WINDOWS PRINTER DRIVERS

Printer Driver Installation Guides

Windows Driver Install Guide

DRIVER APPLICATION NOTES 

There are three different driver types that can be used with your BOCA printer – Generic Text, FGL and PCL. While all three allow you to communicate through driver dependent applications (Word, Excel, IE) and/or access the printer over a network, these drivers have very different operating modes. Please note that the only printer status information readily available with these drivers is whether or not the printer is ready to receive data. These drivers will not return status on any interface. While we do not recommend installing the printer drivers if you intend to communicate bi-directionally, we have developed some ways of communicating bi-directionally while using drivers. (see sample code page)

FGL Drivers (contained in printer_drivers.exe)
This is the preferred driver for BOCA printers. This driver is only to be used with FGL mode printers. (NOTE: Old FGL printers may not support the use of FGL drivers. FGL driver support was first introduced in 2000 on FGL22/42 printers.)

BOCA PCL Drivers (contained in printer_drivers.exe)
This is a legacy driver for BOCA printers. This driver is only to be used with PCL mode printers. With the exception of the limited resident font and bar code choices, these drivers install and operate similarly to the FGL drivers. (NOTE: Prior to the release of the BOCA PCL drivers, many customers used HP LaserJet IIP drivers. However, the HP drivers have slightly different margin definitions and lack many of the features supported in the BOCA drivers - vendor defined page sizes, customer defined page sizes, etc.)

Generic Text Driver

Unlike most drivers, this driver driver does not support WYSIWYG, true type fonts or graphics. This driver is typically used by certain ticketing systems that use web browsers to send non-graphic, FGL commands to the printer. Please note that none of the upcoming instructions apply to the Generic Text Driver.

Uninstall Drivers

In the event that you accidentally install the wrong driver, it may be necessary to completely remove all traces of the old driver files in order to successfully install a new driver. Please follow the instructions shown below to remove an old driver:

• If you see the printer name in the Printers folder, Right click to delete it.
  
• Go to next step either way.
  
• Right click on the Printer folder and select “Run as Administrator” and “Server Properties”.
  
• Select the Driver tab and then if the printer name shows, click on the “Remove” button.
  
• Select “Remove driver and driver package” then OK, and then Yes to next dialog box.
  
• Then “Delete” and “OK” in the next dialog boxes.
  
• “Close” Server Properties window.
  
• This will remove any remnant files of previous install tries.
  
• Open the \Windows\inf folder and delete the file setupapi.dev.log.
  
• Install the driver again preferably with “Run as Administrator”.
  

General

A printer driver translates the graphical information displayed in your Windows application into a printer friendly format.  In order to properly format the data, the user must correctly establish the page size and margins.  Windows supports the following methods of defining page sizes:

• Vendor (BOCA) Defined - We have pre-defined some common page (ticket) sizes which can be used with any Windows application.  Please use a BOCA defined page size if it meets your requirements.
• User (Customer) Defined - This method allows the customer to define any page size less than 16" long.  This is the preferred method whenever a vendor defined size is not available.  Adding a new page size ("create a new form") is described in detail below.
• Windows Defined - Windows has pre-defined a variety of common page sizes.  The BOCA drivers allow you to access the "letter" and "11 x 17" page sizes.  Please note that margins must be adjusted to avoid printing outside of the ticket boundaries.
• Custom Size - This option is only available in some versions of Word.  We do not recommend the use of this method.

Driver Use – All applications (PCL and FGL)

Before using your driver, you should select the appropriate ticket size in the “Page Setup” dialog of the application.  If your desired ticket size is unavailable, you will need to add your own page size as follows:

·       Go to “Printers and Faxes”

·       Go to “File” (at the top of the dialog)

·       Select “server properties”

·       Select the “Forms” dialog

o   Check the “create a new form” box

o   Enter the desired width, length and margins

o   Set Margins - start with the following minimum margins and increase as necessary

     FGL DRIVERS

o   Portrait Mode - top and right = 0, bottom and left = .01

o   Landscape Mode - bottom and right = 0, top and left = .01

               PCL DRIVERS

o   Portrait Mode - top = .07, right = 0, bottom = .01, left = .01

o   Landscape Mode - bottom and right = 0, top = .07 and left = .01

·       Click on “Save Form”

·       Select “Close”

Some older driver versions allowed you to select the “letter” size and adjust the margins to define the ticket size.  This feature is still available in the new drivers to support old installations.

When selecting a new font, Windows will default to the previous font size.  This size will usually be incorrect.  You must re-assign a valid font size to guarantee the proper font representation on your screen.  "Tall" font in Word Pad does not display properly on the screen.

Driver Use – Word Only (PCL and FGL)

Before using Word, you must select the “use printer metrics to layout document” box in tools/options/compatibility.  All of the previous “driver use” guidelines apply to Word.  Word also provides you with the unique ability to define a custom page size within the application itself.  We strongly recommend against the use of this feature.  However, the following description will explain the use and limitations of this feature.

While Word allows you to manipulate the page size in both portrait and landscape modes, the data sent to the printer only functions properly in portrait mode.  You cannot print in landscape mode with a Word defined custom page size.

In portrait mode, you can manually set the height for any ticket length up to 11 inches.  For ticket lengths greater than 11 inches, you will need to add your own page size as described above in the “all applications” section.

Printer Models (adjustable vs. fixed and reverse adjustable)

Due to a variety of legacy issues and driver limitations, an adjustable FGL printer operating in portrait mode requires an <rte> command in order to properly format the ticket.  This command only needs to be sent once as it is permanently stored in the printer's memory.  (You can send the printer and <rtd> command to reverse an erroneously sent <rte> command.)  Please note the manner in which the printer formats the ticket in the various scenarios shown below.