Screen Print and report print in 11g Forms

Question

Hi,
I have created a popup menu in forms 11g which has a label print screen.
When user clicks on it, it is supposed to bring up the list of printers that user has on his PC, so that they can choose the printer where they want to print to.
Do I need to use webutil for it? or is there any other way?.
Thanks
Munish

Answer 1

If you plan on printing from the client your only options are to use WebUtil or write your own java bean.
That said, if you are generating the labels using Reports, why not generate to a pdf file? If you coded your form properly, the pdf will open on the client side in something like Acrobat Viewer. If they want to print it they can click on the "Print" button in PDF viewer.
If you really want to make it complicated and present a list of printers and allow them to pick one then send the job to the printer, this will take some effort. Here are some starter tips assuming the client will always be Windows based:
You can get the current default printer like this:
-- More registry info for printing can be found here:   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/102966
Declare
     rtn_Registry               varchar2(255);
     rtn_defaultPrinter          varchar2(255);
Begin
     rtn_Registry := CLIENT_WIN_API_ENVIRONMENT.Read_Registry('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows','Device');
     rtn_defaultPrinter := substr(rtn_Registry,1,instr(rtn_Registry,',',1)-1);
     message (rtn_defaultPrinter);  -- This is the name of the default printer
End;Some printer properties and preferences can be called with something like this:
-- More details here:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q189105/
Declare
     my_cmd varchar2(255);
     rtn_Registry               varchar2(255);
     rtn_defaultPrinter          varchar2(255);
Begin
-- Get default printer
     rtn_Registry := CLIENT_WIN_API_ENVIRONMENT.Read_Registry('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows','Device');
     rtn_defaultPrinter := substr(rtn_Registry,1,instr(rtn_Registry,',',1)-1);
     -- Printer default preferences
     my_cmd := 'rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /e /n "'|| rtn_defaultPrinter ||'"';
     -- Printer properties
--     my_cmd := 'rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /p /n "'|| rtn_defaultPrinter ||'"';     
     -- Printer queue
--     my_cmd := 'rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /o /n "'|| rtn_defaultPrinter ||'"';
     If rtn_defaultPrinter IS NULL Then
          Message('Default printer not detected.');
          Message('Default printer not detected.');          
          RAISE Form_Trigger_Failure;
     End if;
     SYNCHRONIZE;     
     CLIENT_HOST(my_cmd);
End;The complete list of installed printers can be found in the Registry here:
<blockquote>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers</blockquote>
Take a look at this java bean example used to help print to the local printer from Forms.
<blockquote>http://forms.pjc.bean.over-blog.com/article-6621538.html</blockquote>