Javax.print problems on applet - bug on mac os implementation?

Question

Dear All,
I am working on an applet and application that include a print function and I get a weird behaviour on MacOS in applet mode (both with Safari and Firefox - Mac OS X Versione 10.4.9 (Build 8P135) ). In contrast, things work fine on Windows XP (both Explorer 7 and Firefox with Java Plug-in 1.6.0_01) and even in MacOS when using the application.
The problems are:
- the print dialogue goes on and off a few times before letting the user interact with it
- the page format in the dialogue is set to A5 (instead of the printer's default)
- there is a small empty window appearing together with the dialogue and not disappearing even after the applet is closed
Is this a known problem? If so, are there work-arounds?
(I had no luck on Google about this)
To reproduce the problem I created a stripped down version of the applet, in 2 files, I report it at the bottom of this message. I am using a modified version the PrintUtilities class from http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Swing-Tutorial/Swing-Tutorial-Printing.html
Am I doing something wrong? Or shall I consider submitting a bug report?
Any suggestion is welcome! Please let me know if I should provide more detailed information.
Thank you in advance,
Enrico
PrintMe.java
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseListener;
import javax.swing.JApplet;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class PrintMe extends JApplet implements MouseListener{
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     private JPanel jContentPane = null;
     public PrintMe() {
          super();
     private class MyComponent extends JPanel{
          private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
          public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
               super.paintComponent(g);
              Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
              g2.setColor(Color.black);
              g2.drawString( "Test text", 0, g2.getFontMetrics().getHeight() );
     public void init() {
          MyComponent aComponent = new MyComponent();
          jContentPane = new JPanel();
          jContentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          jContentPane.add(aComponent);
          this.setContentPane(jContentPane);
          this.addMouseListener(this);
     public void print(){
          try{
               PrintUtilities.printComponent(this);
          }catch (Exception e) {
               e.printStackTrace();
     public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
          print();
     public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
          // not used
     public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
          // not used
     public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
          // not used
     public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {
          // not used
PrintUtilities.java
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.print.PageFormat;
import java.awt.print.Printable;
import java.awt.print.PrinterException;
import java.awt.print.PrinterJob;
import javax.print.attribute.HashPrintRequestAttributeSet;
import javax.print.attribute.PrintRequestAttributeSet;
import javax.swing.RepaintManager;
import javax.swing.RootPaneContainer;
/** A simple utility class that lets you very simply print
*  an arbitrary component. Just pass the component to the
*  PrintUtilities.printComponent. The component you want to
*  print doesn't need a print method and doesn't have to
*  implement any interface or do anything special at all.
*  If you are going to be printing many times, it is marginally more
*  efficient to first do the following:
*    PrintUtilities printHelper = new PrintUtilities(theComponent);
*  then later do printHelper.print(). But this is a very tiny
*  difference, so in most cases just do the simpler
*  PrintUtilities.printComponent(componentToBePrinted).
*  7/99 Marty Hall, http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/
*  May be freely used or adapted.
public class PrintUtilities implements Printable {
     private Component componentToBePrinted;
     public static void printComponent(Component c) {
          new PrintUtilities(c).print();
     public PrintUtilities(Component componentToBePrinted) {
          this.componentToBePrinted = componentToBePrinted;
     public void print() {
          try{
               PrinterJob printJob = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
               printJob.setPrintable(this);
               PrintRequestAttributeSet attributes = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet();
               if( printJob.printDialog(attributes) ){
                    try {
                         printJob.setJobName("MyName");
                         printJob.print(attributes);
                    } catch(PrinterException pe) {
                         System.err.println("Error printing: " + pe);
                         pe.printStackTrace();
          }catch (Exception e) {
               e.printStackTrace();
     public int print(Graphics g, PageFormat pageFormat, int pageIndex) {
          if (pageIndex > 0) {
               return(NO_SUCH_PAGE);
          } else {
               RootPaneContainer rpc = (RootPaneContainer)(this.componentToBePrinted);
               rpc.getRootPane().getGlassPane().setVisible( false );
               Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D)g;
               double sy = pageFormat.getImageableHeight() / componentToBePrinted.getHeight();
               double sx = pageFormat.getImageableWidth() / componentToBePrinted.getWidth();
               if( sx > sy ){
                    sx = sy;
               }else{
                    sy = sx;
               g2d.translate(pageFormat.getImageableX(), pageFormat.getImageableY());
               g2d.scale(sx, sy);
               disableDoubleBuffering(componentToBePrinted);
               componentToBePrinted.paint(g2d);
               enableDoubleBuffering(componentToBePrinted);
               return(PAGE_EXISTS);
     /** The speed and quality of printing suffers dramatically if
      *  any of the containers have double buffering turned on.
      *  So this turns if off globally.
      *  @see enableDoubleBuffering
     public static void disableDoubleBuffering(Component c) {
          RepaintManager currentManager = RepaintManager.currentManager(c);
          currentManager.setDoubleBufferingEnabled(false);
     /** Re-enables double buffering globally. */
     public static void enableDoubleBuffering(Component c) {
          RepaintManager currentManager = RepaintManager.currentManager(c);
          currentManager.setDoubleBufferingEnabled(true);
}

Answer 1

Trying to answer to myself..
Is it possible that the problems are due to me mixing java.awt.print and javax.swing.print ?