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Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing

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  Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-12 01:40 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2024-01-12 02:00 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-12 14:30 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Geert Stappers <stappers@stappers.nl> - 2024-01-12 07:30 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-13 02:00 +0100
        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2024-01-13 03:50 +0100
          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-13 09:50 +0100
            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing Trish Fraser <trish@thefrasers.org> - 2024-01-13 10:40 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-13 12:10 +0100
            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing debian-user@howorth.org.uk - 2024-01-13 14:00 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-13 15:10 +0100
        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing hw <hw@adminart.net> - 2024-01-15 20:10 +0100
          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2024-01-15 20:30 +0100
          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-15 21:10 +0100
            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing hw <hw@adminart.net> - 2024-01-16 11:50 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2024-01-18 06:10 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing hw <hw@adminart.net> - 2024-01-18 12:30 +0100
                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2024-01-18 13:20 +0100
                    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing hw <hw@adminart.net> - 2024-01-18 15:30 +0100
                      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"Printing gene heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2024-01-21 02:00 +0100
                        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-21 07:50 +0100
                          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"Printing gene heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2024-01-21 13:50 +0100
                        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"Printing "Roy J. Tellason, Sr." <roy@rtellason.com> - 2024-01-21 19:40 +0100
                    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> - 2024-01-21 11:10 +0100
                      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-22 07:00 +0100
                      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> - 2024-01-22 16:10 +0100
                        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-22 16:30 +0100
                          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2024-01-22 16:40 +0100
                            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-22 18:50 +0100
                              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"Printing gene heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2024-01-23 04:00 +0100
                              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> - 2024-01-24 18:10 +0100
                            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> - 2024-01-23 18:10 +0100
                              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2024-01-23 18:20 +0100
                                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Max Nikulin <manikulin@gmail.com> - 2024-01-24 17:50 +0100
                                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2024-01-24 20:50 +0100
                      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2024-01-26 06:50 +0100
                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2024-01-19 03:00 +0100
                    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-21 02:40 +0100
                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-20 23:20 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-20 23:00 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-20 22:20 +0100
            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-20 21:20 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing "tomas@tuxteam.de" <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-21 07:50 +0100
          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-20 20:00 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2024-01-12 12:30 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Tixy <tixy@yxit.co.uk> - 2024-01-12 13:20 +0100
        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-13 02:30 +0100
          Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-13 08:40 +0100
            Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2024-01-13 16:10 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2024-01-13 16:50 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing Charles Curley <charlescurley@charlescurley.com> - 2024-01-13 17:00 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-13 17:10 +0100
                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing gene heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2024-01-13 19:20 +0100
                    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> - 2024-01-14 20:00 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing debian-user@howorth.org.uk - 2024-01-13 17:20 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing Charles Curley <charlescurley@charlescurley.com> - 2024-01-13 23:50 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2024-01-14 01:50 +0100
                  Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing debian-user@howorth.org.uk - 2024-01-14 14:40 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2024-01-14 06:30 +0100
              Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-14 08:20 +0100
                Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing "tomas@tuxteam.de" <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2024-01-14 11:40 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-12 14:50 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@debian-user.mail.kapsi.fi> - 2024-01-12 15:00 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-12 17:10 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Loïc Grenié <loic.grenie@gmail.com> - 2024-01-15 11:20 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough"  Printing phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> - 2024-01-15 18:20 +0100
        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Loïc Grenié <loic.grenie@gmail.com> - 2024-01-15 23:20 +0100
    Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Eduardo M KALINOWSKI <eduardo@kalinowski.com.br> - 2024-01-22 14:20 +0100
      Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2024-01-22 15:00 +0100
        Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing Eduardo M KALINOWSKI <eduardo@kalinowski.com.br> - 2024-01-22 15:30 +0100

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#265922

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On Sun, Jan 14, 2024 at 10:25:06AM +0000, phoebus phoebus wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> >> One viable approach is the one proposed by Stefan et al (modify an
> >> existing terminal emulator) [...]

> I fully endorse the approach proposed by Stefan et al, as well as the implementation logic for the terminal emulator part. However, as a system administrator and not a developer, I will seek out existing projects or solutions that provide these features.
> Thank you once again for your valuable assistance.

Glad if I could contribute a grain of help.

Keeping fingers crossed that you succeed in your endeavour.
Every bit of free software out there helping people do their
thing makes the world a bit better.

Cheers
-- 
t

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#265828 — Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing

Hello,

>> Would it be correct to say that you don't care about the
>> "terminal emulator" at all, and merely need a way for the Linux
>> server to send data over the network to a serial port on a
>> remote Debian machine which is attached to a printer?
>>
>> If so, I direct you to the sredird package.

Thank you for suggesting this path. However, the terminal emulator plays a central role in our infrastructure because it is through this terminal emulator that users access the application and also have the ability to reauthenticate inside it for printing purposes.

It's important to note that behind this printer, several other devices are controlled through the printer, making the terminal a central point in the seamless interaction with the server for our users. Therefore, the terminal emulator remains an integral component of our setup.

Best regards,
Thierry

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#265829

phoebus phoebus <frphoebus@yahoo.fr> writes:

> We have noticed that PuTTY allows "passthrough" printing but
> unfortunately, it only works unidirectionally and requires the use of
> a serial software printer which also supports only unidirectional
> flow. While PuTTY can manage connections to devices via the serial
> port bidirectionally, it does not provide a solution to manage
> "passthrough" printing directly to the COM port. This configuration is
> described in the PuTTY documentation
> (https://documentation.help/PuTTY/config-printing.html).

Is this also true of the Linux version of Putty? I've never used it but
it's packaged in Debian. Also I wonder what it is you mean with
"bidirectionally" here. Do you expect to read data from the printer and
send it back?

Another thing I found with a quick search is screen. While screen is a
terminal multiplexer, it has a user controllable setting printcmd for
printing:

"printcmd [cmd]

If cmd is not an empty string, screen will not use the terminal
capabilities "po/pf" if it detects an ansi print sequence ESC [ 5 i, but
pipe the output into cmd.  This should normally be a command like "lpr"
or "'cat > /tmp/scrprint'".  printcmd without a command displays the
current setting.  The ansi sequence ESC \ ends printing and closes the
pipe.  Warning: Be careful with this command! If other user have write
access to your terminal, they will be able to fire off print commands."

>From that description you should be able to set printcmd to for example
cat > /dev/ttyUSB_whatever and the remote printing will go there.

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#265836 — Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing

Hello,

>> Is this also true of the Linux version of Putty? I've never used it but
>> it's packaged in Debian. Also I wonder what it is you mean with
>> "bidirectionally" here. Do you expect to read data from the printer and
>> send it back?

Yes, bidirectional communication is expected in both directions because behind this printer, several other devices are controlled through the printer, making the terminal a central point in the seamless interaction with the server for our users. What we aim to achieve is the ability to print directly to the COM port. While we are aware of commercial emulators that can accomplish this, we are exploring whether there are open-source alternatives that can provide the same functionality.
Currently, this functionality is handled by a commercial emulator.

>> Another thing I found with a quick search is screen. While screen is a
>> terminal multiplexer, it has a user controllable setting printcmd for
>> printing:
>>
>> "printcmd [cmd]
>>
>> If cmd is not an empty string, screen will not use the terminal
>> capabilities "po/pf" if it detects an ansi print sequence ESC [ 5 i, but
>> pipe the output into cmd.  This should normally be a command like "lpr"
>> or "'cat > /tmp/scrprint'".  printcmd without a command displays the
>> current setting.  The ansi sequence ESC \ ends printing and closes the
>> pipe.  Warning: Be careful with this command! If other user have write
>> access to your terminal, they will be able to fire off print commands."
>>
>> >From that description you should be able to set printcmd to for example
>> cat > /dev/ttyUSB_whatever and the remote printing will go there.

Screen does not have the capability to switch to transparent mode or specifically handle escape codes for printing natively, which it would receive from the application in order to pass to printcmd. Moreover, due to the continuous exchange based on the application's menus, managing this as an overlay to redirect the output to an external command could become quite complex.

The printcmd feature in screen is primarily designed to redirect the output of the application to an external printing command. However, it is not intended to effectively handle bidirectional flows involving other devices.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Best Regards,
Thierry

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#265985

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     Dear Thierry,

On Fru Jan 12th, 2024 at 05:08, phoebus phoebus wrote:

> Dear members of the Debian community,
>
> I am currently on the lookout for a terminal emulator on Debian that can
> handle controlled printing from a remote server often referred to as
> "passthrough" printing. Our specific requirement is the ability to select
> the printing device using a specific method, either the physical COM port
> or the virtual COM port (emulated by a USB device).
>
> To be more precise, we want the terminal emulator to transmit data exactly
> as it is received from a remote server (which is a Linux server) when it
> attempts to print data through a set of escape sequences to send text in
> transparent mode. This transmission should be directed to the COM device
> without any modifications.
>
> We have noticed that PuTTY allows "passthrough" printing but
> unfortunately, it only works unidirectionally and requires the use of a
> serial software printer which also supports only unidirectional flow. While
> PuTTY can manage connections to devices via the serial port
> bidirectionally, it does not provide a solution to manage "passthrough"
> printing directly to the COM port. This configuration is described in the
> PuTTY documentation (https://documentation.help/PuTTY/config-printing.html
> ).
>
> Our application runs on Linux and needs to communicate with a specialized
> serial printer by sending data directly to it through a terminal emulator
> on a client machine (with the printer connected to the client machine's
> serial port).
>
> The purpose of my request is to explore the possibility of moving away
> from a third-party terminal emulator that runs on Windows and is compatible
> with somewhat older hardware and operating systems.
>
> I have conducted research within the list of available emulators on Debian
> but have not yet found a solution that meets our requirements. Therefore, I
> am reaching out to seek your assistance and suggestions. I have tried Tera
> Term (https://osdn.net/projects/ttssh2/releases/) but it does not offer
> the desired functionality.
>
> If you have any ideas or recommendations for a Debian terminal emulator
> capable of bidirectional "passthrough" printing, I would greatly appreciate
> hearing from you.
>
> Thank you in advance for your assistance and valuable suggestions.
>

    I confess I have not read all messages. I think "expect" might be the
program
  you need.

      Best,

         Loïc

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#265993 — Re: Seeking a Terminal Emulator on Debian for "Passthrough" Printing

Hello,

>> I confess I have not read all messages. I think "expect" might be the program
>> you need.

Thank you for your suggestion and assistance. While 'Expect' is primarily designed to automate interactions with text-based programs, its use for intercepting and managing escape sequences to enable pass-through mode on a terminal screen is complex, particularly in the specific context and configuration of our POS system.

Given that the terminal needs to interact very frequently and dynamically with the printer based on real-time feedback from the server, I believe that 'Expect' may not be the best solution for our situation. It is generally more suitable for scripted interactions and predictable scenarios.

I appreciate your input, and if you have any alternative suggestions or insights that align more closely with our requirements, I would be grateful for your guidance.

Regards,
Thierry

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#266015

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On Mon Jan 15th, 2024 at 18:19, phoebus phoebus wrote:

> Hello,
>
> >> I confess I have not read all messages. I think "expect" might be the
> program
> >> you need.
>
> Thank you for your suggestion and assistance. While 'Expect' is primarily
> designed to automate interactions with text-based programs, its use for
> intercepting and managing escape sequences to enable pass-through mode on a
> terminal screen is complex, particularly in the specific context and
> configuration of our POS system.
>
> Given that the terminal needs to interact very frequently and dynamically
> with the printer based on real-time feedback from the server, I believe
> that 'Expect' may not be the best solution for our situation. It is
> generally more suitable for scripted interactions and predictable scenarios.
>
> I appreciate your input, and if you have any alternative suggestions or
> insights that align more closely with our requirements, I would be grateful
> for your guidance.
>

    You may need to write the program yourself. It's probably not very
  complicated, but you have to be accustomed to writing programs.
  I'd write it in C, forking an ssh (or whatever is needed to connect
  to your server), leaving its standard input untouched, and piping
  its standard output to your program. Your program would send
  the data it receives to its own standard output, except between
  pairs of "magical escape sequences", where it would send the data
  either to the COM port, or to whatever program that may be needed.

       Best,

             Loïc

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#266446

On 11/01/2024 21:27, phoebus phoebus wrote:
> [snip description of problem]

I'm on the category of people that haven't fully understood the 
requirements. Maybe because I do not have experience in this specific 
area, and also probably because I haven't read each email carefully.

But that's ok, because I want to talk in more general terms. You 
probably won't like the suggestion, though.

It seems that the system you have has become quite complex and its many 
components depend on each other in very specific ways. It has become 
something rather peculiar. Maybe it's not unique, maybe many retailers 
have similar systems, but they all depend on the same vendor or couple 
of vendors.

You now want to replace of the components, but since it's very dependent 
on the rest of the system, you are having a hard time finding a 
replacement. It's even difficult to describe the requirements, because 
it's something really unusual.

So: have you considering replacing the whole system?

Sure, in the short term it will be costly.

It'll be difficult, and cause disruptions. The users will have to be 
trained in the new system, productivity will decrease a little until 
they get proficient in it, there might be the need for some downtime, etc.

So I totally understand that what I'm proposing is not something easy to 
ask. But given that the difficulty you are having in replacing this one 
component will likely be repeated when some other part needs to be 
changed, I do not think it's entirely unreasonable that this option is 
studied.

-- 
Eduardo M KALINOWSKI
eduardo@kalinowski.com.br

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#266447

> So: have you considering replacing the whole system?

You mean, fix this one well-understood problem, and replace it with an
unknown number of unknown problems?
Sounds great!


        Stefan

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#266448

On 22/01/2024 10:57, Stefan Monnier wrote:
>> So: have you considering replacing the whole system?
> 
> You mean, fix this one well-understood problem, and replace it with an
> unknown number of unknown problems?
> Sounds great!

How about "Replace a locked-in solution with an fully open source 
[hopefully] solution"?

It definitely looks like there is no ready open source solution to the 
component the OP wants to replace. It might be possible to adapt an 
existing terminal emulator to include the necessary functionality, 
solving the immediate problem, but the next part that they want to 
replace might end up with the same problem.


-- 
BASIC is the Computer Science equivalent of `Scientific Creationism'.

Eduardo M KALINOWSKI
eduardo@kalinowski.com.br

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