I am developing an application that requires that I be able to print reports from the handheld device. At the present time, I am using the bluetooth capabilities of the Psion device to send a stream of ascii characters to a bluetooth printer. This works fine but printer manufacturers seem to be moving away from making bluetooth printers. We are looking for other options.
I have tried to print through the usb port on the back of the cradle but this is hit or miss -- mostly miss. Only one printer in our office out of six different types allows me to connect.
Another alternative that I am considering is to send my stream of ascii characters to the tcp/ip address of a network printer. This works fine if the printer is set up and ready to go. If the printer is off, offline, etc., the report goes into never-never land. Is there any way that I can discover the printer status from my Windows CE program before sending the report so that I can warn the user that the printer is not operational? At the very least, is it possible to ping the printer to find out if there is something out there to accept what I am trying to send?
Our shop programs in VB.Net so VB examples would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Good afternoon CJ,
In case it helps, the attached VB .NET module/form illustrates how to programmatically ping an IP address.
Form1.vb (compressed)
E.g.
Regards,Jacques
Thanks Jacques .
I have one more query..
I have to create an Smart device application for Windows Mobile 6.0 in C#.Net that runs automatically at start up and check Following condition :
Because i don't want to loose state of page .
Thanks,
Aniruddha.
Jacques -
I built the form and used the code included in your example. When I deployed the program to the handheld, I always get "No reply" when I try to ping. I tried this program on a Psion handheld in a single cradle and in a four port docker attached directly to the network. I received the same 'No reply' for both a local IP address (my network printer) and for the IP address of a website on the internet.
When I created the same form and program as a Windows application, it worked fine for both the internal network printer IP address and for the external website IP address.
Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?
C. J.
C.J.
As depicted below, I had no difficulties pinging while using
For your information, I used a Windows CE device sled into a single docking station connected to an Ethernet Hub.
vvvv
Can any of the above mentioned options allow pinging your printer?
Kind regards,Jacques