Clear printer buffer after failed RFID read

. .. cota 3 years 7 months ago
331 0 0

   Hello Everyone!
   I have a problem and I wonder if anybody may have cross this scenario and be kind enough to share possible solutions.
   In short, I have a zebra printer with an RFID reader kit integrated.
* In normal operation, I send a tag to print and the printer returns the ID of the label that just printed. I use that information to produce the inventory that will be associated to that ID.
* Every time that there is a hardware malfunction (e.g. ribbon out, paper out, etc), the printer changes its status to error, as it should. The problem is that subsequent labels are stored in memory, thus, when the error condition is cleared, these buffered labels print without sending me back the ID being read, so my inventory figures get skewed.
* As a work-around, I thought about clearing the buffer if the current label did not return a Tag ID, so it doesn't get printed when the condition is cleared. According to the zebra ZPL documentation, the command is ~JA.
* The problem with this approach is that, once I clear the buffer, the printer no longer returns any information whatsoever until the user manually turns it off and then on.
* As a work-around of the work-around, I sent a "Power On Reset" instead of clearing the buffer. According to the zebra ZPL documentation, the command is ~JR.
* The power-on reset works great, but I think it is an overkill, as a few labels get wasted in the process (a penny saved is a penny earned).

   The Zebra printer I have is R110Xi, although this problem is present in many zebra printer models with RFID module compatible with ZPL 2

   I'm confident that this scenario is quite common since mechanical hiccups in printers are kind of expected in a high production environment. However, I can't find anywhere any document describing the best practices of working with Zebra printers with an RFID kit.

   Here is my label, although I don't think this has an influence in the buffer behaviour:

^XA
^FO20,20^A0N,22^FN1^FS
^RFR,H,0,,E^FN1^FS
^HV1,,Tag:^FS
^XZ

   Short and sweet.

   Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

   Manuel

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