2 Requests...

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Module Tweaks/2 Requests...

Pineapple

(Posted 2006) [#1]

Sorry, just the one... posting other in the sticky community forum!

1) Off-the-shelf printer commands!

Dabz

Russell

(Posted 2006) [#2]

That would be nice, especially cross-platform (Windows-only print commands are pretty easy to do from what I've read). Officially, I'd like to see everything work on all supported platforms.

This is one of the (few) things I don't like about Purebasic: That is, not all commands are supported by all versions of PB (even if it's the same version number!). I'm glad to see that, so far, BMax has stayed true cross-platform. Third party, of course, can do what they want... :)

Russell

Pineapple

(Posted 2006) [#3]

I woould'nt care, but it cannot be too hard implemending Printer support, I mean, I used the below in a B+ project as a userlib:-

//Printer DLL
//Written By Michael Denathorn 2005
//Originally posted on CodersWorkshop under Micky99 (Me)
//Sends text to the printer, also handle page breaks too

#include <windows.h>
#include <gdiplus.h>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace Gdiplus;

//Globals
PRINTDLG pd;
DOCINFO di;
ULONG_PTR gdiToken;

#define BBDECL extern "C" _declspec(dllexport)
#define BBCALL _stdcall

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzOpenPrinter(void)
{
   GdiplusStartupInput gdiplusStartupInput;
   GdiplusStartup(&gdiToken, &gdiplusStartupInput, NULL);

   
   ZeroMemory(&di, sizeof(di));
   di.cbSize = sizeof(di);
   di.lpszDocName = "Dabz Printer Lib";
   
   ZeroMemory(&pd, sizeof(pd));
   pd.lStructSize = sizeof(pd);
   pd.Flags = PD_RETURNDC;

   if(!PrintDlg(&pd))
   {
      printf("Failure\n");
	  return(0);
   }
    
	return(1);
}
BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzStartDoc(void)
{
	StartDoc(pd.hDC, &di);
	return(1);
}

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzStartPage(void)
{
	StartPage(pd.hDC);
	return(1);
}

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzEndPage(void)
{
	EndPage(pd.hDC);
	return(1);
}

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzEndDoc(void)
{
    EndDoc(pd.hDC); 
	return(1);
}

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzClosePrinter(void)
{
	  if(pd.hDevMode) 
      GlobalFree(pd.hDevMode);
   if(pd.hDevNames) 
      GlobalFree(pd.hDevNames);
   if(pd.hDC)
      DeleteDC(pd.hDC);
   
   GdiplusShutdown(gdiToken);
	
   return(1);
}

BBDECL int BBCALL _DabzPrintText( const char *str, int posX, int posY)
{
	TextOut(pd.hDC,posX,posY,str,strlen(str));
	return(1);
}

Just thought I'd stick a B+ example in... just in case someone wants to convert it to BMax, and see how it works, because I would do it... If I fully understood BM (Yet I don't, me still learning):-

;PrintDLL.DLL Example
;Written by Michael Denathorn 2005

;This example shows how you can use the DLL to print the contents
;of a Blitz+ Text Area

;Standard Blitz+ stuff
win = CreateWindow ("Print Text Area Example",20,20,230,280,Desktop(),5) 
txtbox = CreateTextArea(10,15,200,200,win,1) 

;Menu
menu = WindowMenu(win)
file=CreateMenu("File",0,menu) 
CreateMenu "Print",1,file 
CreateMenu "",0,file 
CreateMenu "Quit",2,file 
UpdateWindowMenu win

;Event Constants
Const CLOSE_WINDOW_EVENT 	= $803
Const MENU_EVENT 			= $1001
;Menu content ID's
Const PRINT_ID 	= 1
Const QUIT_ID 	= 2

Repeat
	event = WaitEvent() 
	If event = CLOSE_WINDOW_EVENT 
		End
	End If
	 
	If event=MENU_EVENT
		menuID=EventData() 
		Select menuID
			Case PRINT_ID
				If TextAreaLen(txtbox) <> 0
					PrintTextArea(txtbox)
				Else
					Notify "Erm... Type summit then!!! :/"
				End If
			Case QUIT_ID
				End
		End Select
	End If
Forever



;---------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Note: The function only prints lines that are 90 characters in length, I'll
;      fix this later, but for now, just bare it in mind!
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function PrintTextArea(txtArea)
	;Some local variables
	Local LINES_PER_PAGE = 78
	;Create a tempory new file in the users tempdir
	;and save the text there first (There is a reason for this, see bottom of function))
	file$ = SystemProperty$("tempdir")+"tempprint.txt"
	fileout = WriteFile(file$)
	WriteLine(fileout,TextAreaText(txtArea))
	CloseFile fileout
	
	;Open the file and the printer
	filein = ReadFile(file$)
	OpenPrinter()
	;Tell the printer there is a new document on the way,
	;and also notify the printer we are going to print on a
	;new page
	StartDoc()
	StartPage()
	;Reset line counter
	lineCounter = 0
	;Printing loop
	Repeat
		;Read in line of text from file, and then send to printer
		PrintText(ReadLine$(filein),50,(lineCounter*50))
		;Increment the line counter
		lineCounter = lineCounter + 1
		;If the printer reaches the bottom of the page
		;reset the line counter, tell the printer to end the
		;current page, and start a new one
		If lineCounter = LINES_PER_PAGE
			lineCounter = 0
			EndPage()
			StartPage()
		End If
	;Exit when we have reached the end of the file
	Until Eof(filein)
	;Instruct the printer to end the page, and then the document
	EndPage()
	EndDoc()
	;Close the printer
	ClosePrinter()
	;Close the file and delete it
	CloseFile filein
	DeleteFile(file$)
End Function


;Writing the contents of a text area to file first, then reading in each line
;saves me from trying to format the text internally within the function.
;If I tried to print straight from the text area, I would end up with something
;from this:-
;
;					Hello, my name is Michael
;					and I like nothing better than
;					sitting on by backside.
;
;
;To this (Which is what it would look like on the paper):-
;
;		Hello, my name is Michaeland I like nothing better thansitting on by backside.
;
;As you can see, it's a bit shitty, The reason this happens is that when
;Blitz+ reads in the line, it automatically chops the carriage return from the 
;line... so, I don't really have to do much, apart from a couple of simple IO
;routines... Canny!!! 
;
;I'm trying to figure out on how to use fonts,

Dabz