SUMMARY
You can use the Vbprndlg.dll file instead of the
Print dialog box portion of the Visual Basic
CommonDialog control. This file exposes properties and provides functionality
that the
CommonDialog control does not.
The
CommonDialog control in Visual Basic permits the
Print dialog box to be displayed, but it does not give access to many
of the properties that can be set in the
Print dialog box and consumed by the
Printer object. Because of alignment problems with structures (that is,
user-defined types) when the Win32 application programming interface (API)
functions are made from Visual Basic, you cannot reliably obtain additional
information by using these API calls. As a workaround, this article provides a
DLL that you can use instead of the
Printer portion of the
CommonDialog control.
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Download the Control
The following
file is available for download from the Microsoft Download
Center:
Release Date:
Sep-30-2002
For additional information about how to download
Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most
current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file
was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to
prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.
The Vbprndlg.exe file contains the following files:
|
| Vbprndlg.dll | 100.0 KB |
| Vbprndlg.exp | 1.0 KB |
| Vbprndlg.lib | 1.72 KB |
| Vbprndlg.dep | 118 Bytes |
| Readme.txt | 10.9 KB |
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Install Vbprndlg.exe
- Extract the files to a location that will not be deleted
and that has an simple path. These types of files are typically put in the
System32 directory under the Windows or the Winnt directory.
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- Type the following, and then click OK:
RegSvr32 C:\Windows\System32\VBPrnDlg.dll
You receive a message that
the DLL successfully registered.
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Printerdlg Class Documentation
This DLL is a COM component that is added as a reference to a
Visual Basic application. After you add the DLL, you can use it in code to
display the
Print dialog box and to retrieve the information that the user selects.
This behavior is the same as the behavior of the
Print dialog box in the
CommonDialog control in Visual Basic.
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Dialog Box Properties
For documentation about any of these properties, see the
documentation for the
CommonDialog control.
Printer.hdc is read-only, but all the following properties except those that
are marked with an asterisk (*) directly map onto the
Printer object when you use the following syntax:
Printer.Copies = printDlg.Copies
- Copies
- Orientation
- ColorMode
- DriverName
- Duplex
- PaperBin
- PaperSize
- Port
- PrintQuality
- hDC
- PrinterName *
- Min *
- Max *
- FromPage *
- ToPage *
PrinterName maps to
DeviceName in the
Printer object. The last four properties that are marked with an asterisk
(*) are used to determine if a subset of the available pages must be printed.
To enable the
Select Pages portion of the
Print dialog box,
Max must be set to a number that is larger than
Min. If
Min is larger than
Max, an error occurs when the dialog box appears. If the user selects
a subset, the
PrinterDlg object makes sure that it is inside the bounds of
Min and
Max, and it is returned in the
FromPage and
ToPage properties. These properties do not directly map onto the
Printer object, so the program that raises the dialog box and controls
the printing must handle these properties.
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Dialog Control Methods and Properties
- Flags - This is the same as the Flags property on the CommonDialog control. It controls some of the features of the dialog box. This
value is set using "Or" with different constants in the VBPrinterConstants structure. For example:
printDlg.Flags = VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDDisablePrintToFile _
Or VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDNoPageNums
These constants are:
Constant Value Description
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
cdlPDAllPages &H0 Returns or sets the state of the All
Pages option button.
cdlPDCollate &H10 Returns or sets the state of the
Collate check box.
cdlPDDisablePrintToFile &H80000 Disables the Print To File check box.
cdlPDHelpButton &H800 Causes the dialog box to display the
Help button.
cdlPDHidePrintToFile &H100000 Hides the Print To File check box.
cdlPDNoPageNums &H8 Disables the Pages option button and
the associated edit control.
cdlPDNoSelection &H4 Disables the Selection option button.
cdlPDNoWarning &H80 Prevents a warning message from being
displayed when there is no default
printer.
cdlPDPageNums &H2 Returns or sets the state of the
Pages option button.
cdlPDPrintSetup &H40 Causes the system to display the
Print Setup dialog box instead of
the Print dialog box.
cdlPDPrintToFile &H20 Returns or sets the state of the
Print To File check box.
cdlPDReturnDC &H100 Returns a device context for the
printer selection made in the dialog
box. The device context is returned
in the hDC property of the dialog
box.
cdlPDReturnDefault &H400 Returns the default printer name.
cdlPDReturnIC &H200 Returns an information context for
the printer selection made in the
dialog box. An information context
provides a fast way to get
information about the device without
creating a device context. The
information context is returned in
the hDC property of the dialog box.
cdlPDSelection &H1 Returns or sets the state of the
Selection option button. If neither
cdlPDPageNums nor cdlPDSelection is
specified, the All option button is
in the selected state.
cdlPDUseDevModeCopies &H40000 If a printer driver does not support
multiple copies, setting this flag
disables the Number of Copies spinner
control in the Print dialog box. If a
driver does support multiple copies,
setting this flag indicates that the
dialog box stores the requested
number of copies in the Copies
property.
You can use the Flags property to determine if the user chose a field such as Print to File. To do this, look to see if the cdlPDPrintToFile flag has been set when the control has returned from displaying
the dialog box.
- CancelError - This is a Boolean flag that determines whether an error is
returned to the program if the user clicks Cancel. By default, this is False, so an error does not occur if the
user clicks Cancel. When this is set to True, error number 32755 (&H7FF3) occurs
when the user clicks Cancel. You can trap this error to handle a case in which the user
cancels the dialog box.
- ShowPrinter - This is the only method in this class. Calling this method
displays the dialog box. This accepts the handle of the calling window as a
parameter. For example, the following method returns a Boolean:
printDlg.ShowPrinter Me.hWnd
This can be ignored. The value is True if the user clicks Print and False otherwise (that is, if the user clicks Cancel).
NOTE: In all these examples,
printDlg is an instance of the class that is contained in this DLL. It is
declared by using the following code:
Dim printDlg As PrinterDlg
Set printDlg = New PrinterDlg
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Steps to Build the Sample
To create a sample application that will use the DLL to determine
the user's preferences and then write them to the Debug window, follow these
steps:
- In Microsoft Visual Basic, create a new Standard EXE
project. By default, Form1 is created.
- On the Project menu, click References.
- Select Microsoft VB Printer Dialog(PSS),
and then click OK.
- Add a CommandButton control to the form. By default, Command1 is created.
- Double-click Command1.
- Paste the following code in the Command1_Click event:
Dim printDlg As PrinterDlg
Set printDlg = New PrinterDlg
' Set the starting information for the dialog box based on the current
' printer settings.
printDlg.PrinterName = Printer.DeviceName
printDlg.DriverName = Printer.DriverName
printDlg.Port = Printer.Port
' Set the default PaperBin so that a valid value is returned even
' in the Cancel case.
printDlg.PaperBin = Printer.PaperBin
' Set the flags for the PrinterDlg object using the same flags as in the
' common dialog control. The structure starts with VBPrinterConstants.
printDlg.Flags = VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDNoSelection _
Or VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDNoPageNums _
Or VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDReturnDC
Printer.TrackDefault = False
' When CancelError is set to True the ShowPrinterDlg will return error
' 32755. You can handle the error to know when the Cancel button was
' clicked. Enable this by uncommenting the lines prefixed with "'**".
'**printDlg.CancelError = True
' Add error handling for Cancel.
'**On Error GoTo Cancel
If Not printDlg.ShowPrinter(Me.hWnd) Then
Debug.Print "Cancel Selected"
Exit Sub
End If
'Turn off Error Handling for Cancel.
'**On Error GoTo 0
Dim NewPrinterName As String
Dim objPrinter As Printer
Dim strsetting As String
' Locate the printer that the user selected in the Printers collection.
NewPrinterName = UCase$(printDlg.PrinterName)
If Printer.DeviceName <> NewPrinterName Then
For Each objPrinter In Printers
If UCase$(objPrinter.DeviceName) = NewPrinterName Then
Set Printer = objPrinter
End If
Next
End If
' Copy user input from the dialog box to the properties of the selected printer.
Printer.Copies = printDlg.Copies
Printer.Orientation = printDlg.Orientation
Printer.ColorMode = printDlg.ColorMode
Printer.Duplex = printDlg.Duplex
Printer.PaperBin = printDlg.PaperBin
Printer.PaperSize = printDlg.PaperSize
Printer.PrintQuality = printDlg.PrintQuality
' Display the results in the immediate (Debug) window.
' NOTE: Supported values for PaperBin and Size are printer specific. Some
' common defaults are defined in the Win32 SDK in MSDN and in Visual Basic.
' Print quality is the number of dots per inch.
With Printer
Debug.Print .DeviceName
If .Orientation = 1 Then
strsetting = "Portrait. "
Else
strsetting = "Landscape. "
End If
Debug.Print "Copies = " & .Copies, "Orientation = " & _
strsetting
If .ColorMode = 1 Then
strsetting = "Black and White. "
Else
strsetting = "Color. "
End If
Debug.Print "ColorMode = " & strsetting
If .Duplex = 1 Then
strsetting = "None. "
ElseIf .Duplex = 2 Then
strsetting = "Horizontal/Long Edge. "
ElseIf .Duplex = 3 Then
strsetting = "Vertical/Short Edge. "
Else
strsetting = "Unknown. "
End If
Debug.Print "Duplex = " & strsetting
Debug.Print "PaperBin = " & .PaperBin
Debug.Print "PaperSize = " & .PaperSize
Debug.Print "PrintQuality = " & .PrintQuality
If (printDlg.Flags And VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDPrintToFile) = _
VBPrinterConstants.cdlPDPrintToFile Then
Debug.Print "Print to File Selected"
Else
Debug.Print "Print to File Not Selected"
End If
Debug.Print "hDC = " & printDlg.hDC
End With
Exit Sub
'**Cancel:
'**If Err.Number = 32755 Then
'** Debug.Print "Cancel Selected"
'**Else
'** Debug.Print "A nonCancel Error Occured - "; Err.Number
'**End If
- Press the F5 key to start debugging and to start the
application. Click Command1 to open the Print dialog box.
- After you return from the Print dialog box, look in the Debug window at the output that was
returned.
NOTE: If you want a specific error to be raised and handled when the
user clicks
Cancel (similar to the behavior that occurs with the
CommonDialog control), uncomment the lines that are prefixed with "'**".
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