Direct spool HPGL to a Roland DXY-1100 (Likely works with other models too)

spool.py

#!/usr/bin/python3

# spool.py - HPGL Spooler for Serial attached Roland DXY-1100
# Copyright (C) 2019 Geoffrey McRae <[email protected]>
# https://hostfission.com
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
# Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
# version.

# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
# PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
# this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
# Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA


import signal
import sys
import serial
import fileinput
import time

def main():
  ser = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyUSB0', 9600, timeout=10)
  running = True

  def rl():
    line = bytearray()
    while True:
      c = ser.read(1)
      if c:
        if c == b'\r':
          break
        line += c
      else:
        break

    return bytes(line)

  def get_avail():
    ser.write(b'\x1b.B')
    return int(rl())

  def send_line(line):
    if len(line) == 0:
      return

    line += '\n'
    while running and len(line) > 0:
      # leave some space for control commands
      avail = get_avail() - 32
      if (avail <= 0):
        time.sleep(0.1)
        continue

      if avail >= len(line):
        send = line
        line = ''
      else:
        send = line[:avail]
        line = line[avail:]

      ser.write(bytearray(send, 'utf-8'))

  def get_input():
    line = ""
    while running:
      c = sys.stdin.read(1)
      if c:
        if c == '\r' or c == '\n' or c == ';':
          break
        line += c
      else:
        return False
    return line

  def signal_handler(sig, frame):
    nonlocal running
    running = False

  first = True
  while running:
    line = get_input()
    if not line:
      break

    if not running:
      break

    if first:
      signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)
      send_line('SP 1;')
      first = False

    send_line(line)

  if not running:
    ser.write(b'\x1b.K')

  if not first:
    running = True
    send_line('PU;SP;')

  ser.close()

main()

Usage is simple:

• Ensure that the serial device is correct
• Ensure you have permission to access the serial device
• cat file.hpgl | ./spool.py