argox_ix4

Windows USB driver for ARGOX iX4-series PPLB label printers. It opens the inbox usbprint.sys device interface directly (dart:ffi + win32) — so it needs no vendor driver, no Seagull/ARGOX SDK, and no print queue. Just plug the printer in.

⚠️ Early release (0.1.x). USB discovery, status read-back, and physical label printing on real media are all hardware-verified on an ARGOX iX4-350. Tested on a single model and environment; the API may change before 1.0.

Built on pplb (the command/label layer), which this package re-exports — one import gives you both.

Platform: Windows only (Windows 7 SP1+ when built with Flutter 3.19 / Dart 3.3; Windows 10+ on Dart 3.4+). UsbPrinter throws UnsupportedError elsewhere. The pplb command layer it builds on is cross-platform.

Usage

import 'package:argox_ix4/argox_ix4.dart'; // re-exports pplb too

Future<void> main() async {
  final printer = LoggedPrinter(
    RetryPrinter(const UsbPrinter(), attempts: 2),
    print,
  );

  // Read status (no paper -> code 7, media out)
  final status = await printer.status();
  print('ok: ${status.ok()}  mediaOut: ${status.mediaOut()}');

  // Print a label. All coordinates and sizes are in dots (see note below).
  await printer.print(CommandLabel(const [
    BufferClear(),
    LabelWidth(990),                       // 3.3" at 300 dpi
    LabelDimensions(length: 630, gap: 35), // 2.1" label, ~3 mm gap
    Text(x: 40, y: 40, font: 4, data: 'ARGOX iX4'),
    Barcode1d(x: 40, y: 200, type: '1', height: 160, data: '0123456789'),
    Copies(1),
  ]));
}

Dimensions are in dots, not millimetres. Convert from the printer's resolution: dots = inches × dpi. The iX4-350 is 300 dpi (dots = inches × 300, or mm × 11.81); the iX4-250 is 203 dpi (mm × 8). After loading media, run the printer's auto-calibration (Menu → Sensor) so it learns the label-plus-gap length.

Flutter consumers: the re-exported pplb includes a class named Text (PPLB A command) that clashes with Flutter's Text widget. Import with a prefix — import 'package:argox_ix4/argox_ix4.dart' as ix4; — and use ix4.Text(...), ix4.UsbPrinter(), etc.

Printing CJK / non-Latin text

The resident printer fonts are Latin-only and this unit has no Asian font board, so Chinese/Japanese/Korean text is printed as a bitmap: GdiText renders the string with a Windows font (GDI), and ImmediateGraphic sends it via the PPLB GW command. AutoFont picks the face by dominant script (override with font:). A line may mix CJK with ASCII — the whole line renders in the one chosen face, since the CJK fonts carry Latin glyphs too. Size is set in points (sizePt).

await const UsbPrinter().print(CommandLabel([
  const BufferClear(),
  const LabelWidth(990),
  const LabelDimensions(length: 630, gap: 35),
  ImmediateGraphic(x: 45, y: 45, bitmap: GdiText('中文標籤', sizePt: 18)),
  ImmediateGraphic(x: 45, y: 140, bitmap: GdiText('日本語ラベル', sizePt: 18)),
  ImmediateGraphic(x: 45, y: 235, bitmap: GdiText('한국어 라벨', sizePt: 18)),
  const Copies(1),
]));

Han-only text can't be distinguished as Chinese vs Japanese (Han unification); it defaults to a Chinese face — pass font: 'MS Gothic' (etc.) to override.

Monitoring the connection

The printer is auto-selected by USB vendor id (0x1664) — there is no COM port to configure; plug it in and print. To watch the connection state, poll ArgoxConnection, whose methods never throw:

const connection = ArgoxConnection();

Timer.periodic(const Duration(seconds: 2), (_) async {
  if (!await connection.connected()) {
    // printer unplugged
    return;
  }
  final status = await connection.status(); // PrinterStatus or DisconnectedStatus
  // status.ok(), status.mediaOut(), status.headOpen() ...
});

connected() reports USB presence; status() returns the live PrinterStatus or a DisconnectedStatus (not an exception) when the printer is unreachable.

How it works

UsbPrinter enumerates the usbprint.sys device-interface class, selects the ARGOX device by USB vendor id 0x1664, opens its device path with CreateFile (overlapped), writes label.bytes(), and for status() writes ^ee and reads the reply — mapping it to a PrinterStatus. Discovery, status, and printing all verified against an ARGOX iX4-350.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.