Difference: ClientSidePrinting (3 vs. 4)

Revision 42020-05-12 - JeanNeron

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META TOPICPARENT	name="DeveloperTips"

Tech Tip - Client Side Printing

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Now you are ready to print to the desktop. All you need to do is place the printer name you set up for client printing in the Printer ID field on the disposition screen or set the name into --- PRINT PRINTER ID work field. APPX does not do anything different to create the report for client side printing. The report and configuration files are created as always and placed in the usual server directory. The report can still be displayed to the screen before printing, and the output can be text or PDF. When APPX goes to actually print the hardcopy things are done a bit differently.

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Normally APPX will pass the name of the print and configuration files to the server’s print manager by executing the appx_print script (winprint.exe on Windows), unless the output is PDF. When the printer is set to print to the client, APPX bypasses that process and instead calls an internal routine equivalent to --- .CLIENT DOWNLOAD FILE to put the print and configuration files on the user’s desktop. The internal routine for --- .CLIENT LOAD URL is then executed to pass a command line to invoke the nativeWindows.dll (formerly known as winprintdll.dll). The .dll then formats the info and passes it to the Windows print manager.

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As simple as that sounds there are a few other things that are helpful to know about, as well as those caveats mentioned earlier. First, the printer name. When you set up the printer in APPX you can enter an OS printer name in the System ID field. That system ID is then passed to the .dll and on to the print manager to direct the output to the proper printer. When client side printing was introduced, the System ID field was made optional. When left blank, APPX does not pass a printer name and the print manager will send the output to the default desktop printer. That is the most common setup, as this allows pretty much any user to use the default printer ID and have the report print. Prior to APPX 4.2.8, the System ID field was an Alternate Unique key and only one printer could be defined without an ID. From 4.2.8 forward the System ID is now a standard alternate key and you can define as many printers as you would like with no System ID.

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