The RxPrinter Object

Component name: RxPrintCOM.dll

Printing Process

To print a document using the RxPrintCom object, follow these steps:

1. Load a document.
2. Select a printer using SelectPrinter or set UseDefaultPrinter to true.
3. Call the StartDoc() method. This method has one parameter: the name of the job.
4. For each page in the document, call the StartPage method.
5. Print the document using the Print() method. You can get the printer device using the PrintDC property if you want to draw more information to the device before ending the page.
6. Call the EndPage() method.
7. Call the EndDoc() method.

The document will now be placed in the printer queue and then printed.

Sample Code

The SDK contains a simple C# console application that demonstrates how to load a document and print it on either the default printer or a selected printer. You can select a printer from a list of available printers presented by the application. The sample is named rxPrintDocument.

You will also find complete applications with printing support written in both C++, C#, and Delphi included with the SDK.

RxPrinter Methods

EndDoc

Finishes printing of the current printed document.

Syntax

EndDoc()

Parameters

• None

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

EndPage

Finishes printing of the current printed page.

Syntax

EndPage()

Parameters

• None

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

GetPaperBinInfo

Returns the name of a paper bin. The number of available paper bins can be found by reading the PaperBins property. Paper bins are also known as trays.

Syntax

GetPaperBinInfo(long Index, BSTR *Name)

Parameters

• Index: Paper bin index (zero-based).
• Name: Returned name of the paper bin. This name can later be used by SelectPaperBin.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

GetPrinterInfo

Returns information about an installed printer.

Syntax

GetPrinterInfo(long Index, BSTR *Name)

Parameters

• Index: Index of the printer to query.
• Name: Returned name of the printer. This name can later be used by SelectPrinter.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

Print

Prints the given document's active page on the currently selected printer. Parameters like scale and rotation will control how the document is printed. A printer must have been selected using either the SelectPrinter or UseDefaultPrinter method.

Syntax

Print(LPDISPATCH Doc, double Rotation, long OffsetX, long OffsetY, double FileL, double FileT, double ScaleX, double ScaleY)

Parameters

• Doc: Document (IRxDoc) pointer.
• Rotation: Rotation factor in degrees.
• OffsetX: Left start position (printer device coordinates).
• OffsetY: Top start position (printer device coordinates).
• FileL: X coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• FileT: Y coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• ScaleX: X-scaling factor.
• ScaleY: Y-scaling factor.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

PrintDocument

See the Print method above.

PrintToDC

Prints the given document's active page on the given printer device context. Parameters like scale and rotation will control how the document is printed. Use this method if you create the printer context yourself. If you are using MFC, you will get the printer device from the framework; this method can be used to print using that device.

Syntax

PrintToDC(long DC, LPDISPATCH Doc, double Rotation, long OffsetX, long OffsetY, double FileL, double FileT, double ScaleX, double ScaleY)

Parameters

• DC: Handle of the printer device context.
• Doc: Document (IRxDoc) pointer.
• Rotation: Rotation factor in degrees.
• OffsetX: Left start position (printer device coordinates).
• OffsetY: Top start position (printer device coordinates).
• FileL: X coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• FileT: Y coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• ScaleX: X-scaling factor.
• ScaleY: Y-scaling factor.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

PrintClippedToDC

Prints the given document's active page on the given printer device context. Parameters like scale and rotation will control how the document is printed. Use this method if you create the printer context yourself. If you are using MFC or other frameworks, you will get the printer device from the framework; this method can be used to print using that device. The document will be clipped to the given destination values (lOffsetX, lOffsetY, lDestW, lDestH).

Syntax

PrintClippedToDC(long DC, LPDISPATCH Doc, double Rotation, long OffsetX, long OffsetY, long DestW, long DestH, double FileL, double FileT, double ScaleX, double ScaleY)

Parameters

• DC: Handle of the printer device context.
• Doc: Document (IRxDoc) pointer.
• Rotation: Rotation factor in degrees.
• OffsetX: Left start position (printer device coordinates).
• OffsetY: Top start position (printer device coordinates).
• DestW: Width of the destination area in pixels. Used for clipping.
• DestH: Height of the destination area in pixels. Used for clipping.
• FileL: X coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• FileT: Y coordinate of the point in the document that corresponds to the printer start position.
• ScaleX: X-scaling factor.
• ScaleY: Y-scaling factor.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

SelectPaperBin

Selects the paper bin to use for printing. The name of the requested paper bin must be one of the strings returned by GetPaperBinInfo.

Syntax

SelectPaperBin(BSTR Name)

Parameters

• Name: Name of the paper bin to use.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

SelectPrinter

Selects a specific printer based on the printer name. Printer names can be obtained by using the GetPrinterInfo method.

Syntax

SelectPrinter(BSTR Name)

Parameters

• Name: Name of the printer to select for printing operations.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

SetPaperSizeInch

Selects paper size and orientation based on the given paper size in inches. If the paper size is not found, the nearest paper size will be chosen.

Syntax

SetPaperSizeInch(double w, double h)

Parameters

• w: Requested paper width in inches.
• h: Requested paper height in inches.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

SetPaperSizeMM

Selects paper size and orientation based on the given paper size in millimeters. If the paper size is not found, the nearest paper size will be chosen.

Syntax

SetPaperSizeMM(double w, double h)

Parameters

• w: Requested paper width in mm.
• h: Requested paper height in mm.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

SetPDFConfig

Customizes the PDF renderer using this method.

Syntax

SetPDFConfig(enumPDFConfig ID, VARIANT Param)

Parameters

• ID: One of the following available IDs:
  • 0: Disable anti-aliasing. Usually used for printing PDF files where grayscale can give faint results. Param is a boolean.
  • 1: Set the DPI value used when printing PDF files. The default DPI is set to 300. The Param type must be an integer or long value.
• Param: Value to set for the given configuration ID. The content depends on ID (see above).

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

StartDoc

Starts printing of a new document.

Syntax

StartDoc(BSTR JobName)

Parameters

• JobName: Name of the print job. This name will be shown in the printer queue.

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

StartPage

Starts printing of a new page.

Syntax

StartPage()

Parameters

• None

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

UseDefaultPrinter

Sets up IRxPrinter to use the default printer for subsequent print operations.

Syntax

UseDefaultPrinter()

Parameters

• None

Returns

• HRESULT: S_OK / E_FAIL

RxPrinter Properties

AllowHybridBmpPrint

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Allows mixed raster and vector information to be printed as a single bitmap.

AllowTransparentRaster

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Allows transparent raster images to be printed. Some devices (e.g., Postscript) have problems with transparent raster images; setting this property to zero may help solve printing problems on these devices.

ApplyPenTableToText

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If enabled (non-zero), pen table settings will also affect text entities in vector files. Set to zero to prevent text entities from being affected by the pen table. The default value is 1.

BitsPerPixel

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the number of bits per pixel. Use this to determine the number of colors supported by the device:

  Bits per Pixel	Available Colors
  1	2
  4	16
  8	256
  24	16.7 Million (true color)

CompareMode

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, the documents will be drawn using compare mode.

Descriptor

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: This property is only for internal usage.

FillPolygons

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, the polygons in this document will be drawn in filled mode. If false, they will be drawn outlined.

HorizontalDPI

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the horizontal resolution of the printer in dots per inch.

InstalledPrinters

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the number of installed printers.

InvertRaster

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Will invert monochrome raster images during printing.

KeepDrawColors

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, the document colors will always be used when drawing. Normally, colors that are too close to the background color will be inverted.

LineWeights

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If the property is set to true, line weights will be displayed (if defined in the drawing).

Monochrome

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Set to true if files should be printed using only one color (MonoColor).

MonoColor

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Color to use for mono-color drawing. The Monochrome property must also be enabled.

Orientation

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Selects paper orientation:

  Value	Paper Orientation
  1	Portrait
  2	Landscape

PaperBins

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the number of available paper sources (trays) for the active printer. Use GetPaperBinInfo to get the name of paper bins, and use SelectPaperBin to select a paper bin for printing.

PaperHeight

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the height of the currently selected printer paper size in printer device coordinates.

PaperOffsetX

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the horizontal offset from the paper edge to the start of the printable area in printer device coordinates.

PaperOffsetY

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the vertical offset from the paper edge to the start of the printable area in printer device coordinates.

PaperSize

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Sets or gets the paper size to be used when printing.

PaperWidth

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the width of the currently selected printer paper size in printer device coordinates.

PenTableScale

• Type: double
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Sets the scale factor to use for pen table widths when drawing the document. The default scale is 1.0.

PrintDC

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the DC (device context) of the currently selected printer.

PrinterHeight

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the height of the currently selected printer's printable area in printer device coordinates.

PrinterWidth

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the width of the currently selected printer's printable area in printer device coordinates.

RasterDrawMethod

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: Controls how monochrome raster documents are printed. The following values are supported:

  Value	Method to be Used
  0	No special method is used (Normal)
  1	Anti-aliasing will be used (Scale to gray)
  2	Black pixels will be preserved (Preserve black)

ShowExtents

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, the extents of the document will be printed by the print methods.

ShowGrid

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If set to true, spreadsheet grid lines will be printed.

UseExtPen

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, lines will be drawn with higher quality but a little slower. Disable this function to increase printing speed.

UsePenTable

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, pen tables are used when drawing the document.

UsePlotLayerSettings

• Type: long
• Access: Read and write
• Description: If true, any layer with a plottable state set to false will not be drawn.

Version

• Type: BSTR
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the version of the currently installed RxPrintCom component.

VerticalDPI

• Type: long
• Access: Read only
• Description: Returns the vertical resolution of the printer in dots per inch.

IRxPrinter Events

RxPrinter can call the following events during printing:

BeforePrint

This event is fired before RxPrintCom sends data to the printer for each page. Information can be added to the given hDC (lDC). Standard GDI functions like TextOut, MoveTo, LineTo, etc., can be used. Useful for adding headers, footers, watermarks, or stamps to the printed page.

Syntax

BeforePrint(LONG lDC, LONG lLayout, LONG lPage, LONG lWidth, LONG lHeight)

Parameters

• lDC: Windows GDI hDC.
• lLayout: The layout index that is converted.
• lPage: The page index that is converted.
• lWidth: The width of the converted raster image.
• lHeight: The height of the converted raster image.

DispatchID

• 1

AfterPrint

This event is fired after RxPrintCom has sent all data to the printer for each page. Information can be added to the given hDC (lDC). Standard GDI functions like TextOut, MoveTo, LineTo, etc., can be used. Useful for adding headers, footers, watermarks, or stamps to the printed page.

Syntax

AfterPrint(LONG lDC, LONG lLayout, LONG lPage, LONG lWidth, LONG lHeight)

Parameters

• lDC: Windows GDI hDC.
• lLayout: The layout index that is converted.
• lPage: The page index that is converted.
• lWidth: The width of the converted raster image.
• lHeight: The height of the converted raster image.

DispatchID

• 2