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thermy v0.2

Simple (ha!) thermal (esc/pos) printing for classrooms. I made this for fun and to learn new stuff -- it works, so here it is!

Description

The current version:

  • finds and connects to USB ESC/POS printers on Windows;
  • prints hall passes (printing templates to be expanded, e.g. todo lists, random circle prompts, class currency, etc.);
    • includes optional QR codes on printed passes (generates QR code based on randomly chosen content from line in qrcontent.txt);
    • logs printing (pass) activity (saved to thermylogs.txt);
  • includes GUI;
  • can also be controlled via sms text message (twilio + ngrok + flask); and
    • at start, automatically updates sms twilio webhook url to current ngrok reverse proxy tunnel url.

Getting Started

What's required?

  • ESC/POS USB Printer with libusb-k driver installed on Windows
  • For SMS control, twilio and ngrok accounts
  • Python3

Cloning and setting up your environment.

git clone https://github.com/FrozenBurrito/thermy.git
cd thermy
python -m venv .
scripts\activate.bat 
pip install -r requirements.txt

Modifying the python-esc-pos library to work with windows

  • Follow the instructions here to modify the printer.py file in the python-esc-pos library to work on Windows.

Installing Printer Driver (libusb-k)

Twilio Setup

  • Purchase a new phone number on Twilio. Create a messaging service in the Twilio dashboard (required for sending sms). Choose option for on receipt of sms -> passthrough to defined webhook url. Add new number to messaging service.
  • Send and receive a test message within the Twilio dashboard to confirm your new number is working.

Create and setup your .env file

  • Create a .env file in your project root directory which defines the following environment variables:
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=XXXXXXXXXX
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=XXXXXXXXXX
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER=+15555555555
MESSAGING_SERVICE_SID=XXXXXXXXXX
NGROK_AUTH_TOKEN=XXXXXXXXXX
STUDENT_ORIGIN=YourName

Customizing Logos, etc.

  • Replace logotext.png with a custom logo.
    • logotext.png appears in main window and is printed at top of passes.
  • Replace print.ico with a custom icon.

Customizing QR Codes

  • Edit qrcontent.txt
    • Each line in qrcontent.txt holds content for new QR code.
    • Thermy randomly chooses 1 line (url or other content) from qrcontent.txt to converted into a QR code and print on each pass.
  • To turn off QR codes, deselect qrc checkbox.
    • Check-box enables and disables QR code printing for desktop (window initiated) and SMS print requests.

Disabling SMS (Twilio + Ngrok + Flask)

  • Comment out lines 164-168 and 174-176 (re starting ngrok), lines 233-236 (re starting flask as daemon thread), and 271-272 (re disconnecting ngrok).

Running thermy

python thermy.py

Bundling thermy as .exe with pyinstaller

  • First, update bundlethermy.spec with the correct paths to the binary and data files.
  • Then, run:
python bundlethermy.spec
  • This builds thermy.exe at dist/thermy.
  • The qrcontent.txt and thermylogs.txt are at dist/thermy.

SMS commands

pp name destination reason

Help

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Authors

J Mo, frozenburrito

Version History

  • 0.2
    • Added sms control via twilio + flask + ngrok (for fun).
    • Various fixes and additions.
  • 0.1
    • It works!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE.md file for details.

Helpful Libraries

Helpful Sources