Question

OK I have a program that:

1. Creates a temporary file based on a
   users input
2. Prints the File(Optional)
3. Deletes the File (Optional)

My problem sits between stages 2&3, I need to wait for the file to finish printing until I can delete it.

FYI: the printing will take 5-10 minutes (large file to spool on an old computer)

So I need to from Java be able to to check if:

• the defualt print queue is empty

• the file is in use (note: File.canWrite() returns true, when printing)

Answer 1

Have you checked the Java Print API? From http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/print/event/PrintJobListener.html:

public interface

PrintJobListener

Implementations of this listener
interface should be attached to a
DocPrintJob to monitor the status of
the printer job.

I imagine you can submit a print job and then monitor its status through this.

There’s also a fairly complete example at exampledepot.com/egs/javax.print/WaitForDone.html: (Note: URL seems to have changed, and points to potential malware)

try {
    // Open the image file
    InputStream is = new BufferedInputStream(
        new FileInputStream("filename.gif"));
    // Create the print job
    DocPrintJob job = service.createPrintJob();
    Doc doc = new SimpleDoc(is, flavor, null);

    // Monitor print job events
    PrintJobWatcher pjDone = new PrintJobWatcher(job);

    // Print it
    job.print(doc, null);

    // Wait for the print job to be done
    pjDone.waitForDone();

    // It is now safe to close the input stream
    is.close();
} catch (PrintException e) {
} catch (IOException e) {
}

class PrintJobWatcher {
    // true iff it is safe to close the print job's input stream
    boolean done = false;

    PrintJobWatcher(DocPrintJob job) {
        // Add a listener to the print job
        job.addPrintJobListener(new PrintJobAdapter() {
            public void printJobCanceled(PrintJobEvent pje) {
                allDone();
            }
            public void printJobCompleted(PrintJobEvent pje) {
                allDone();
            }
            public void printJobFailed(PrintJobEvent pje) {
                allDone();
            }
            public void printJobNoMoreEvents(PrintJobEvent pje) {
                allDone();
            }
            void allDone() {
                synchronized (PrintJobWatcher.this) {
                    done = true;
                    PrintJobWatcher.this.notify();
                }
            }
        });
    }
    public synchronized void waitForDone() {
        try {
            while (!done) {
                wait();
            }
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        }
    }
}