CHOOSE PRINTER

Question

Hi guys, I am creating an application with FORMS RUNTIME. Now, in one of my forms I need to create a button that pops up some kind of LOV or POPLIST or whatever it is, with the possible PRINTERS for the machine. Is there some sort of built in, ora an ADD ON..
It would really be helpfull,
Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,
First off, please always indicate which version of Forms you're using, whether your forms are client/server or web-deployed, and the client OS. Someone else may have better suggestions, but here are a few ideas:
If you are working with client/server forms on Windows, I would look into the possibility of calling EnumPrinters via ORA_FFI. If you are unfamiliar with the C language and/or the Windows API, this approach will make for a rough introduction.
As an easier approach I would consider using a JavaBean. I quickly wrote the following bean that exposes one method -- getPrinterList( ). This method returns a semicolon-delimited list of all installed printers:
    import java.awt.print.*;
    import javax.print.PrintService;
    import oracle.forms.ui.VBean;
    public class PrinterEnumerator extends VBean {
      public String getPrinterList() {
        StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
        PrintService[] ps = PrinterJob.lookupPrintServices();
        for (int i=0; i<ps.length; i++) {
          sb.append(ps[ i ].getName());
          sb.append(";");
        return sb.toString();
    }I'm not sure whether JavaBeans are an option for client/server forms, but I'm fairly certain that they are. The only catch here is that web forms provide a means for automatically copying beans over to the client PC -- client/server will most likely require you to make that happen.
As for loading a poplist programmatically, see the Forms documentation.
Sorry if these suggestions are a bit sketchy -- they should at least point you in the right direction.
Hope this helps,
Eric Adamson
Lansing, Michigan