Connecting to an ASCII printer to UniStream
Eduardo Margulis
Jan-28th, 2018 13:15

Printing text should be an easy task if the printer supports ASCII protocol (DOS mode). (you can implement the printer protocol under Message composer).

This is possible ift he printer

  • has serial interface  (RS232/485).
  • has Ethernet TCP/IP interface.

To send commands to the printer you can use the Message composer to build the message you wish to send or receive from the printer and serial com functions of the ladder editor. 

Here is a video tutorial about message composer:

This means that before purchasing the printer it is necessary to review the manual of the printer and check if the printer support interface of serial or Ethernet and the manual provides the commands need to  be sent to the printer in order to configure it and print.


Please note that you will not be able to print HMI screen, trends or data tables directly from the PLC.

Data tables can be read into tags and send this information one row at a time to the printer.


Attached is and example for UniStream to communicate with Ethernet printer using protocol PCL5 which is relatively common.

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