Printer command escape sequences syntax

Each printer command escape sequence consists of one or more bytes. Information about these bytes should be available in the printer’s documentation or by knowing that the printer can parse ESC/P or ESC/P2 syntax. Information about these syntaxes is publicly available on the Internet.

Generally, there is no limitation on the length of the printer command escape sequence text. The parser interprets the stream of text tokens and converts them to a sequence of contiguous byte values. The byte values are then streamed to the printer, unmodified, at the appropriate time, such as at printer initialization or when the printer setting for the alarm must be modified and restored.

When specifying the printer command escape sequence as text, each byte character must be separated by a space character. The space character indicates to the parser where a token begins and ends. For example, if the printer’s draft mode can be activated by ESCx0, then the command sequence is entered as:

ESC x 0

If you need to send a space character to the printer, then use the abbreviation SP to represent that byte.

Note: The parser is case-sensitive, so all abbreviations must be entered in capital letters. For example, use ESC, not esc or Esc.

The following types of items can be included in the command sequence:

• The abbreviated name of the control characters

• The number, letter, or other printable character

• The decimal number for the ASCII character

• The hexadecimal number for the ASCII character

For a list of the hexadecimal or decimal numbers for the control and printable characters, refer to a publicly available ASCII table.