com.zebra.sdk.comm

Class ConnectionBuilder

Object

com.zebra.sdk.comm.ConnectionBuilder

public class ConnectionBuilder
extends Object

Builds a Connection from a description string. The description string is used to specify a connection to a specific device over TCP or Bluetooth.

 
 The description string may be of the explicit forms: 
 "TCP:192.168.1.4:6101" -- creates a TCP connection to the device with IP address 192.168.1.4 on port 6101
 "TCP:192.168.1.4" -- creates a TCP connection to the device with IP address 192.168.1.4 on default port 9100
 "TCP:dnsName:6101" -- creates a TCP connection to the device with 'dnsName' on port 6101
 "TCP:dnsName" -- creates a TCP connection to the device with 'dnsName' on default port 9100
 "TCP_MULTI:192.168.1.4" -- creates a Multichannel TCP connection to the device with '192.168.1.4' using the default ports for both the printing channel (9100) and the status channel(9200)
 "TCP_MULTI:192.168.1.4:1234" -- creates a Multichannel TCP connection to the device with '192.168.1.4' using the given port for the printing channel (1234) and the default port for the status channel(9200)
 "TCP_MULTI:192.168.1.4:1234:5678" -- creates a Multichannel TCP connection to the device with '192.168.1.4' using the given ports for the printing channel (1234) and the status channel(5678)
 "TCP_MULTI:dnsName:1234:5678" -- creates a Multichannel TCP connection to the device with 'dnsName' using the given ports for the printing channel (1234) and the status channel(5678)
 "TCP_STATUS:192.168.1.4:1234" -- creates a TCP status only connection to the device with IP address 192.168.1.4 on port 1234
 "TCP_STATUS:192.168.1.4" -- creates a TCP status only connection to the device with IP address 192.168.1.4 on the default status port 9200
 "BT:11:22:33:44:55:66" -- creates a Bluetooth connection to the device using '11:22:33:44:55:66' as the MAC address 
 "BT_MULTI:11:22:33:44:55:66" -- creates a multichannel Bluetooth connection to the device using '11:22:33:44:55:66' as the MAC address. (Link-OS 2.5 or higher for the status channel)
 "BT_STATUS:11:22:33:44:55:66" -- creates a status only Bluetooth connection to the device using '11:22:33:44:55:66' as the MAC address. (Link-OS 2.5 or higher)
 
 

Generic text may also be used to attempt to specify a device. For example a description string of "genericText" will attempt to connect to a device using the following priority:

• TCP_MULTI
• TCP
• TCP_STATUS
• BT_MULTI
• BT
• BT_STATUS

e.g. If you supply the string '1FE533AA7B90'. This could be interpreted to be either a DNS name or a Bluetooth MAC address. ConnectionBuilder will attempt to connect to this string given the above priority order. If you supply a more specific string, such as '192.168.2.3', ConnectionBuilder will more efficiently interpret this string as being an IP address and, therefore, only attempt the TCP connections.
The Bluetooth Connection Building process will first attempt an insecure connection (no pairing required). This requires the printer's 'bluetooth.minimum_security_mode' must be set to 1. If an insecure connection could not be esablished, it will attempt to pair and connect securely. This will trigger the Android pairing request prompt.
Note: Colon (':') characters are not supported in dnsName, friendlyName, uniqueId, deviceName, or genericText fields. The following is an example of building a connection from a string.

package test.zebra.sdk.comm.examples;
 
 import com.zebra.sdk.comm.Connection;
 import com.zebra.sdk.comm.ConnectionBuilder;
 import com.zebra.sdk.comm.ConnectionException;
 import com.zebra.sdk.printer.PrinterStatus;
 import com.zebra.sdk.printer.ZebraPrinterFactory;
 import com.zebra.sdk.printer.ZebraPrinterLinkOs;
 
 public class ConnectionBuilderExample {
 
     public static void main(String[] args) {
         new ConnectionBuilderExample().nonBlockingStatusReportingOverMultichannel("1.2.3.4");
         new ConnectionBuilderExample().sendZplOverTcp("1.2.3.4");
         new ConnectionBuilderExample().sendZplOverBluetooth("11:22:33:44:55:66");
     }
 
     private void nonBlockingStatusReportingOverMultichannel(String theIpAddress) {
         try {
             // Instantiate Multichannel connection for simultaneous printing and status reporting at given address
             Connection thePrinterConn = ConnectionBuilder.build("TCP_MULTI:" + theIpAddress + ":9100:9200");
 
             // Opens the connection - physical connection is established here.
             thePrinterConn.open();
 
             // Creates a Link-OS printing with the given connection
             ZebraPrinterLinkOs linkOsPrinter = ZebraPrinterFactory.getLinkOsPrinter(thePrinterConn);
 
             // This is sent over the printing channel (9100 by default) and will block the printing channel until the
             // label format is completely sent.
             String labelFormatStartCommand = "^XA";
             linkOsPrinter.sendCommand(labelFormatStartCommand);
 
             String labelBody = "^FO20,20^A0N,25,25^FDThis is a ZPL test.^FS";
             linkOsPrinter.sendCommand(labelBody);
 
             // This is sent over the status channel (9200 by default) and will return immediately even though the
             // printing channel is in use.
             // If a TcpConnection were used instead of a MultichannelTcpConnection, this would not be possible.
             PrinterStatus status = linkOsPrinter.getCurrentStatus();
 
             System.out.println("The printer PAUSED state is : " + status.isPaused);
 
             // Send the end of label command to finish and print the label.
             String labelFormatEndCommand = "^XZ";
             linkOsPrinter.sendCommand(labelFormatEndCommand);
 
             // Close the connection to release resources.
             thePrinterConn.close();
 
         } catch (ConnectionException e) {
             // Handle communications error here.
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
     }
 
     private void sendZplOverTcp(String theIpAddress) {
 
         try {
 
             // Instantiate TCP connection
             Connection thePrinterConn = ConnectionBuilder.build("TCP:" + theIpAddress + ":9100");
 
             // Open the connection - physical connection is established here.
             thePrinterConn.open();
 
             // This example prints "This is a ZPL test." near the top of the label.
             String zplData = "^XA^FO20,20^A0N,25,25^FDThis is a ZPL test.^FS^XZ";
 
             // Send the data to printer as a byte array.
             thePrinterConn.write(zplData.getBytes());
 
             // Close the connection to release resources.
             thePrinterConn.close();
 
         } catch (ConnectionException e) {
 
             // Handle communications error here.
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
     }
 
     private void sendZplOverBluetooth(String btMacAddress) {
 
         try {
 
             // Instantiate a Bluetooth connection
             Connection thePrinterConn = ConnectionBuilder.build("BT:" + btMacAddress);
 
             // Open the connection - physical connection is established here.
             thePrinterConn.open();
 
             // This example prints "This is a ZPL test." near the top of the label.
             String zplData = "^XA^FO20,20^A0N,25,25^FDThis is a ZPL test.^FS^XZ";
 
             // Send the data to printer as a byte array.
             thePrinterConn.write(zplData.getBytes());
 
             // Close the connection to release resources.
             thePrinterConn.close();
 
         } catch (ConnectionException e) {
 
             // Handle communications error here.
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
 
     }
 
 }
 

Method Summary

Methods

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
static void	addConnectionType(Class<? extends Connection> c) Add a connection type to the ConnectionBuilder
static Connection	build(String descriptionString) Creates a Connection type based on the contents of descriptionString.

Methods inherited from class Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

addConnectionType

public static void addConnectionType(Class<? extends Connection> c)

Add a connection type to the ConnectionBuilder

Parameters:

c - connection class

build

public static Connection build(String descriptionString)
                        throws ConnectionException

Creates a Connection type based on the contents of descriptionString.

Example:
"TCP:192.168.1.2:9100"

Parameters:

descriptionString - The format of the input string is: [prefix:] address [: port_number(s)]

• Prefix is either TCP_MULTI, TCP, TCP_STATUS, BT_MULTI, BT, or BT_STATUS
• The format of address depends on the prefix
  • BT : address is the printer's MAC address.
  • TCP : address is either a DNS name or an IPv4 address.
• port_number(s) is optional, and only applicable for TCP connections.
• Examples :
  • TCP:ZBR3054027:9100
  • TCP_MULTI:ZBR3054027:9100:9200
  • BT:11:22:33:44:55:66
  • BT_MULTI:11:22:33:44:55:66
  • 10.1.2.3

Returns:

Connection derived from connection

Throws:

ConnectionException - if a connection could not be established for the given descriptionString.