Discovering Printers

The SDK also offers APIs to discover Brother printers from your application. We recommend you to use these sample codes outside the main thread.

Sample Codes

Wi-Fi Printer

You can discover Wi-Fi Printer connected to the same network with the mobile device and tablets.

The following are the discover APIs used in the sample code.

iOS	Android
BRLMNetworkSearchOption	NetworkSearchOption
startNetworkSearch:(BRLMNetworkSearchOption )searchOption callback:(void (^)(BRLMChannel channel))callback	startNetworkSearch(Context context, NetworkSearchOption option, Consumer callback)

iOS - Objective-C:

- (BRLMPrinterSearchResult *)startSearchWiFiPrinter {
    BRLMNetworkSearchOption *option = [[BRLMNetworkSearchOption alloc] init];
    option.searchDuration = 15;
    optoin.printerList = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"Brother YourModel", @"Brother YourModel", nil];
    BRLMPrinterSearchResult * result;
    result = [BRLMPrinterSearcher startNetworkSearch:option callback:^(BRLMChannel *channel){
            NSString *modelName_ = [channel.extraInfo objectForKey:BRLMChannelExtraInfoKeyModelName];
            NSString *ipaddress = channel.channelInfo;
             NSLog(@"Model: %@, IP Address: %@", modelName, ipaddress);
        }];
    return result;
}

iOS - Swift:

fun startSearchWiFiPrinter() -> BRLMPrinterSearchResult {  
    let option = BRLMNetworkSearchOption()
    option.searchDuration = 15
    optoin.printerList = ["Brother YourModel", "Brother YourModel"]
    let result = BRLMPrinterSearcher.startNetworkSearch(option) { channel in
        let modelName = channel.extraInfo?.value(forKey: BRLMChannelExtraInfoKeyModelName) as? String ?? ""
        let ipaddress = channel.channelInfo
        print("Model : \(modelName), IP Address: \(ipaddress)")
    }
    return result
}

Android - Java:

PrinterSearchResult startSearchWiFiPrinter()
{
    NetworkSearchOption option = new NetworkSearchOption(15, false);
    PrinterSearchResult result = PrinterSearcher.startNetworkSearch(context, option, new Consumer<Channel>() {
        @Override
        public void accept(Channel channel) {
            String modelName = channel.getExtraInfo().get(Channel.ExtraInfoKey.ModelName);
            String ipaddress = channel.getChannelInfo();
            Log.d("TAG", "Model : $modelName, IP Address: $ipaddress")
        }
    });
    return result
}

Android - Kotlin:

fun startSearchWiFiPrinter(): PrinterSearchResult
{
    val option = NetworkSearchOption(15, false)
    val result = PrinterSearcher.startNetworkSearch(context, option){ channel ->
        val modelName = channel.extraInfo[Channel.ExtraInfoKey.ModelName] ?: ""
        val ipaddress = channel.channelInfo
        Log.d("TAG", "Model : $modelName, IP Address: $ipaddress")
    }
    return result
}

Bluetooth Printer

You can discover bluetooth printers which are already paired with the mobile device and tablets.

The following are the discover APIs used in the sample code.

iOS	Android
startBluetoothSearch	startBluetoothSearch(Context context)

iOS - Objective-C:

- (NSArray<BRLMChannel *> *)startSearchBluetoothPrinter {
    return [BRLMPrinterSearcher startBluetoothSearch].channels;
}

iOS - Swift:

func startSearchBluetoothPrinter() -> [BRLMChannel] {
    return BRLMPrinterSearcher.startBluetoothSearch().channels
}

Android - Java:

ArrayList<Channel> startSearchBluetoothPrinter()
{
    return PrinterSearcher.startBluetoothSearch(context).getChannels();
}

Android - Kotlin:

fun startSearchBluetoothPrinter(): ArrayList<Channel!>!
{
    return PrinterSearcher.startBluetoothSearch(context).channels
}

Bluetooth Low Energy Printer

You can discover nearby Bluetooth Low Energy Printer.

The following are the discover APIs used in the sample code.

iOS	Android
BRLMBLESearchOption	BLESearchOption
startBLESearch:(nullable BRLMBLESearchOption )searchOption callback:(nullable void (^)(BRLMChannel channel))callback	startBLESearch(Context context, BLESearchOption option, Consumer callback)

iOS - Objective-C:

- (void)startSearchBLEPrinter {
    BRLMBLESearchOption *option = [[BRLMBLESearchOption alloc] init];
    option.searchDuration = 15;
    BRLMPrinterSearchResult * result = [BRLMPrinterSearcher startBLESearch:option callback:^(BRLMChannel *channel){
        NSString *modelName_ = [channel.extraInfo objectForKey:BRLMChannelExtraInfoKeyModelName];
        NSString *advertiseLocalName = channel.channelInfo;
        NSLog(@"Model: %@, AdvertiseLocalName: %@", modelName, advertiseLocalName);
        }];
    return result;
}

iOS - Swift:

func startSearchBLEPrinter() -> BRLMPrinterSearchResult {
    let option = BRLMBLESearchOption()
    option.searchDuration = 15
    let result = BRLMPrinterSearcher.startBLESearch(option) { channel in
        let modelName = channel.extraInfo?.value(forKey: BRLMChannelExtraInfoKeyModelName) as? String ?? ""
        let advertiseLocalName = channel.channelInfo
        print("Model : \(modelName), AdvertiseLocalName: \(advertiseLocalName)")
    }
    return result
}

Android - Java:

PrinterSearchResult startSearchBLEPrinter()
{
    NetworkSearchOption option = new BLESearchOption(15);
    PrinterSearchResult result = PrinterSearcher.startBLESearch(context, option, new Consumer<Channel>() {
        @Override
        public void accept(Channel channel) {
            String modelName = channel.getExtraInfo().get(Channel.ExtraInfoKey.ModelName);
            String localName = channel.getChannelInfo();
            Log.d("TAG", "Model : $modelName, Local Name: $localName")
        }
    });
    return result
}

Android - Kotlin:

fun startSearchBLEPrinter(): PrinterSearchResult
{
    val option = BLESearchOption(15)
    val result = PrinterSearcher.startBLESearch(context, option){ channel ->
        val modelName = channel.extraInfo[Channel.ExtraInfoKey.ModelName] ?: ""
        val localName = channel.channelInfo
        Log.d("TAG", "Model : $modelName, Local Name: $localName")
    }
    return result
}

USB Printer

You can discover a printer connected via USB.

The following are the discover APIs used in the sample code.

iOS	Android
-	startUSBSearch(Context context)

Android - Java:

ArrayList<Channel> startSearchUSBPrinter()
{
    return PrinterSearcher.startUSBSearch(context).getChannels();
}

Android - Kotlin:

fun startSearchUSBPrinter(): ArrayList<Channel!>!
{
    return PrinterSearcher.startUSBSearch(context).channels
}

Notes

You don't have to use these APIs if you can get the following identifier of the printer beforehand.

OS	USB	Wi-Fi	Bluetooth	Bluetooth Low Energy
iOS	N/A	IP address	Serial Number	Local Name
Android	No ID (*1)	IP address or MAC address	Bluetooth device address	Local Name

• (*1) The connected Brother printer is automatically specified