# What is a PCL-compatible printer?



## Brooook (Oct 27, 2002)

I have a portable spirometer (to test lung functions) that can print the stored results to a PCL-compatible printer. The printer cable has a RS-232 plug.

My printer is a hp psc 1210 printer/scanner/copier and only has a square plug that plugs into the printer. A USB cable plugs into that from my computer.

Is my printer PCL-compatible? Will an adapter plug/cable do the job? If not, how can I print the results using my printer?


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## pronute (Feb 13, 2003)

As far as I know RS232 protocol is not compatible to USB, PCL (HP's Printer Command Language) is described in detail here in this article http://www.idautomation.com/kb/fonts-pcl.html
You can't connect a USB or parallel printer directly, however you can get a RS232 interface card for your PC or laptop connect the printer to the computer and the spirometer via the RS232 port in the computer, install the PCL fonts and application, (Runs in DOS)


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## Brooook (Oct 27, 2002)

Thanks.

Quoted from the web page you linked me to:

"Some printers such as the HP 3100, HP 3150 and any printers in HP's "All-in-One" product family do not have an internal PCL rasterizer. Instead they use a software PCL emulator that is built into the print driver."

I assume my "all-in-one" printer is one of these. So can I get an interface card to my laptop and print via the laptop? Please advise me how (step by step)!


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## cnimbus (Mar 1, 2003)

PCL means printer control language, and refers to the command set "language" understood by HP printers. The PCL and the type of computer-printer connection are completely independent of each other. Some HP LaserJets and DeskJets, particularly the older ones, connected to the computer with an RS-232 serial port instead of a parallel port. If I recall correctly, some printers had both types of port, and there may still be models that support serial connections. This page shows the printer serial cable pinouts, in case no ready made cables are handy. Superwarehouse.com sells refurbished models, some with serial ports.

Alternatively, a JetDirect card can be installed in a current HP printer with an EIO slot. The LaserJet 2300 series is the least expensive of the model that supports this, to the best of my knowledge. PCL comes in different versions. As a general rule, newer versions of PCL are supersets of preceding versions, so your device would probably work with one of the current printers.


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## Cosmic (May 5, 2003)

Something about this doesn't sound right. Are you sure your assumptions are correct?

Something must contain the PCL language in software. Usually that is a computer with a program written to directly support PCL format. So I would guess the actual set up is plug your spirometer into the serial port of a PC that contains some software to extract your data. Just like how a digital camera works. 

Then that software interfaces with the PCL language which is both contained in a loaded fashion on the PC and also has the drivers setup to support the printer. The printer must be put into a mode to print PCL related documents. The software and hardware must jive.

I have used PCL to make very custom meter scales as replacements for special electronic type projects in DOS with a HP 4L. Basically had to write a drawing program based around PCL commands to actually do the required output, setup of the on-board computer HP 4L Wizard driver to get the printer into the proper support mode desired, then print under control of the program I had written.

PCL is not useful without a program designed to directly output the various commands. Would seem to me, you may be missing a piece of support software for the spirometer. It could be done in something like firmware where an EEPROM is installed but I would tend to think not. How old is this spirometer and did you research it for some support software?

PCL is just an extended character set of codes, the printer just does what each code represents as it receives each command. Same as printing the letter A in ASCII only with a far better way of drawing graphic representations one tiny bit at a time. Just a way of getting very fine detailed drawings in print out form before your average bear printer could produce them. Was a ton of work to write for a dedicated application with only a few copies made which was what I normally did.


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## cnimbus (Mar 1, 2003)

Cosmic said:


> Something about this doesn't sound right. Are you sure your assumptions are correct?


If you mean about the PCL not being linked to a particular connection type, then yes.



> Something must contain the PCL language in software. Usually that is a computer with a program written to directly support PCL format. So I would guess the actual set up is plug your spirometer into the serial port of a PC that contains some software to extract your data. Just like how a digital camera works.
> 
> Then that software interfaces with the PCL language which is both contained in a loaded fashion on the PC and also has the drivers setup to support the printer. The printer must be put into a mode to print PCL related documents. The software and hardware must jive.


The printer driver is what translates the print job into PCL format. In Windows, this driver is written by the printer manufacturer. With DOS, each application had to contain drivers, written by whoever developed the application, for each printer it supported. If the spirometer supports PCL, then the appropriate printer driver should already be onboard the spiromenter, or be available as an add-on option. This is true regardless of which OS the spirometer has embedded on it.

The printer can usually be put into a mode to support PCL via a software command. Some printers can have the default language (PCL, Postscript, etc.) set via their front panel. HP printers which support PCL will usually default to that mode without any setting changes unless a Postscript module is installed. Non-HP printers that emulate PCL might need to have the language type set. It would be a good idea to check with the spirometer manufacturer or in the documentation to see which printer models are supported.


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