Videojet thermal transfer printer

The  text  communications  system  works  best  as  a  request/response  protocol,  where  the  device 
connected to the CLARiTY  unit  sends a command to the  unit, and then waits for a response before 
sending  another  command.  In  some  cases  it  is  possible  to  send  a  command  before  the  pre vious 
command has completed, but in most cases this will result in the second command failing.
To ensure that the commands you need are available and that the correct protocol mode is in use 
enter the Tools screen, the press the Diagnostics button followed by Control, Communications and 
finally select the Communication port that is set to use Text Communications.
The Text Comms Protocol  item will now display the mode in use and installed version of the Text 
Comms Protocol. For example Zipher ASCII Comms, the version 1 ASCII protocol or Zipher UNICODE 
Comms  v2,  the  version  2  UNICODE  protocol. 

More recent software releases (from June 2006) also support the Text Communications  Protocol via 
TCP/IP.  This  can  be  activated  by  using  CLARiTYConfig  to  set  the 
System/TCPIP/TextCommunications/NetworkPort  parameter  to  a  non-zero  value.  The  Text 
Communications  system  will  then  wait  for  connections  on  the  TCP  port  specified.  Take  care  to 
avoid  using  the  same  port  number  as  other  services  that  may  be  in  operation,  such  as  Binary 
Communications (usually port 3001) or Master/Slave mode (usually port 3002).


A  communications  session  comprises  a  set  of  commands  or  requests  and  responses.  The  carriage 
return  character  (ANSI  character  code  13  decimal  /  0x0D  hexadecimal)  terminates  each  command 
or  request,  and  also  has  the  function  of  resetting  the  parser.  This  means  that  the  carriage  return 
character  will  stop  parsing  the  current  data  even  if  the  data  has  partially  matched  a  command  or 
request.  The  Carriage  Return-Line  Feed  sequence  (  0x0D  0x0A  )  is  also  accepted  as  a  terminator; 
the line feed character will simply be ignored.


The Get State Request (GST)
This request retrieves various state values from the printer.

Syntax
GST<CR>
Return Values
STS|<overallstate>|<errorstate>|<currentjob>|<batchcount>|<totalcount>|<CR>
Returns immediately.

Details
The GST request retrieves the following values:
overallstate
The overall state of the printer, as described for the SST command.
errorstate
The error condition of the printer. This will be one of the following:
0  No errors
1  Warnings present
2  Faults present
currentjob
The job selected in the printer. This will be empty if no job is selected.
batchcount
The printer’s batch count.
totalcount
The printer’s total count.

Examples
»GST<CR>
«STS|3|0|Default 4 Line Text|4345|8253|<CR>
The  printer  is  running,  there  are  no  errors  present,  the  currently  selected  job  is  “Default  4  Line 
Text”, the batch count is 4345 and the total count is 8253.

»GST<CR>
«STS|4|2||0|8253|<CR>
The printer is offline with a fault, there is no job selected, the batch count is 0 and the total count 
is 8253.