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Examples
1. Sample Client application used for testing and development purposes. This application demonstrates how to use an INI file to write print job information and paths to the generated files.
Download Sample Client Application: Virtual Printer for VB6
2. Collecting Multiple Documents – in this example we’ll create a more powerful client which will be able to collect files from multiple printed documents into collection and transfer them in a zip archive to a remote machine using ftp or http protocols.
Download Collecting Multiple Documents: Virtual Printer for C#/C++, VB6/VB.NET
3. How to print files programmatically using the ShellExecute function– see below.
How to print files programmatically using the ShellExecute function
The code sample below demonstrates how to print files programmatically on either a physical or a virtual printer using the ShellExecute function. It also demonstrates how to change the default system printer.
Private Declare Function GetDefaultPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias
"GetDefaultPrinterA" (ByVal szPrinter As String, bufferSize As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SetDefaultPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias
"SetDefaultPrinterA" (ByVal szPrinter As String) As Long
Public Sub PrintDocumentUsingShellExecute(szPrinter As String, szDocumentPath As String)
Dim szDefaultPrinter, szNamePrinterBuff As String
Dim bufferSize As Long
' get the default printer
GetDefaultPrinter vbNullChar, bufferSize
szNamePrinterBuff = Space$(bufferSize)
GetDefaultPrinter szNamePrinterBuff, bufferSize
szDefaultPrinter = Left$(szNamePrinterBuff, InStr(szNamePrinterBuff, vbNullChar) - 1)
' change the default printer
If szPrinter <> szDefaultPrinter Then
SetDefaultPrinter szPrinter
End If
' send the document to the print
ShellExecute 0, "print", szDocumentPath, vbNullString, vbNullString, SW_HIDE
' set the default printer back to original
If szPrinter <> szDefaultPrinter Then
SetDefaultPrinter szDefaultPrinter
End If
End Sub
Then it’s necessary to call these functions with the required parameters. For example, you can print MS Word and PDF documents this way:
PrintDocumentUsingShellExecute "Your Virtual Printer", "c:\Documents\AnyDocument.doc" PrintDocumentUsingShellExecute "Your Virtual Printer", "c:\ Documents \AnyDocument.pdf"
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