, they were relatively painless (but not painfree!)
Michael Stum
2009-01-15 21:38:03
Indeed. This is a market that is ripe for a disruptive new competitor capable of actually producing a quality product. I've never met a developer who actually enjoyed working with these printers.
Joel Coehoorn
2009-01-15 21:46:52
A:
Star Micronics, I see a lot of them out in the wild; never used them but with native Windows printer drivers I would assume it's pretty simple to work with.
SqlACID
2009-01-15 20:54:21
+1
A:
I've used Zebra printers in the past. I'm not sure about an API for creating new documents on the fly but you can use their designer to build the "document" and fill & print dynamically. Their software was OK but we found BarTender to work a little better for our implementation.
Zebra also has a Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) that was actually kind of fun to use (the Windows driver was very poor 2 years ago). The documentation was pretty good and it was pretty easy to pick up. I went threw several spools trying to get everything right. :-)
Austin Salonen
2009-01-15 21:03:08
A:
Verifone (a large POS and pin-pad manufacturer) also has a couple of printer models.
Michael Kohne
2009-01-15 21:33:02
+8
A:
UnifiedPOS is the most common API today for communicating with Point-Of-Sale peripherals including receipt printers: http://www.nrf-arts.org/UnifiedPOS/default.htm.
Microsoft have an implementation for .NET: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms828083.aspx.
UnifiedPOS evolved from OPOS (OLE for Retail POS), so google for OPOS for more info. You will find more peripheral manufacturers support OPOS than other flavors of UnifiedPOS. Microsoft's POS for .NET will work with OPOS V1.8 Service objects.
Joe
2009-01-16 09:09:41
+3
A:
There is a Zebra project at CodePlex that I use for printing labels
quimbo
2009-01-16 20:57:42