Printing a PDF in c# using a stream ... can it be done ?

[Microsoft News]

Greetings community at large.

I have a c# app that generates a PDF file.
I have a printer that prints PDF natively.

But I cannot figure out how to programatically print in C# ... I can
generate the PDF as a file or a stream .. but cannot figure out how to send
either to the printer.

the only events I can use seem to be e.Graphics.Draw Image( ) or
e.Graphics.Draw String( )

is there a way to print a stream to a printer ? or a streamReader or
binaryStream ?

I thought that as a PDF is 'kind-of' a postscript file I could use
e.Graphics.Draw String( ) .. not surprisingly I got several pages of text ...

I can just drag and drop my PDF onto the printer it hops in the queue and
prints wonderfully ( no need to use acrobat reader to print) ..

Is perhaps this the way to go to 'programaticall y' push the file onto the
print queue ?

Regards.

[Dave Sexton]

Hi,

Google search turns up many results.

One way
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...89cae8878ce652

Another way (similar, but more OO)
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...9334b9c4e9a58f

Printing in a server application such as ASP.NET
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...9a5d2f6d1a4add

Note: I have no idea if any of these actually work :)

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog

"Microsoft News" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:ur******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

Greetings community at large.

I have a c# app that generates a PDF file.
I have a printer that prints PDF natively.

But I cannot figure out how to programatically print in C# ... I can
generate the PDF as a file or a stream .. but cannot figure out how to
send either to the printer.

the only events I can use seem to be e.Graphics.Draw Image( ) or
e.Graphics.Draw String( )

is there a way to print a stream to a printer ? or a streamReader or
binaryStream ?

I thought that as a PDF is 'kind-of' a postscript file I could use
e.Graphics.Draw String( ) .. not surprisingly I got several pages of text
...

I can just drag and drop my PDF onto the printer it hops in the queue and
prints wonderfully ( no need to use acrobat reader to print) ..

Is perhaps this the way to go to 'programaticall y' push the file onto the
print queue ?

Regards.

[JE]

If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be
LPT1, COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc,0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}
Microsoft News wrote:

Greetings community at large.

I have a c# app that generates a PDF file.
I have a printer that prints PDF natively.

But I cannot figure out how to programatically print in C# ... I can
generate the PDF as a file or a stream .. but cannot figure out how to send
either to the printer.

the only events I can use seem to be e.Graphics.Draw Image( ) or
e.Graphics.Draw String( )

is there a way to print a stream to a printer ? or a streamReader or
binaryStream ?

I thought that as a PDF is 'kind-of' a postscript file I could use
e.Graphics.Draw String( ) .. not surprisingly I got several pages of text ...

I can just drag and drop my PDF onto the printer it hops in the queue and
prints wonderfully ( no need to use acrobat reader to print) ..

Is perhaps this the way to go to 'programaticall y' push the file onto the
print queue ?

Regards.

[Bob]

Thanks JE ... this looked quite hopeful .. when I pasted it in it compiles
and runs but doesnt seem to drive any printer.
I traced though it up to the fs.write( ) and doc is populated ..
what have I missed ????? at worst I hoped to get garbage out of the printer.

Below is my implimentation :

using System;
using System.Collecti ons.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

namespace printing_direct ly_to_printer
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc)
{
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port,
FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc, 0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
string printerPort_Lex mark = "IP_10.254.1.90 "; // ports
mapped on the local machine to the various printers
string printerPort_HPC olor = "IP_10.254.1.11 "; // the
lexmark will print PDF's natively, dont expect the HP
string printerPort_PDF Creator = "PDFCreator "; // to play
nicely .. but there for testing

FileStream myFS = new FileStream("c:\ \document.pdf",
FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read ); // read in the PDF
BinaryReader myBR = new BinaryReader(my FS);

byte[] outData = new byte[myBR.BaseStream .Length];

for (int x = 0; x == myBR.BaseStream .Length; x++)
outData[x] = myBR.ReadByte() ;

PrintDirect(pri nterPort_Lexmar k, outData);
}
}
}

regards Bob

"JE" <jg*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:Op******** *****@TK2MSFTNG P05.phx.gbl...

If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be LPT1,
COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int securityattribu tes,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode creationdisposi tion, int flags,
IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc,0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

[Bob]

Thanks Dave,

Yep I've seen these methods before ... they seem to require something to be
able to format the PDF and print it ... usually acrobat reader ... I'm
hoping that because I havea printer that can print PDF's natively I can
avoid this step and the various dark arts associated.

Acrpbat reader version 4 and below you could use and then be able to close
it afterwards but with the later version there is no easy way to shut down
acrobat reader once it has done its job.

cheers Bob
"Dave Sexton" <dave@jwa[remove.this]online.comwrote in message
news:OU******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...

Hi,

Google search turns up many results.

One way
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...89cae8878ce652

Another way (similar, but more OO)
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...9334b9c4e9a58f

Printing in a server application such as ASP.NET
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...9a5d2f6d1a4add

Note: I have no idea if any of these actually work :)

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog

"Microsoft News" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:ur******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

>Greetings community at large.

I have a c# app that generates a PDF file.
I have a printer that prints PDF natively.

But I cannot figure out how to programatically print in C# ... I can
generate the PDF as a file or a stream .. but cannot figure out how to
send either to the printer.

the only events I can use seem to be e.Graphics.Draw Image( ) or
e.Graphics.Dra wString( )

is there a way to print a stream to a printer ? or a streamReader or
binaryStream ?

I thought that as a PDF is 'kind-of' a postscript file I could use
e.Graphics.Dra wString( ) .. not surprisingly I got several pages of text
...

I can just drag and drop my PDF onto the printer it hops in the queue and
prints wonderfully ( no need to use acrobat reader to print) ..

Is perhaps this the way to go to 'programaticall y' push the file onto the
print queue ?

Regards.

[Dave Sexton]

Hi,

I haven't tried using the Win32 APIs to do this myself, but here's a
reference that might help:

Printing and Print Spooler Functions
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535737.aspx

I'm going to need this eventually too - if you figure something out that's
pretty simple, please post your findings. Thanks!

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog
http://www.codeplex.com/DocProject (Sandcastle in VS IDE)

"Bob" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:eU******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...

Thanks JE ... this looked quite hopeful .. when I pasted it in it compiles
and runs but doesnt seem to drive any printer.
I traced though it up to the fs.write( ) and doc is populated ..
what have I missed ????? at worst I hoped to get garbage out of the
printer.

Below is my implimentation :

using System;
using System.Collecti ons.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

namespace printing_direct ly_to_printer
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc)
{
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port,
FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc, 0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
string printerPort_Lex mark = "IP_10.254.1.90 "; // ports
mapped on the local machine to the various printers
string printerPort_HPC olor = "IP_10.254.1.11 "; // the
lexmark will print PDF's natively, dont expect the HP
string printerPort_PDF Creator = "PDFCreator "; // to play
nicely .. but there for testing

FileStream myFS = new FileStream("c:\ \document.pdf",
FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read ); // read in the PDF
BinaryReader myBR = new BinaryReader(my FS);

byte[] outData = new byte[myBR.BaseStream .Length];

for (int x = 0; x == myBR.BaseStream .Length; x++)
outData[x] = myBR.ReadByte() ;

PrintDirect(pri nterPort_Lexmar k, outData);
}
}
}

regards Bob

"JE" <jg*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:Op******** *****@TK2MSFTNG P05.phx.gbl...

>If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be LPT1,
COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int securityattribu tes,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode creationdisposi tion, int flags,
IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.Read Write, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Rea dWrite);
fs.Write(doc,0 ,doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

[Bob]

Hi Dave,

well the solution to my problem was here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/322091 Your posts plus EJ's
pointed me in the right direction.

This solution works for my printer as it can print PDF's ..

cheers Bob

"Dave Sexton" <dave@jwa[remove.this]online.comwrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP05.phx.gbl. ..

Hi,

I haven't tried using the Win32 APIs to do this myself, but here's a
reference that might help:

Printing and Print Spooler Functions
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535737.aspx

I'm going to need this eventually too - if you figure something out that's
pretty simple, please post your findings. Thanks!

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog
http://www.codeplex.com/DocProject (Sandcastle in VS IDE)

"Bob" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:eU******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...

>Thanks JE ... this looked quite hopeful .. when I pasted it in it
compiles and runs but doesnt seem to drive any printer.
I traced though it up to the fs.write( ) and doc is populated ..
what have I missed ????? at worst I hoped to get garbage out of the
printer.

Below is my implimentation :

using System;
using System.Collecti ons.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

namespace printing_direct ly_to_printer
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc)
{
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port,
FileAccess.Rea dWrite,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc, 0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
string printerPort_Lex mark = "IP_10.254.1.90 "; // ports
mapped on the local machine to the various printers
string printerPort_HPC olor = "IP_10.254.1.11 "; // the
lexmark will print PDF's natively, dont expect the HP
string printerPort_PDF Creator = "PDFCreator "; // to play
nicely .. but there for testing

FileStream myFS = new FileStream("c:\ \document.pdf",
FileMode.Ope n, FileAccess.Read ); // read in the PDF
BinaryReader myBR = new BinaryReader(my FS);

byte[] outData = new byte[myBR.BaseStream .Length];

for (int x = 0; x == myBR.BaseStream .Length; x++)
outData[x] = myBR.ReadByte() ;

PrintDirect(pri nterPort_Lexmar k, outData);
}
}
}

regards Bob

"JE" <jg*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:Op******* ******@TK2MSFTN GP05.phx.gbl...

>>If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be
LPT1, COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattri butes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdispo sition, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.Rea dWrite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Re adWrite);
fs.Write(doc, 0,doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

[JE]

Looks very good - I will definitely use this approach next time around.
We print a lot of raw stuff to our label printers and untill now the
..Net solution I used was similar to the old VB6 one we had before.
Bob wrote:

Hi Dave,

well the solution to my problem was here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/322091 Your posts plus EJ's
pointed me in the right direction.

This solution works for my printer as it can print PDF's ..

cheers Bob

"Dave Sexton" <dave@jwa[remove.this]online.comwrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP05.phx.gbl. ..

>Hi,

I haven't tried using the Win32 APIs to do this myself, but here's a
reference that might help:

Printing and Print Spooler Functions
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535737.aspx

I'm going to need this eventually too - if you figure something out that's
pretty simple, please post your findings. Thanks!

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog
http://www.codeplex.com/DocProject (Sandcastle in VS IDE)

"Bob" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:eU******* *******@TK2MSFT NGP06.phx.gbl.. .

>>Thanks JE ... this looked quite hopeful .. when I pasted it in it
compiles and runs but doesnt seem to drive any printer.
I traced though it up to the fs.write( ) and doc is populated ..
what have I missed ????? at worst I hoped to get garbage out of the
printer.

Below is my implimentation :

using System;
using System.Collecti ons.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

namespace printing_direct ly_to_printer
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc)
{
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port,
FileAccess.Re adWrite,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc, 0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
string printerPort_Lex mark = "IP_10.254.1.90 "; // ports
mapped on the local machine to the various printers
string printerPort_HPC olor = "IP_10.254.1.11 "; // the
lexmark will print PDF's natively, dont expect the HP
string printerPort_PDF Creator = "PDFCreator "; // to play
nicely .. but there for testing

FileStream myFS = new FileStream("c:\ \document.pdf",
FileMode.Open , FileAccess.Read ); // read in the PDF
BinaryReader myBR = new BinaryReader(my FS);

byte[] outData = new byte[myBR.BaseStream .Length];

for (int x = 0; x == myBR.BaseStream .Length; x++)
outData[x] = myBR.ReadByte() ;

PrintDirect(pri nterPort_Lexmar k, outData);
}
}
}

regards Bob

"JE" <jg*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:Op****** *******@TK2MSFT NGP05.phx.gbl.. .
If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be
LPT1, COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattr ibutes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisp osition, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.Re adWrite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.R eadWrite);
fs.Write(doc ,0,doc.Length);
fs.Close() ;
}

[Dave Sexton]

Hi Bob,

Great, thanks for posting the link.

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog
http://www.codeplex.com/DocProject (Sandcastle in VS IDE)

"Bob" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:uJ******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP05.phx.gbl...

Hi Dave,

well the solution to my problem was here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/322091 Your posts plus EJ's
pointed me in the right direction.

This solution works for my printer as it can print PDF's ..

cheers Bob

"Dave Sexton" <dave@jwa[remove.this]online.comwrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP05.phx.gbl. ..

>Hi,

I haven't tried using the Win32 APIs to do this myself, but here's a
reference that might help:

Printing and Print Spooler Functions
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535737.aspx

I'm going to need this eventually too - if you figure something out
that's pretty simple, please post your findings. Thanks!

--
Dave Sexton
http://davesexton.com/blog
http://www.codeplex.com/DocProject (Sandcastle in VS IDE)

"Bob" <no*******@nosp amSam.com.auwro te in message
news:eU******* *******@TK2MSFT NGP06.phx.gbl.. .

>>Thanks JE ... this looked quite hopeful .. when I pasted it in it
compiles and runs but doesnt seem to drive any printer.
I traced though it up to the fs.write( ) and doc is populated ..
what have I missed ????? at worst I hoped to get garbage out of the
printer.

Below is my implimentation :

using System;
using System.Collecti ons.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

namespace printing_direct ly_to_printer
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattribu tes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisposi tion, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc)
{
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port,
FileAccess.Re adWrite,
FileShare.ReadW rite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.Read Write);
fs.Write(doc, 0, doc.Length);
fs.Close();
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
string printerPort_Lex mark = "IP_10.254.1.90 "; // ports
mapped on the local machine to the various printers
string printerPort_HPC olor = "IP_10.254.1.11 "; // the
lexmark will print PDF's natively, dont expect the HP
string printerPort_PDF Creator = "PDFCreator "; // to play
nicely .. but there for testing

FileStream myFS = new FileStream("c:\ \document.pdf",
FileMode.Open , FileAccess.Read ); // read in the PDF
BinaryReader myBR = new BinaryReader(my FS);

byte[] outData = new byte[myBR.BaseStream .Length];

for (int x = 0; x == myBR.BaseStream .Length; x++)
outData[x] = myBR.ReadByte() ;

PrintDirect(pri nterPort_Lexmar k, outData);
}
}
}

regards Bob

"JE" <jg*******@gmai l.comwrote in message
news:Op****** *******@TK2MSFT NGP05.phx.gbl.. .
If you are looking to send a bitstream directly to a printer, use the
following code to open the port and print directly. The port can be
LPT1, COM1, etc or \\host\printers hare.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime. InteropServices ;

[DllImport("Kern el32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr CreateFile(stri ng filename,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileAccess fileaccess,
[MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileShare fileshare, int
securityattr ibutes, [MarshalAs(Unman agedType.U4)]FileMode
creationdisp osition, int flags, IntPtr template);

public static void PrintDirect(str ing port, byte[] doc){
FileStream fs = new FileStream(Crea teFile(port, FileAccess.Read Write,
FileShare.Re adWrite, 0, FileMode.Create , 0, IntPtr.Zero),
FileAccess.R eadWrite);
fs.Write(doc ,0,doc.Length);
fs.Close() ;
}