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ReceiptPrinterEncoder

Formally known as EscPosEncoder, StarPrntEncoder and ThermalPrinterEncoder


Create a set of commands that can be send to any receipt printer that supports ESC/POS, StarLine or StarPRNT.


Migrating from version 2 to version 3

ReceiptPrinterEncoder has been completely rewritten in version 3, but we've attempted to keep the API backwards compatible. And for the most part that is true, except when dealing with images in Node. See below for the details.


New name

ReceiptPrinterEncoder was previously named ThermalPrinterEncoder. This name was changed to be more consistant with its sister libraries. Also we're now moving to a single scope for all Point-Of-Sale related libraries.

Version 2:

npm i thermal-printer-encoder

Version 3:

npm i @point-of-sale/receipt-printer-encoder

Standalone

Previously this library had a dependancy on EscPosEncoder and StarPrntEncoder. That is no longer the case, as this library can now encode both ESC/POS, StarLine and StarPRNT by itself. That means there is less duplicated code and our bundle size can be quite a bit smaller.

If you are still using EscPosEncoder or StarPrntEncoder, the dependancy is now the other way around. EscPosEncoder and StarPrntEncoder have been updated to use ReceiptPrinterEncoder as a dependency and it is advised to use ReceiptPrinterEncoder instead.


Default language

In previous versions of this library you had to specify a language, such as esc-pos or star-prnt. If you did not specify the language, you would get an exception. In the latest version the langauge will default to esc-pos.


Dependency on canvas removed

When using Node, this library previously had a dependency on the canvas package for dealing with images. In version 3 we've made this library more lightweight and flexible by removing this dependency, allowing you to use other libraries as well.

However, if you want to continue using the canvas package for images, you now have to handle the dependency yourself.

This only applies if you provide the image as an Image object. If you make your own image and provide a Canvas object, you do not need to make any modifications.

Version 2:

import { loadImage } from 'canvas';
import ThermalPrinterEncoder from 'thermal-printer-encoder';

let image = await loadImage('image.png');

let encoder = new ThermalPrinterEncoder();

encoder.image(image, ...)

Version 3:

import { createCanvas, loadImage } from 'canvas';
import ReceiptPrinterEncoder from '@point-of-sale/receipt-printer-encoder';

let image = await loadImage('image.png');

let encoder = new ReceiptPrinterEncoder({ 
    createCanvas 
});

encoder.image(image, ...)

If all you want to do is print already existing image files, you might even want to move away from canvas altogether to a more lightweight image library. There are examples on how to use various libraries in the examples directory.


Wrap parameter for text() and line() removed

It is no longer possible to specify the number of columns after which to wrap when using the text() or line() command. Instead you could use the box() function with a border style of none.

Version 2:

encoder
    .text('... a long block of text ...', 30)

Version 3:

encoder
    .box(
        { width: 30, style: 'none' }, 
        '... a long block of text ...'
    )

Width parameter renamed to columns and now has a default value

The width parameter has now been changed to the columns parameter. The width parameter still works, but is deprecated and will be removed in future releases. In previous versions this parameter did not have a default value, but that is now set to 42 characters.


Alignment now uses spaces

In previous version of this library, we used the build-in alignment functionality of the printer to create right aligned or centered text. This has been changed in version 3. From now on we always use left aligned text and align the text ourselves inserting spaces before the text. This allows us to control word wrapping better and also works in tables and boxes.

Images and barcodes still use the build-in alignment of the printer.


Size() changed functionality

In version 2 you could call size() with the parameter normal or small to change the font size. This functionality has now been moved to the font() function.

Version 2:

encoder
    .size('small')
    .text('This is small text')

Version 3:

encoder
    .font('B')
    .text('This is small text')

In addition to this, the size() function is now a shortcut for the width() and height() functions allowing you to change the width and height with just one command.

Version 2:

encoder
    .width(2)
    .height(2)
    .text('This is big text')

Version 3:

encoder
    .size(2)
    .text('This is big text')

The old way of using the size() function still works, but it has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version.


Qrcode() now uses a configuration object

Instead of seperate parameters for model, size and errorlevel, the qrcode() function now uses a configuration object to set the model, size and errorlevel.

Version 2:

let result = encoder
    .qrcode('https://nielsleenheer.com', 1, 8, 'h')
    .encode()

Version 3:

let result = encoder
    .qrcode('https://nielsleenheer.com', { model: 1, size: 8, errorlevel: 'h' })
    .encode()

The old way of using the qrcode() function still works, but it has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version.


Barcode() now uses a configuration object

Instead of a seperate parameter for height, the barcode() function now uses a configuration object to set the height and a couple of new options..

Version 2:

let result = encoder
    .barcode('313063057461', 'ean13', 40)
    .encode()

Version 3:

let result = encoder
    .barcode('313063057461', 'ean13', { height: 40 })
    .encode()

The old way of using the barcode() function still works, but it has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version.


Barcode() default size changed

There was an inconsitency in size of the barcode between StarPRNT and ESC/POS. The barcodes printed on a Star printer appeared much larger. This inconsistency has been fixed and Star printers now appear similar to ESC/POS printers.

Additionally a new width option has been added so you can adjust the size of the barcode yourself.


Codabar and NW-7 barcodes are the same

In previous versions ESC/POS printers supported Codabar barcodes and Star printers supported NW-7 barcodes. On most printers these types are completely identical.

So from now on Codabar is supported for ESC/POS and StarPRNT and NW-7 is an alias for Codabar. And it is no longer needed to choose one for one language and pick the other one for the other language. Both will work in both languages.


Code-128 code sets are no longer supported

Version 2 allowed you to specify which code set you wanted to use for Code-128 barcodes. This functionality has been deprecated, because it did not work correctly in StarPRNT. As of version 3, the code set will be automatically selected for both languages.


Some code page mappings have been renamed

The previous version of this library had an optional code page mapping with the name of zijang. This has been renamed to pos-5890 to match the model number of this device.


Automatic encoding of codepages

In previous versions of this library it supported automatic encoding of codepages using a limited set of codepages:

cp437, cp858, cp860, cp861, cp863, cp865, cp852, cp857, cp855, cp866, cp869

The current version still supports automatic encoding, except that it no longer uses a fixed set of codepages, unless you manually specify one using the codepageCandidates property. Instead it will now use all codepages supported by the printer to encode characters from.