Slow printing in C#/.NET...

[Arif]

I C# code prints very slow as compared to a third party barcode printing
software. That software prints approximately 10 labels in 2 seconds while my
C# code prints 10 labels in 5 to 6 seconds. And this differences increases
with the increase number of labels.

The code is as follwods:
Here rdr = OleDbDataReader
Font is Times New Roman, 12pt
private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.HasMorePages = false;

if(this.rdr.Read())
{
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[0].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[1].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[2].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 60);

if( --this.labels_to_print > 0)
e.HasMorePages = true;
}
}

How can I increase printing speed? Please help.

Arif.

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

Arif,

I don't see much room for improvement here. It looks like you are
disposing of resources correctly (or rather, not allocating anything that
you don't need during the printing process).

The Graphics object takes advantage of GDI+, which is very slow. This
is probably the issue. I would suspect that the third-party component is
not using GDI+. Why not just use that?

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com
"Arif" <Ar**@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2**********************************@microsof t.com...

I C# code prints very slow as compared to a third party barcode printing
software. That software prints approximately 10 labels in 2 seconds while
my
C# code prints 10 labels in 5 to 6 seconds. And this differences increases
with the increase number of labels.

The code is as follwods:
Here rdr = OleDbDataReader
Font is Times New Roman, 12pt
private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.HasMorePages = false;

if(this.rdr.Read())
{
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[0].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[1].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[2].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 60);

if( --this.labels_to_print > 0)
e.HasMorePages = true;
}
}

How can I increase printing speed? Please help.

Arif.

[Craig Scheets]

Another issue is that you're actually reading directly out of the database
while printing, and using OleDb (Access?) mind you -- not a good performer.

Could you read the data into an array first, then call the Print() and just
iterate through the array inside the PrintPage event? You could then
isolate the performance problems between reading from the db and how long
the GDI+ calls and spooling is actually taking. I would put good money that
your db access is slowing you down MUCH more than GDI+.

I have an app that prints Legal (8.5x14) paychecks and I can spool about 10
checks/pages per second on a 2.4Ghz/512MB laptop. They have at least 100
DrawString()s, probably a dozen fonts (including a custom MICR font -
similar to a barcode), at least 30-40 DrawLine()s, and 4 DrawImage()s for
signature files and logos on the checks. Everything is read into memory
before I call the Print() method though.

Craig
"Arif" <Ar**@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2**********************************@microsof t.com...

I C# code prints very slow as compared to a third party barcode printing
software. That software prints approximately 10 labels in 2 seconds while
my
C# code prints 10 labels in 5 to 6 seconds. And this differences increases
with the increase number of labels.

The code is as follwods:
Here rdr = OleDbDataReader
Font is Times New Roman, 12pt
private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.HasMorePages = false;

if(this.rdr.Read())
{
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[0].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[1].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[2].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 60);

if( --this.labels_to_print > 0)
e.HasMorePages = true;
}
}

How can I increase printing speed? Please help.

Arif.

[Bruce Wood]

I would recommend that you get your hands on a profiler (comes with
VS2005, for VS2003 you can use CompuWare's DevPartner Community
Edition:

http://www.compuware.com/products/de...rtner&sf=1&p=0

Profile your application, figure out where it's spending all its time,
and then figure out how to optimize that.

[Arif]

Now i am using the simplest code that reads the data from an array rather
than from OleDbDatareader object, as follows:

private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 0], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 1], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 2], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 60);

if( --this.labels_to_print > 0)
e.HasMorePages = true;
else
e.HasMorePages = false;

}

But I am seeing the same down printing speed as was in the case using
OleDBDataReader instead of an array.

I also notice that when I turn off the printer,click to print then 64
pages/labels are spooled very fast. But if the printer is ON then this
spooling is comparatively slow.

I think that the printer is printing labels perhaps as a separate print job
for each page because there is a step/0.5 second delay between two labels
printing. But the third party software prints contineously and very fast.
when I used the following code to print 64 labels separately, I see the same
printing style/speed as was when printing 64 labels in on printing job.

some_methos()
{
for(int i=0; i < this.labels_to_print; i++) //printing 64 labels as separate
print job.
this.printDocument1.Print();
}

private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.HasMorePages = false;

e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 0], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 1], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(this.data_ary[this.labels_to_print-1, 2], font,
Brushes.Black, 10, 60);
}

I think that may be there some settings for printer that I should take care
in C# code.

Any new idea, please share.

Arif.
"Craig Scheets" wrote:

Another issue is that you're actually reading directly out of the database
while printing, and using OleDb (Access?) mind you -- not a good performer.

Could you read the data into an array first, then call the Print() and just
iterate through the array inside the PrintPage event? You could then
isolate the performance problems between reading from the db and how long
the GDI+ calls and spooling is actually taking. I would put good money that
your db access is slowing you down MUCH more than GDI+.

I have an app that prints Legal (8.5x14) paychecks and I can spool about 10
checks/pages per second on a 2.4Ghz/512MB laptop. They have at least 100
DrawString()s, probably a dozen fonts (including a custom MICR font -
similar to a barcode), at least 30-40 DrawLine()s, and 4 DrawImage()s for
signature files and logos on the checks. Everything is read into memory
before I call the Print() method though.

Craig
"Arif" <Ar**@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2**********************************@microsof t.com...

I C# code prints very slow as compared to a third party barcode printing
software. That software prints approximately 10 labels in 2 seconds while
my
C# code prints 10 labels in 5 to 6 seconds. And this differences increases
with the increase number of labels.

The code is as follwods:
Here rdr = OleDbDataReader
Font is Times New Roman, 12pt
private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
e.HasMorePages = false;

if(this.rdr.Read())
{
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[0].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 20);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[1].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 40);
e.Graphics.DrawString(rdr[2].ToString(), font, Brushes.Black, 10, 60);

if( --this.labels_to_print > 0)
e.HasMorePages = true;
}
}

How can I increase printing speed? Please help.

Arif.