I have coded a simple console application that checks the status of a printer. When status of a printer changes to a "printing status" the console app simply writes out a message saying "The Printer is now Printing".
Now what i'm having difficulties with is making this program keep checking the status of printer .. I'm not so sure what loop i have to use and how i can apply it. Please see below for more information:
public static void getPrintJob()
{
string printerName = "Some Printer Name";
string query = string.Format("SELECT * from Win32_Printer WHERE Name LIKE '%{0}'", printerName);
ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(query);
ManagementObjectCollection coll = searcher.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject printer in coll)
{
if (Convert.ToInt32(printer.Properties["PrinterStatus"].Value) == 4)
{
Console.Write("Printer is Printing");
}
What kind of loop could i put above for this program to continuously keep on checking the the printer status? and whenever the status changes to 4 (printing status on the printer i'm targeting ).
If you want this to run forever, a while loop will work:
public static void getPrintJob()
{
string printerName = "Some Printer Name";
string query = string.Format("SELECT * from Win32_Printer WHERE Name LIKE '%{0}'", printerName);
ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(query);
while(true)
{
ManagementObjectCollection coll = searcher.Get();
var alreadyPrinting = false;
foreach (ManagementObject printer in coll)
{
if (Convert.ToInt32(printer.Properties["PrinterStatus"].Value) == 4 && !alreadyPrinting)
{
Console.Write("Printer is Printing");
alreadyPrinting = true;
}
else
{
alreadyPrinting = false;
}
}
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
As RB pointed out in the comments, Thread.Sleep(1000) will pause the loop for 1 second and stop it consuming all the CPU resource.
EDIT:
updated after comments.
Added a bool to track if the printer was already printing. This stops the code writing to the console for as long as the printer is printing. Multiple printers can start and will write to the console. But only once per print job.
Moved the coll variable assignment inside the while loop.
Related
I use the following routine to get my printer queue jobs. For some reason they seem to be in the wrong order...
Routine To Get List Of Printer Jobs:
private List<string> GetPrinterQueueJobs(string targetPrinterName)
{
List<string> jobs = new List<string>();
string unc = null;
string printerName = targetPrinterName;
if (printerName.Contains("\\"))
{
string[] printerNameParts = printerName.Split('\\');
unc = printerNameParts[0];
printerName = printerNameParts[1];
}
PrintQueue printQue = null;
if (unc == null)
{
//local printer
printQue = new LocalPrintServer().GetPrintQueue(printerName);
}
else
{
//remote printer
printQue = new PrintServer(unc).GetPrintQueue(printerName);
}
foreach (PrintSystemJobInfo queItem in printQue.GetPrintJobInfoCollection())
{
jobs.Insert(queItem.PositionInPrintQueue - 1, queItem.Name);
}
return jobs;
}
Usage Of Routine:
private void cbPrinters_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
List<string> printers = GetListOfPrinters();
ComboBox cb = (ComboBox)sender;
string printerName = cb.Text;
if (printers.Contains(printerName))
{
List<string> printerQue = GetPrinterQueueJobs(printerName);
foreach (string queItem in printerQue)
{
ListViewItem lvi = new ListViewItem(queItem);
lvPrintQueue.Items.Add(lvi);
}
}
}
This is what the Windows Print Queue looks like:
This is what my results look like:
As you can see in this case they are inverted. The crazy thing is, when stepping through the routine I also check the "PositionInPrintQueue" property and it seems to think the jobs are actually in the order shown in my returned results.
Why is this happening? Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get them to be returned in the correct order?
Thanks!
It turns out that the Windows Printer Queue was not showing the items in order! By default it does not show you the order of the jobs! There is no type of "Queue Id", "Queue Index" or "Job Order" column in the Windows Printer Queue. When looking at the jobs, you can sort by job name, status, owner, pages, size, port, and submitted.
If you sort by submitted they should all match the results returned in the GetPrintJobInfoCollection() method. But in the end, don't trust the Windows Printer Queue for job order, trust the order returned in the GetPrintJobInfoCollection() method.
I'm using WMI to get Print-Job statuses using WMI with C# code.
now, I'm getting all the different statuses from the printer beside printed which is very important for me to know when the job was finished printing the job.
now, I managed to get printed status but only if the Keep printed Documents (see attachment) property is on. but all the jobs are staying in the queue of the printer and I don't want that.
is there any way to get printed status from the printer without marking the Keep printed Documents property is on
Printer Properties
I'm not sure I understood. You need a timer like DispatcherTimer to set an interval for the request. In the Tick you can check if the status of the printer is changed. Is that what you want?
You can try this piece of code to set the KeepPrintedJobs property to true.
string searchQuery = "SELECT * FROM Win32_Printer";
ManagementObjectSearcher searchPrinters = new
ManagementObjectSearcher(searchQuery);
ManagementObjectCollection printerCollection = searchPrinters.Get();
foreach (ManagementObject printer in printerCollection)
{
PropertyDataCollection printerProperties = printer.Properties;
foreach (PropertyData property in printerProperties)
{
if (property.Name == "KeepPrintedJobs")
{
printerProperties[property.Name].Value = true;
}
}
printer.Put();
}
Hi for the print method to work on excel i need the printername and the port name like this:
"printer On NE3" just as an example. The problem is, is that I use a virtual printer and the port is different, pretty much every time i need to use it.
The program needs to run in the background, so open dialog boxes to choose is not an option.
I have also tried to retrieve the port name from WMI with this:
protected string FindPrinterWithPort(string printerName)
{
StringBuilder query = new StringBuilder();
query.Append("SELECT * FROM Win32_Printer ");
query.Append("WHERE DeviceID = \""+printerName+"\"");
ObjectQuery objectQuery = new ObjectQuery(query.ToString());
var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(objectQuery);
foreach (ManagementObject mo in searcher.Get())
{
return printerName +" On "+ mo["PortName"];
}
return string.Empty;
}
The portname i receive doing this gives me the full path to the virtual printer program.
I previously used the methods below to change printer for excel, and i alway knew they should be changed eventually, the code is neither fast nor good, but it worked for a while, until I made it multi-threaded and its just a big blockade. Because i need to lock these methods not to change the default printer in windows.
private bool SetPrinterForExcel(string printerName){
string[] ports = new string[]{"Ne00:", "Ne01:", "Ne02:", "Ne03:", "Ne04:",
"Ne05:", "Ne06:", "Ne07:", "Ne08:",
"Ne09:", "Ne10:", "Ne11:", "Ne12:",
"Ne13:", "Ne14:", "Ne15:", "Ne16:",
"LPT1:", "LPT2:", "File:", "SMC100:"};
foreach (string port in ports)
{
string printerWithPort = printerName + " On " + port;
bool success = SetAndTestPrinter(printerWithPort);
if(success)
return true;
}
return false;
}
private bool SetAndTestPrinter(string printerWithPort)
{
try
{
excel.ActivePrinter = printerWithPort;
return true;
}
catch
{
return false;
}
}
Any Idea how to retrieve the port, or is there a way from WMI query i can get the correct port.
Thanks in advance
Edit:
I have not gotten it work getting, what i have done to print now is change the default printer on windows and then just do the print method on my excel object. I Changed it by using:
[DllImport("winspool.drv", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool SetDefaultPrinter(string Name);
And i lock it method and print. I have thought about trying to do a lock and save the ActivePrinter, even tho i believe performance will properly just as bad. Because the lock will stay until the default printer is changed, which takes sometimes up to 1 second, in a multi-threaded envirorment thats is a very long lock.
string printernamewithPort = string.Empty;
lock (ActivePrinterLock)
{
SetDefaultPrinter(printername);
printernamewithPort = excel.ActivePrinter;
}
foreach (Worksheet worksheet in workbook.Worksheets)
{
worksheet.PageSetup.PaperSize = XlPaperSize.xlPaperA4;
worksheet.PageSetup.Orientation = XlPageOrientation.xlPortrait;
worksheet.PageSetup.FitToPagesWide = 1;
worksheet.PageSetup.FitToPagesTall = false;
worksheet.PrintOutEx(ActivePrinter: printernamewithPort,Collate: true, Preview: false, PrintToFile: false);
}
What i dunno is that, if the default printer changes right away from another thread, if it looses the port given to the virtual printer. I have not done proper testing of this. In normal circumstances it seems that my Method FindPrinterWithPort would work.
I have an application where I need to print a ticket. Each ticket must be unique. The application is windows forms and written entirely in c#. For our application we're using Samsung ML- 2525 laser monochromatic printers.
The flow is basically the following, the operator picks a product/ticket (which is unique) and then it presses a button that does 2 things:
Connects to a database and updates the product as used
Prints the ticket (this is done using System.Drawing and GDI+)
For some reason, every once in a while, the image that needs to be printed is not sent to the printer. It's a rare case, but it happens.
I tried to connect to the printer using Win32_Printer ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Aa394363 ) but I can't get to get the current printer's state (online, offline, low toner, paper jam, etc). I can only check if the printer exists and that the paper size is installed correctly. I tried code similar to the following but it didn't work
private string MonitorPrintJobWmi()
{
var jobMessage = String.Empty;
var scope = new ManagementScope(ManagementPath.DefaultPath);
scope.Connect();
var selectQuery = new SelectQuery { QueryString = #"select * from Win32_PrintJob" };
var objSearcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, selectQuery);
var objCollection = objSearcher.Get();
foreach (var job in objCollection)
{
if (job != null)
{
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["Name"].ToString());
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["JobId"].ToString());
_jobId = Convert.ToInt32(job["JobId"]);
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["JobStatus"].ToString());
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["Status"].ToString());
}
}
return jobMessage;
}
I tried to get an API for the printer but I couldn't get a hold of it. By the way, the printer's software do indicate different errors in the windows toolbar.
My question is if anyone can lead me in the right direction as to how to connect to a printer and check if printing was successful.
Also, it would be helpful if someone know of some other specific printer in which I may accomplish this ie, changing hardware.
Thanks,
To get a list of print queues on the local machine, try PrintServer's GetPrintQueues method.
Once you have an instance of the PrintQueue object associated with the relevant printer, you can use it to access the printer's status (IsOffline, IsPaperOut, etc.). Also, you can use it to get a list of the jobs in the given queue (GetPrintJobInfoCollection) which then will allow you to get job-specific status information (IsInError, IsCompleted, IsBlocked, etc.).
Hope this helps!
After try to print your PrintDocument (System.Drawing.Printing), try to check status of printjobs.
First step: Initialize your printDocument.
Second step: Get your printer Name From System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Cast<string>();
And copy it into your printerDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName
Third step: Try to print and dispose.
printerDocument.Print();
printerDocument.Dispose();
Last step: Run the check in a Task (do NOT block UI thread).
Task.Run(()=>{
if (!IsPrinterOk(printerDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName,checkTimeInMillisec))
{
// failed printing, do something...
}
});
Here is the implementation:
private bool IsPrinterOk(string name,int checkTimeInMillisec)
{
System.Collections.IList value = null;
do
{
//checkTimeInMillisec should be between 2000 and 5000
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(checkTimeInMillisec);
// or use Timer with Threading.Monitor instead of thread sleep
using (System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_PrintJob WHERE Name like '%" + name + "%'"))
{
value = null;
if (searcher.Get().Count == 0) // Number of pending document.
return true; // return because we haven't got any pending document.
else
{
foreach (System.Management.ManagementObject printer in searcher.Get())
{
value = printer.Properties.Cast<System.Management.PropertyData>().Where(p => p.Name.Equals("Status")).Select(p => p.Value).ToList();
break;
}
}
}
}
while (value.Contains("Printing") || value.Contains("UNKNOWN") || value.Contains("OK"));
return value.Contains("Error") ? false : true;
}
Good luck.
I am trying to get the printer status of a PointOfSale printer using the following code:
Hashtable properties = new Hashtable();
ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win2_Printer");
foreach (ManagementObject obj in searcher.Get()) {
if (obj["name"].ToString() == printerName) {
foreach (PropertyData data in obj.Properties) {
if(data.Name.ToLower() = "printerstatus") {
int printerStatus = Convert.ToInt32(data.Value);
}
}
}
}
Problem is, the status is either 3 (idle) or 4(printing), even when unplugged or the paper is out.
I have read a lot of posts with this same issue, but have not found an answer. Is this correct? How else would I check the status? Any help is appreciated.
What Brand of printer are you using?
Sometimes the Brand will have a specific command you can send to query the status.