[WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
- From: Sam Elamin <hussam_88@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:46:16 +0000
Gary
Then it was a misunderstand and I appologise if my questions are getting
repetitve, maybe I did not phrase it properly. I understand that if a document
is printed to a print driver, the driver has no idea what the source is.
What I am asking about is a driver that creates a PDF document from anything
that is printed to it, so you would print a PPT power point document and the
output would be a PDF of the PPT.
Wont the driver know where its supposed to save the output pdf and hence has
the PATH?
RegardsSam
> From: garyp@xxxxxxxxxx
> To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:01:22 +0100
>
> Dear Sam,
> You're like a dog with a new bone! As a previous respondent said, the
> printer driver is just given a bunch of drawing commands, text etc. It then
> renders those drawing commands into a language that the printer can
> understand. The printer driver knows nothing of "documents". It would be
> like looking at a piece of printed paper and knowing from that the path to
> the original Word document that it came from. There is no relational link
> between the source document and the output print job. Please don't think
> that PDF or XPS or EMF or anything else would make any difference! The only
> thing that knows the path to the original document is - somewhat obviously -
> the application that handles it.
> Regards,
> Gary
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sam Elamin [mailto:hussam_88@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 31 March 2010 12:25
> To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
>
>
> Gary
>
>
> I thought so, thanks. But quick question arent there PDF print drivers that
> will create a pdf of any document printed to it. Which means the driver
> knows which path its creating the document to, correct?
>
>
>
>
> Regards
> Sam
>
> > From: garyp@xxxxxxxxxx
> > To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> > Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:15:34 +0100
> >
> > Dear Sam,
> > That's about the long and the short of it, yes.
> > Regards,
> > Gary
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Sam Elamin [mailto:hussam_88@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: 31 March 2010 12:12
> > To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> >
> >
> > Gary
> >
> >
> > So the bulk of the work will be developing the port monitor. Once that is
> > done we can then look at the "print ticket" which passes the right
> > properties.
> >
> >
> > To put it simply my custom print monitor will upload the XPS file which
> will
> > probably contain the print ticket (where the properties are held) and then
> > the server handles the job.
> >
> >
> > Regards
> > Sam
> >
> > > From: garyp@xxxxxxxxxx
> > > To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> > > Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:07:50 +0100
> > >
> > > Dear Sam,
> > > "what i need to do is develop a port monitor that can transfer that file
> > up
> > > to the server?." - yes.
> > > "Since the document has already been printed I wont need to supply the
> job
> > > properties (Color,Mono)." - this depends upon what options you offer in
> > your
> > > XPS "printer" driver, and which of those choices the user chooses. As
> with
> > > any printer.
> > > "is the XPS file i am sending a spool file and not an actual document
> like
> > a
> > > pdf? " - well the simple answer is that it's both. Read up on the XPS
> > > documentation. The feature you are looking for regarding colour etc. is
> in
> > > the Print Ticket which you can pass to the API for printing your XPS
> file
> > on
> > > the server - subject to the PrintCapabilities of the printer you're
> trying
> > > to send it to of course.
> > > Regards,
> > > Gary
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Sam Elamin [mailto:hussam_88@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> > > Sent: 31 March 2010 12:01
> > > To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> > >
> > >
> > > Gary
> > >
> > >
> > > So what your saying is the XPS driver will provide me with the file,
> what
> > i
> > > need to do is develop a port monitor that can transfer that file up to
> the
> > > server?. Since the document has already been printed I wont need to
> supply
> > > the job properties (Color,Mono).
> > >
> > >
> > > But what if i am printing a document which has colour in it to my XPS
> > > driver, and i choose to print in mono, then technically the XPS file
> > > produced wont have any colour on it right? and where will the other data
> > be
> > > stored (Duplex or a4 or a3) or is the XPS file i am sending a spool file
> > and
> > > not an actual document like a pdf?
> > >
> > >
> > > Regards
> > > Sam
> > >
> > > > From: garyp@xxxxxxxxxx
> > > > To: winprndev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > Subject: [WinPrnDev] Re: Creating a Printer Driver
> > > > 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
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 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
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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