How can I capture then convert to BMP a screendump from a device in Epson ESC/P printer format?

[Simon Waller]

I am using a Tektronix VM700 which can only output a screendump by "printing" to the serial port. I want to capture this data (of variable length) then convert it to BMP. Has anyone done this before or has an Epson-format-to-BMP routine?

[shoneill]

Hi Simon,

Try this and see if it works. I don't know if there are different Epson formats. This VI handles monochrome pics only.

I had the same problem when a thermal printer died, and I decided to capture the "graphics" per PC instead of on paper. I've been using it for my purposes for years. Dunno if it'll work for you, but you can try it and see. I think my printer worked with ESC/K, but maybe it'll give you a start at least.

Shane.

[Simon Waller]

Hi Shane,

Thanks for this. Unfortunately Esc/P is a different format but I've managed to put something together now that seems to work ok. Once I had found the spec and got to grips with the escape sequences, it turned out to be not too bad.

Simon

[Mike W123456]

Simon,

Can you eloborate on what you did?  I have the spec and I have captured the data, but I can't seem to put it all together correctly.  The data is a column matrix with a column length of 24 and a width of m (24 27 m ni nh d1 ...... dk).  The location is the movements found after 24 92 ni nh and the next line occurs after the 10 13 sequence (carriage return and line return).  That is what I am doing and it seems like I am missing something.

Thanks,

Mike