PCL Commands

[shafee212]

I have a requirement where i have to print the digital signature (i.e. a bitmap image) on cheques.

Generating signatures on the cheques is required to be done through the Printer Control language (PCL) using the assigned escape character (usually ASCII sequence 17 in decimal or 1B in HEX).
This signature is stored in a Secure Font Card. Once the font card has been inserted the printer will recognize the signature a bitmap image stored in memory. The printer will print the signatures ONLY if the secure font card is loaded in the secure font card reader.
How this can be achieve using PCL commands in progress..?
How to initiate the printer for printing the image stored in the Font Card using PCL commands in progress..?

 

[GregTomkins]

We used to use PCL from time to time. Of course, Progress knows nothing about PCL, the same way it doesn't specifically know about PostScript or RTF or PDF or anything similar. However you can write PCL commands into an OS file using PUT, copy that file to a PCL-compatible printer, and it should work no problem. If it doesn't, I would go back to the OS and experiment with sending manually created OS files containing PCL text and making sure they work properly first.

Another technique we use is to put PCL commands into a separate OS file using 'vi', or whatever, and then use 'cat' (or similar) to append the PCL command file together with data dynamically generated from P4GL and output using PUT or DISP.

 

[jpogriff]

We use pcl all the time. Ghostpcl to convert the image from jpg to pcl...

 

[tamhas]

I must have missed this thread the first time around, but in case someone dredges it up again, a few words.

The difficulty with inserting PCL into ABL print output generally is that ABL doesn't know what you have done. If you put out, from ABL, a 10 character PCL sequence, ABL thinks you have just printed 10 characters. Use PUT CONTROL to get it to think you didn't print anything. But, any side effects of that command like moving the logical print head, changing the number of lines that will fit on the page or characters on a line or whatever, you have to work around. One of the standard tricks is to use the PCL to print the special stuff, lines, images, logos, whatever, and then to return to the top left corner of the print image as if you hadn't done anything. Then, print your regular ABL output on top of that. Once you get the initial part down and as long as thing are supposed to be on the same place on the page all the time, this turns out to be surprisingly reliable.