Article ID: 154078 - Last Review: August 30, 2004 - Revision: 2.2

How To Send Raw Data to a Printer Using the Win32 API from Visual Basic

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SUMMARY

The Visual Basic Printer object allows for printing through printer drivers, but there may be times when it is desirable to use the Win32 API to send information more directly to the printer. The code sample to follow shows how to achieve this by using API functions that bypass printer drivers to communicate directly with the print spooler.

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MORE INFORMATION

Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
Place a Command Button on the form.

Add the following code to the Form1 code window:

      Option Explicit

      Private Type DOCINFO
          pDocName As String
          pOutputFile As String
          pDatatype As String
      End Type

      Private Declare Function ClosePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
         hPrinter As Long) As Long
      Private Declare Function EndDocPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
         hPrinter As Long) As Long
      Private Declare Function EndPagePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
         hPrinter As Long) As Long
      Private Declare Function OpenPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _
         "OpenPrinterA" (ByVal pPrinterName As String, phPrinter As Long, _
          ByVal pDefault As Long) As Long
      Private Declare Function StartDocPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _
         "StartDocPrinterA" (ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal Level As Long, _
         pDocInfo As DOCINFO) As Long
      Private Declare Function StartPagePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
         hPrinter As Long) As Long
      Private Declare Function WritePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
         hPrinter As Long, pBuf As Any, ByVal cdBuf As Long,  _
         pcWritten As Long) As Long

      Private Sub Command1_Click()
          Dim lhPrinter As Long
          Dim lReturn As Long
          Dim lpcWritten As Long
          Dim lDoc As Long
          Dim sWrittenData As String
          Dim MyDocInfo As DOCINFO
          lReturn = OpenPrinter(Printer.DeviceName, lhPrinter, 0)
          If lReturn = 0 Then
              MsgBox "The Printer Name you typed wasn't recognized."
              Exit Sub
          End If
          MyDocInfo.pDocName = "AAAAAA"
          MyDocInfo.pOutputFile = vbNullString
          MyDocInfo.pDatatype = vbNullString
          lDoc = StartDocPrinter(lhPrinter, 1, MyDocInfo)
          Call StartPagePrinter(lhPrinter)
          sWrittenData = "How's that for Magic !!!!" & vbFormFeed
          lReturn = WritePrinter(lhPrinter, ByVal sWrittenData, _
             Len(sWrittenData), lpcWritten)
          lReturn = EndPagePrinter(lhPrinter)
          lReturn = EndDocPrinter(lhPrinter)
          lReturn = ClosePrinter(lhPrinter)
      End Sub

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REFERENCES

The Win32 SDK Help files give a more detailed description of the APIs used in the sample.

For information on the same procedure for VC++, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

138594 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138594/EN-US/ ) : How To Send Raw Data to a Printer by Using the Win32 API

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