Problem with printing from file to printer

Question

I've been having problems printing more than one page of text from a file to a specified printer in addition to the fact that the number of pages the print dialog says are to be printed is always 9999! I have tried overriding functions from Pageable too, which gave me problems. I tried making the pageIndex more than one page, but it just prints out blank pages after the first, even if there is more data in the file that should have been printed. Here is my code, and if someone could give me some helpful advice I would very much appreciate it! (Thanks in advance for your advice!)
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.print.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class MyPrinter implements Printable, Runnable { //, Pageable {
private static Font fnt = new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 11);
protected PrinterJob job;
protected MyDialog dialog = new MyDialog();
protected RandomAccessFile raf;
protected JFrame mainFrame;
protected String fileName;
protected File printFile;
public MyPrinter(JFrame mFrame) { mainFrame = mFrame; } // end constructor
public void printFile(String name) {// gives error message if file doesn't exist!
printFile = new File(name);
fileName = name;
if((printFile.exists()) && (printFile.canRead())) {
Thread myThread = new Thread(this);
myThread.start();
} // end if
else {
dialog.showError("Datei "+fileName+" existert nicht!", "Fehler mit Drucken");
} // end else
} // end printFile
public void run() {
job = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
job.setPrintable(this); // Printable is an instance of myPrint
if(job.printDialog()) { // user didn't cancel the printing
try { job.print(); } // end try
catch (PrinterException pe) {dialog.showError("Fehler: "+pe.getMessage(), "Problem");}
} // end if
} // end run
public int print(Graphics g, PageFormat pf, int pageIndex)
throws PrinterException {
// pageIndex # corresponds to page number # + 1
if (pageIndex > 0) { return Printable.NO_SUCH_PAGE; } // end if
else {
g.setFont(fnt);
g.setColor(Color.black);
int x = 75, y = 80;
String oneLine;
try {
raf = new RandomAccessFile(fileName, "r");
int fileLength = (int)printFile.length();
while((((int)raf.getFilePointer()) < fileLength)) {
oneLine = raf.readLine();
g.drawString(oneLine, x, y);
y += 15;
} // end while loop
raf.close();
} // end try
catch(IOException e) { dialog.showError("Fehler: "+e.getMessage(), "Problem");}
return Printable.PAGE_EXISTS;
} // end else
} // end print
/*public Printable getPrintable(int pageIndex) {
return this;
} // end getPrintable
public int getNumberOfPages() {
return 1;
} // end getNumberOfPages
public PageFormat getPageFormat(int pageIndex) {
return job.defaultPage();
} // end getPageFormat
} // end MyPrinter class

Answer 1

Well, I changed some things around, and assuming that in a file around 45 lines is a normal page, I am able to get the right amount of pages to be displayed in the dialog and to print, but still, the first page is printed fine and the rest are blank. I am baffled as to what I'm doing wrong. Printing to a printer should not be this hard to do! I have also noticed that many other people have had the same problem, but with no solutions. I am using the jdk 1.3.1 - is that a problem? Here is my new code and if anyone can propose a solution to the blank pages problem I would be very grateful!
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.print.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class MyPrinter implements Runnable {
protected PrinterJob job;
protected MyPrintable myPrint = new MyPrintable();
protected MyPageable myPage = new MyPageable();
protected MyDialog dialog = new MyDialog();
protected RandomAccessFile raf;
//protected Startmenu mainMenu;
protected String fileName;
protected File printFile;
protected int numPages = 0;
public MyPrinter() { } // end constructor
public void printFile(String name) {// gives error message if file doesn't exist!
printFile = new File(name);
fileName = name;
if((printFile.exists()) && (printFile.canRead())) {
Thread myThread = new Thread(this);
myThread.start();
} // end if
else {
dialog.showError("Datei "+fileName+" existert nicht!", "Fehler mit Drucken");
} // end else
} // end printFile
public void run() {
numPages = findNumPages();
job = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
job.setPageable(myPage); // this is an instance of Pageable
if(job.printDialog()) { // user didn't cancel the printing
try {
job.print();
try { raf.close(); } // end try
catch(IOException e) { dialog.showError("Fehler: "+e.getMessage(), "Problem");}
} // end try
catch (PrinterException pe) {dialog.showError("Fehler: "+pe.getMessage(), "Problem");}
} // end if
} // end run
private int findNumPages() {
try {
numPages = 0;
raf = new RandomAccessFile(fileName, "r");
int fileLength = (int)printFile.length();
int lineNumber = 0;
while((int)raf.getFilePointer() < fileLength) {
lineNumber = 0;
while((((int)raf.getFilePointer()) < fileLength) && (lineNumber < 45)) {
raf.readLine();
lineNumber++;
} // end while loop
numPages++;
} // end while loop
raf.seek(0);
} // end try
catch(IOException e) { dialog.showError("Fehler: "+e.getMessage(), "Problem");}
return numPages;
} // end findNumPages
public class MyPageable implements Pageable {
public Printable getPrintable(int pageIndex) { return myPrint; } // end getPrintable
public PageFormat getPageFormat(int pageIndex) {
PageFormat pf = new PageFormat();
pf.setOrientation(PageFormat.PORTRAIT);
return pf;
} // end getPageFormat
public int getNumberOfPages() {
return numPages; // test
//return ((int)printFile.length()/4000); // assume 4KB per page
} // end getNumberOfPages
} // end MyPageable class
public class MyPrintable implements Printable {
private Font fnt = new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 11);
protected int lastPageIndexChecked = -1;
public int print(Graphics g, PageFormat pf, int pageIndex)
throws PrinterException {
// pageIndex # corresponds to page number # + 1
pf.setOrientation(PageFormat.PORTRAIT);
if (pageIndex >= numPages) { return Printable.NO_SUCH_PAGE; } // end if
else {
g.setFont(fnt);
g.setColor(Color.black);
String oneLine;
int x = 75, y = 80, lineNumber = 0;
try {
int fileLength = (int)printFile.length();
while((((int)raf.getFilePointer()) < fileLength) && (lineNumber < 50)) {
oneLine = raf.readLine();
lineNumber++;
g.drawString(oneLine, x, y);
y += 15;
} // end while loop
} // end try
catch(IOException e) { dialog.showError("Fehler: "+e.getMessage(), "Problem");}
return Printable.PAGE_EXISTS;
} // end else
} // end print
} // end MyPrintable class
} // end MyPrinter class