[WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver

  • From: garyp@xxxxxxxxxx
  • To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:54:06 +0100

Dear Sam,
For the overwhelming majority of devices you cannot just send them XPS -
they don't understand it. But using an XPS print driver will provide you
with a file that has all the resources required to print that job at the
server end (check out MSDN for how to submit XPS to a device with the
settings you are after). There is no need to convert XPS to PDF by the way,
it's completely unnecessary. You are correct about the mechanism for
replaying a metafile but I wouldn't recommend EMF because better
technologies are available (i.e. PDF or XPS) that address the font and file
size implications.
A port monitor is just a port, the same as printing to LPT1, or COM1, or a
file, or port 9100 on an IP address. In your case it's a bit of code that
you want to run as the (XPS) file spools off the queue in order to trigger
your client / server communication. It's completely independent of your
driver. Google "RedMon" for an example of one.
Regards,
Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Elamin [mailto:hussam_88@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 31 March 2010 10:45
To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver


Jason/Gary


Thanks Jason I got the sample working, now I am trying to understand what a
port monitor is and how to implement it into the sample driver


Gary thank you for your detailed email and I understand your concerns. 


But what i dont get is the print driver that will sit on the client side, if
it converts documents to XPS then the print driver compatibility is not
really an issue because XPS can be understood by most printers right?


and if its not why not use an XPS to PDF converter then print it at the
server. 


The question is when you print it how do you know what properties to give it
( Color, Mono, Duplex, Simplex, etc) I am assuming there will be no printing
done at the client side so no spool file is generated.




But if we go down the EMF route, then printing will be done, a spool file
will be generated and then the EMF will be extracted from that spool file.


The EMF then has to be transfered to a print server where it will be played
back into a spool file so it can be printed.


Does that seem right? 


Regards
Sam



From: jharrison@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:44:50 -0700


Hey Sam,

With the WDK 7600 there is an XPS printer sample, and much older port
monitor sample.  The harder part is connecting them and installing them.
But all of the code is there and I believe working.

-Jason

--
Jason Harrison
Sr Software Developer
PDFTron Systems, Inc.
www.pdftron.com
Tel:  1-604-730-8989
Fax: 1-604-676-2477
Email: jharrison@xxxxxxxxxxx



CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message (and any attachment to it) is intended
only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed in the
header, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and
exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any reproduction, distribution,
modification or use of the contents of this message (and any attachment to
it) by any individual or entity other than the intended recipient is
prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify
us immediately and delete the original.



P Please think before you print!

From: winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:winprndev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Sam Elamin
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:55 AM
To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver

Hey Clinton

Sorry for the late reply but Iw as rebuilding my PC with Windows 7 because I
heard that it is better as a printer driver building enviroment. 

I have read your email and have a few questions:

1) Did you use WDK to develop your driver? Did you write your driver
yourself?

2) How do I start devloping this PostScript parser? and since its Postscript
does it mean that I wont be ableto print to PCL drivers? Or willconverting
it to PDF do the trick?

3) I have no idea what you mean by using Port monitors, is there any
reference I can go back to and learn from?

4) I think for testing purposes we might have to assume no errors and get
the actual driver working before installing checks to look for errors

I just feel really lost and overwhelmed, where is the best place to start?

Regards
Sam




From: clinton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:32:58 +0100
Hi Sam,
I'm doing this off the tail end of what seems like a long discussion.
Not sure if you have your answer yet but might have a few design ideas for
you.
What you are trying to achieve has been done before and is possible.
Back in 2002 I was faced with a similar issue. Getting a document off the
client PC and sending it round the world to an unknown print server.
The solution is a combination of technologies that each do their own part..

1.) I used a PostScript print driver ( Generic PPD will do the job ) that
pass the print stream onto a portmonitor ( this gives you the control to
assign to random filename and pass onto the next module either WebService or
in my case a socket service client ). 

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
If you are to allow for duplex, orientation, colour etc, then you will need
to gather this info and "drag" it along. I developed a PostScript parser
that drives through the spool file ( PostScript ) extracts these bits and
then passes this with the file along ( make use of network sockets and send
as parameters or HASH index - a WenService or Socket listener would need to
manage these parameters ). OR in the world of WebServices pass over an XML
stream that can be managed.

On the "Server" side either convert to a generic format i.e. PDF which then
can be converted over to MOST printer specific languages

2.) Develop a portmonitor that manages the spoolfile and controls calling
the "service client" either webservice or sockets. Remember to remove the
file and close portinfo thus removing the JOB off the print queue.

3.) The bigest problem with transmitting data around is that we forget about
the wonderful worl of TCP/IP packets and ERROR checking. What happens if
network goes down during transmission, do I restart, fail, notify user or
cycle through a number of socket trying to establish connection.

Hope this helps for starters.
Clinton Bessesen
check out www.pdqit.com







Do you want a Hotmail account? Sign-up now - Free



Do you have a story that started on Hotmail? Tell us now 
---
Questions? First check the UndocPrint pages at 
http://www.undocprint.org/winspool

To unsubscribe, visit the List Server page at 
//www.freelists.org/list/winprndev

Other related posts: