When the Simple Zanasi Z4xx print driver was developed, we were not given a complete Zanasi print system. This prevented the printer from being tested as a system in the run mode like we would typically do. Each part of the system was tested using various means to test that we understood how to wire and test each component, like the encoder, the Print Trigger and the communication.

The Test Print option was used, in conjuction with the printers Serial Port bebug screen, to test that the printer recieved and processed the print message. Unfortunately, the Test Print function does not test for a response from the printer like the Run Mode operation does. When the first customer began to use the driver in production, they began to recieve printer communication errors that we didn't see in our testing.

Zanasi should really add the ability for their Serial Sniffer function to return a programmed response when it accepts a command. Having this response allows the controller to detect when the printer has stopped communicating so that parts are not missing a message or get the wrong message.

In the mean time the following solution was chosen.

The Simple Zanasi driver will have a new setting called Require Printer Response. It will have two options, Yes and No. It will default to No. If the customer is OK with using the printer, at the risk of not knowing if it is functioning properly, they can set it to No. If they are not, they will have to contact Zanasi for a solution that provides a resonse that can be tested by the XL.