Drucker voll unter Kontrolle mit Software Development Kit von GeBE

New Universal Driver makes printing processes under Windows®, Windows®CE and Linux accessible

Germering, April 04, 2018

GeBE Elektronik und Feinwerktechnik GmbH from Germering, Germany, now presents the most recently developed software for their USB thermal printers, an embedded universal driver. So far, the thermal printer manufacturer has made individual printer drivers suitable for various operating systems. Now, GeBE also offers the universal Software Development Kit, SDK, as an alternative. It brings great benefits for the practice, because when creating the printer application you are working even closer to the printer. The abstraction levels between application and printer have been reduced to a minimum. Thus, the SDK user has the entire printing process under control and he can use a variety of status queries. Comparatively much slimmer than the previous printer drivers, the SDK is also particularly resource-saving. For different operating systems the same Application Programming Interfaces (API) are used. The basis are always the same architectures and software designations, and for each platform GeBE supplies a source sample code in different programming languages, with which the new universal driver gets integrated. Even a later change to another operating system, which can be problematic when using previous drivers, can be realised with the GeBE-SDK. For OEM a relevant criterion to use this new software as well.

Bypassing the „black box effect“

If communication errors occur in the system during the printing process, the use of previous drivers sometimes leads to a „black box effect“. Then the causes are simply not visible due to the operating system. The user of the new Software Development Kit from GeBE creates his own printer application for his operating system, which loads a print layout as an image. Before the print job is started, the specified image data is rendered to the PRN format using the renderer module according to the defined print format size and compression type. Now the control DLL (USB I/O) becomes active. On the one hand, it takes over the data, opens the corresponding USB port and sends everything to the USB printer. On the other hand, it monitors all printer status messages and returns them to the application. Thus, the entire printing process is transparent and it can be intervened if necessary at any time. The GeBE-SDK supports popular platforms such as Windows®, Windows®CE and Linux.

The thermal printer manufacturer GeBE draws from a wealth of experience in customization. This applies to special requirements for thermal printer software and hardware as well as thermal paper. The company from Germering, Germany, has been in business for over 50 years and has been acting as a recognized partner of the industry for data input and output solutions for more than 30 years.