Writing a Printer Driver for AmigaOS

[Twin]

I have some experience in programming (C, C++, BASIC etc) and I also work for a company that manufactures printer cartridges and printer components. So I thought I might look into what would be needed to write drivers for AmigaOS 4 and maybe even 3.x I have access to pretty much all Canon and HP printer models.

I don't have OS4 yet but I plan to soonish, I've just bought an A1200 and I can use WINUAE. I have no experience writing drivers, what language are they written in? Are there any helpful guides available?

[mikrucio]

Sorry i cant help other than saying that writing
device drivers are very hard indeed.

but dont let that stop you do some research.

regards

[mongo]

You can get the source for several printer drivers here. I'm prety sure there's also a few on Aminet.

[Steady]

The Amiga RKM Devices manual has information on writing printer drivers for 2.x (which is pretty much the same as 3.x).

Not sure where to get information about writing OS4-specific printer drivers.

The printer drivers tend to be a mix of C and assembler.

[Cymric]

The driver itself is probably not even the hardest thing, provided you stick to ordinary black and white printing. Some people have already indicated there are many examples out there. The real problem is finding out which codes to send to the printer: these are almost never documented in the printer manuals anymore. At one time I wanted to write a driver for my HP LaserJet 6MP, only to find out that the manuals I needed would set me back about 200 €. You open up a can of worms if you want to create a colour printer driver: colour calibration is an extremely tricky subject, definitely not for the unwary and uninitiated.

[ncafferkey]

Be careful you don't end up reinventing the wheel! There are a number of drivers already for Canon and HP printers, although these are mostly for older models AFAIK.