Zebra printing from browser across various devices

Question

We are trying to print labels by sending RAW ZPL text from the browser(typically chrome) to the printer.

We are looking for the best way to handle Printing from Desktops/laptops/Tablets/Phone browsers over a wireless connection(or wired , as long as it's only in one solution).

• Printing via java script(as suggested in the link below) does not work well(expecially with chrome) and with IE, the formatting is not right. JavaScript: Send raw text to printer - no server requests/method calls, able to work offline, purely clientside
• Zebra seems to have provided a BrowserPrint functionality that resides, but that won't work with Android browsers
• Installing 'Enterprise Browser' is not an option either, because we don't have control over what our clients use on their tablets.

So, is there a way/technology that lets us print from a webpage(java webapp) from browsers over a wireless connection from Desktops/laptops/Tablets/Phone? What's the best way to handle this?

Answer 1

From a Desktop

I've always installed the Zebra printer as a generic text based printer, and could print ZPL text from notepad, and it would get rendered by the Zebra printer. Worked over Ethernet TCP/IP connection just fine.

From a Server

Just send the XML via TCP/IP to the Zebra printer.

Oracle procedure would look something like this:

DECLARE

 l_return_msg           VARCHAR2(3000);
 l_printer_status       VARCHAR2(3000);
 l_return               VARCHAR2(3000);
 l_zpl                  CLOB;
 l_printer_ip           VARCHAR2(20);
 l_printer_port         VARCHAR2(10);
 BEGIN
 l_zpl :=’^XA^FO50,300^A0N,125,125^FDTEST^XZ’;  –String to send to printer
 l_printer_ip      :=’192.168.1.10′; –IP Address of printer
 l_printer_port    :=’9100′;
 l_return := INV_PRINT_REQUEST.SEND_XML_TCPIP(
        p_ip_address => l_printer_ip
    ,   p_port => to_char(l_printer_port)
    ,   p_xml_content => l_zpl
    ,   x_return_msg => l_return_msg
    ,   x_printer_status => l_printer_status
    );
END;

Answer from: Sending ZPL to a Label Printer Using PL/SQL