Javascript receipt printing using POS Printer

Question

In a web application I want to print a receipt using a POS (Point of Sale) Printer. I want to do that with Javascript. Can anyone provide me an example for that?

Answer 1

I'm going out on a limb here , since your question was not very detailed, that a) your receipt printer is a thermal printer that needs raw data, b) that "from javascript" you are talking about printing from the web browser and c) that you do not have access to send raw data from browser

Here is a Java Applet that solves all that for you , if I'm correct about those assumptions then you need either Java, Flash, or Silverlight http://code.google.com/p/jzebra/

Answer 2

I have recently implemented the receipt printing simply by pressing a button on a web page, without having to enter the printer options. I have done it using EPSON javascript SDK for ePOS. I have test it on EPSON TM-m30 receipt printer.

Here is the sample code.

var printer = null;
var ePosDev = null;

function InitMyPrinter() {
    console.log("Init Printer");

    var printerPort = 8008;
    var printerAddress = "192.168.198.168";
    if (isSSL) {
        printerPort = 8043;
    }
    ePosDev = new epson.ePOSDevice();
    ePosDev.connect(printerAddress, printerPort, cbConnect);
}

//Printing
function cbConnect(data) {
    if (data == 'OK' || data == 'SSL_CONNECT_OK') {
        ePosDev.createDevice('local_printer', ePosDev.DEVICE_TYPE_PRINTER,
            {'crypto': false, 'buffer': false}, cbCreateDevice_printer);
    } else {
        console.log(data);
    }
}

function cbCreateDevice_printer(devobj, retcode) {
    if (retcode == 'OK') {
        printer = devobj;
        printer.timeout = 60000;
        printer.onreceive = function (res) { //alert(res.success);
            console.log("Printer Object Created");

        };
        printer.oncoveropen = function () { //alert('coveropen');
            console.log("Printer Cover Open");

        };
    } else {
        console.log(retcode);
        isRegPrintConnected = false;
    }
}

function print(salePrintObj) {
    debugger;
    if (isRegPrintConnected == false
        || printer == null) {
        return;
    }
    console.log("Printing Started");


    printer.addLayout(printer.LAYOUT_RECEIPT, 800, 0, 0, 0, 35, 0);
    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_CENTER);
    printer.addTextSmooth(true);
    printer.addText('\n');
    printer.addText('\n');

    printer.addTextDouble(true, true);
    printer.addText(CompanyName + '\n');

    printer.addTextDouble(false, false);
    printer.addText(CompanyHeader + '\n');
    printer.addText('\n');

    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_LEFT);
    printer.addText('DATE: ' + currentDate + '\t\t');

    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_RIGHT);
    printer.addText('TIME: ' + currentTime + '\n');

    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_LEFT);

    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_RIGHT);
    printer.addText('REGISTER: ' + RegisterName + '\n');
    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_LEFT);
    printer.addText('SALE # ' + SaleNumber + '\n');

    printer.addTextAlign(printer.ALIGN_CENTER);
    printer.addTextStyle(false, false, true, printer.COLOR_1);
    printer.addTextStyle(false, false, false, printer.COLOR_1);
    printer.addTextDouble(false, true);
    printer.addText('* SALE RECEIPT *\n');
    printer.addTextDouble(false, false);
....
....
....

}

Answer 3

If you are talking about a browser based POS app then it basically can't be done out of the box. There are a number of alternatives.

1. Use an applet like Scott Selby says
2. Print from the server. If this is a cloud server, ie not connectable to the receipt printer then what you can do is
   • From the server generate it as a pdf which can be made to popup a print dialog in the browser
   • Use something like Google Cloud Print which will allow connecting printers to a cloud service

Answer 4

EDIT: NOV 27th, 2017 ─ BROKEN LINKS

Links below about the posts written by David Kelley are broken.

There are cached versions of the repository, just add cache: before the URL in the Chrome Browser and hit enter.

• 1st POST: Cached | Medium Post
• 2nd POST: Cached

---

This solution is only for Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers.

EDIT:

(*)The links are broken. Fortunately I found this repository that contains the source of the post in the following markdown files: A | B

This link* explains how to make a Javascript Interface for ESC/POS printers using Chrome/Chromium USB API (1)(2). This link* explains how to Connect to USB devices using the chrome.usb.* API.

Answer 5

I printed form javascript to a Star Micronics Webprnt TSP 654ii thermal printer. This printer is a wired network printer and you can draw the content to a HTML canvas and make a HTTP request to print. The only caveat is that, this printer does not support HTTPS protocol yet, so you will get a mixed content warning in production. Contacted Star micronics support and they said, they are working on HTTPS support and soon a firmware upgrade will be available. Also, looks like Epson Omnilink TM-88V printer with TM-I will support javascript printing.

Here is a sample code: https://github.com/w3cloud/starwebprint

Answer 6

Maybe you could have a look at this if your printer is an epson. There is a javascript driver

http://spsrprofessionals.com/ClientSite/readers/ePOS-Print_SDK_141020E/JavaScript/ePOS-Print_SDK_JS_en_revB.pdf

EDIT:

Previous link seems to be broken

All details about how to use epos of epson are on epson website:

https://reference.epson-biz.com/modules/ref_epos_device_js_en/index.php?content_id=139

Answer 7

try Escpos for PHP POS printing use https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php

Answer 8

You could try using https://www.printnode.com which is essentially exactly the service that you are looking for. You download and install a desktop client onto the users computer - https://www.printnode.com/download. You can then discover and print to any printers on that user's computer using their JSON API https://www.printnode.com/docs/api/curl/. They have lots of libs here: https://github.com/PrintNode/