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Ref: "ProgGuide1_7.docx"  

 

Page 3 of 26 

Document Revision: “1.7”  
Document Date: “11 Sep. 2013”

 

Introduction 

 
This Programmers Guide provides a description of the software commands supported by the: 

 

Ap1300 and Ap1310 Battery Operated Portable Packaged Printers 

 

Ap1310DP and Ap1310DC Direct Power Packaged Printers 

 

Ap863-F Packaged Printer with various power options, 

 

Ap1200  Panel Mounting Packaged Printer 

 
It also contains some specific information relating to the: 

 

ATB102  

OEM Printer interface for the EPSON M-T102 (& M-T102A) 

 

ATB1200   OEM Printer interface for the APS ELM205 mechanism  

 
The firmware in all these products is largely compatible across the range, and also with earlier 
versions of printers (e.g.: Ap824, Ap842, Ap824-B, Ap842-B, Ap860-B, Ap862-B, Ap863). 
 
A User Guide, which contains connection data and details of operation, is available for each product 
and should be read in conjunction with this document.  Please see individual User Guides for more 
specific details of each product. 
 

Throughout this Programmers Guide the term "Printer" should be taken to refer to all products 
where no distinction is necessary from the point of view of the system programmer.   
 

If individual products differ in some important aspect, then this is noted. 
 
A wide range of software commands are supported, allowing control of printing format (e.g. width, 
height and spacing of text, underlining, text orientation etc.), as well as selection of modes of 
operation (e.g. support for rechargeable battery packs and sleep options, Serial Comms settings, 
Paper Out, Paper Low and Head Up indications and actions etc).   
 
Many of the software commands are emulations of the EPSON TM-Series ESCPOS codes.  Since 
the implementation of ESCPOS varies from one EPSON printer to another, there is no universal 
standard. The command set for these products has primarily been based on that of the EPSON TM-T 
Series of thermal printers.  Please refer to the acknowledgement and disclaimer. 
 

Notes on Printer Firmware Revisions (Including Flash) 

 
Able Systems reserves the right to modify and improve the firmware in its products at any time.  
Whilst every effort is made to ensure backward compatibility, no guarantee in this respect is given or 
implied.   
 
These products include a flash re-programmable microcontroller (excluding the ATB102).  This allows 
firmware upgrades under customer control.  A Flash Programming Utility is available to aid the user in 
re-flashing printers.   
 
Also available is a Font Editor Utility, which allows the user to design and use bespoke fonts as 
required.  User created or modified fonts may be flashed into the printer using the same Flash 
Programming Utility. 
 
Refer to the factory for more information on these features. 
 
On battery operated printers, some host-selectable features may be retained during sleep mode by 
saving them to non-volatile memory (FLASH).  The user must ensure that any changes to the printer's 
internal parameters are saved to flash memory, either manually or by timed auto-save.   Refer to 
section 5.2 SAVING CONFIGURATION INFORMATION for more details. 

 

 

Summary of Contents for AP1200

Page 1: ...r Solutions Programmer Guide Also covers the ATB102 ATB1200 and Ap863 Ap1200 Thermal Printer Able Systems Limited Denton Drive Northwich Cheshire CW9 7TU England Tel 44 0 1606 48621 Fax 44 0 1606 4490...

Page 2: ...IR Ap1300 BT and Ap1300 BTi only 8 Paper Out Paper Low and Head Up Sensors 9 3 CONTROL CODE TABLES 10 Command Description Format 10 Command Codes Received 11 Formatting Commands Continued 14 Barcode...

Page 3: ...f operation e g support for rechargeable battery packs and sleep options Serial Comms settings Paper Out Paper Low and Head Up indications and actions etc Many of the software commands are emulations...

Page 4: ...ntroller firmware embedded software and circuit diagrams pin connection lists and application data No warranty in respect of patent rights of Able Systems Limited or of third parties is given Unauthor...

Page 5: ...r set and sample bar codes in spooling mode prints any stored data and enters idle mode Double clicking means pressing and releasing twice in quick succession in a similar manner to a PC mouse Some fu...

Page 6: ...1300 BTi See the section on SETTING CONFIGURATION INFORMATION for details The Font Mode is normally stored in non volatile memory FLASH This means that the printer can be pre configured to operate in...

Page 7: ...be vertically contiguous only if Font Mode 3 is selected Single dot high graphics are also aligned with the top of text characters Successive horizontal dot lines can be vertically contiguous if no o...

Page 8: ...full and also after a controller reset The hardware busy line is set when 256 bytes of space remains and incoming data are no longer passed to the buffer but may be processed when 128 bytes remain Th...

Page 9: ...sor within the mechanism detects an out of paper condition and or senses black marks to register with pre printed forms In the Ap863 F only a mechanical switch with optical sensing Paper Low indicatio...

Page 10: ...alues for the Baud rate parity data and stop bit parameters are not implemented until the printer has been cycled into sleep mode and back to waking mode Command Description Format In the explanations...

Page 11: ...ck demo mode default condition Other bits are ignored the double click demo mode only functions if the paper feed button is enabled ESC X 1BH 58H m eXtended Commands special to Able N See the section...

Page 12: ...pled in both axes to 0 5 mm square Successive rows of 8 dot graphics can be printed contiguously in the vertical direction only in Font Modes 0 1 or 2 or a User Font which is 32 dots high When the thi...

Page 13: ...il cleared or the printer enters sleep mode ESC J 1BH 4AH n Print and feed extra paper n is the count of notional 1 20th print lines to be fed This command terminates the current line n is divided by...

Page 14: ...rks in an either or way with CR CR LF pairs are treated as a single line terminator Line terminators immediately following full lines are ignored FF 0CH Real time Form Feed Exit spooling mode and prin...

Page 15: ...ode confirmation of the number of bytes sent whilst in spool mode will be returned The sequence on exiting spool mode is i Transmit initial confirmation string with data packet information ii Exit Spo...

Page 16: ...ODES TRANSMITTED for format A value of n 00H disables automatic reporting and is the default condition ESC u 1BH 75H n Transmit peripheral device status Transmit STATUS byte when decoded n is discarde...

Page 17: ...Numeric only ASCII data supply 7 digits 00H 4 Code 39 Alphanumeric ASCII data variable length Max 22 00H 5 Int2 of 5 Numeric only ASCII data variable length Max 23 00H 6 Code 128A Alphanumeric ASCII d...

Page 18: ...implemented and described above should not be sent to the printer as the outcome may not be as expected However some additional EPSON ESCPOS commands are recognised and an attempt is made to decode t...

Page 19: ...The STATUS byte is encoded bitwise bit 0 Head Up Sensor Active 0 head OK 1 head up bit 1 Mechanism running 0 stopped 1 running bit 2 Data buffer completely empty 0 not empty 1 empty bit 3 Paper Out S...

Page 20: ...n2 Report Spool Sleep Period 52 n1 n2 Set Auto Save Period 52 n1 n2 Report Auto Save Period 66 n1 Set print darkness 66 n1 Report print darkness 110 Produce test print Setting Configuration Informatio...

Page 21: ...stored setting intact but enters sleep mode immediately The printer will never enter the sleep mode while a charger is connected When in spooling mode a different sleep period setting is used See Spo...

Page 22: ...Defaults m 9 is clear m 42 Set EjectOffset value The command ESC X 2AH n sets the value of EjectOffset This parameter is used in Mark Sense operation See MARK SENSE OPERATION section for details m 48...

Page 23: ...Revision 1 7 Document Date 11 Sep 2013 Note that during the saving procedure the printer effectively performs a full system reset Therefore it is advised that the save command be issued in isolation i...

Page 24: ...rt Internal Defaults In response to the command GS I 09H the printer transmits 3 bytes The first byte contains the current values of the flags set using the ESC X 09H n command The following 2 bytes a...

Page 25: ...able Bit Graphics ESC Entering and exiting Spooling Mode ESC L FF Extra inter character and inter line spacing ESC n ESC 2 ESC 3 n Set HTAB positions ESC D Request Printer STATUS BYTE ESC u n ESC v GS...

Page 26: ...ESC c5 Coded In Self Test Swap 23H 9CH chars ESC X 23 n GS I 23 Use 9BH 9DH ESC X 23 n GS I 23 Use 80H ESC X 23 n GS I 23 Use Code Page 1252 ESC X 23 n GS I 23 Also Coded In Self Test Enable Black Ma...

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