Question

I have a webpage that activates a print job on a printer. This works in the localhost environment but does not work when the application is deployed to the webserver. I’m using the PrintDocument class from the .net System.Drawing.Print namespace. I’m now assuming the printer has to be available to the application on the remote server? Any suggestions on how I would get this to work?

PrintDocument pd = new PrintDocument();
PaperSource ps = new PaperSource();
pd.DefaultPageSettings.PaperSize = 
    new System.Drawing.Printing.PaperSize("Custom", 1180, 850);
pd.PrintPage += new PrintPageEventHandler
                    (this.pd_PrintPage);

// Set your printer's name.  Obtain from
// System's Printer Dialog Box. 
pd.PrinterSettings.PrinterName =
    "Okidata ML 321 Turbo/D (IBM)";


//PrintPreviewDialog dlgPrintPvw = new PrintPreviewDialog();
//dlgPrintPvw.Document = pd;
//dlgPrintPvw.Focus();
//dlgPrintPvw.ShowDialog(); 

pd.Print();

Answer 1

The printer is on a different computer. PrintDocument is for use in desktop applications, not web applications.

To print on the client, you would need to use JavaScript, and you would only be able to print documents already on the client machine. I don’t know for sure that there is a way to print on the client. You may be able to display a “Print” dialog and have the user print the file himself.