Printing a PCL binary raw data is not possible because none of the PrintServices report a DocFlavor that it supports this type data.

Feedback from the beta release:

Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 15:14:28 -0700
From: Jim Adrig <###@###.###>
X-Accept-Language: en
To: Phil Race <###@###.###>
CC: ###@###.###
Subject: Re: Printing PCL in 1.4: bug or unsupported?
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Phil Race wrote:
>
> Hi Jim,
> I recall that we looked into how to do pass through to a PCL printer
> but there wasn't a suitable win32 API to identify a PCL technology
> printer in the same way that there are APIs to identify a printer
> as having postscript technology. And that's even leaving aside the
> question of what PCL means - eg PCL3, PCL5, PC5e, PCL6 ?
>
> Jennifer will likely recall more details and may have some ideas
> if there is something legitimate and useful we can do or suggest
> alternatives for you.
>
> -phil.

Thanks for the quick response...

I understand that to fit into the 'framework', you would have to
identify the printer as a 'PCL' printer; and if that could be done, it
would work for us.

But sometimes the best solution is just to provide a way to let the
programmers do things you can't anticipate: in this case, to just let us
go 'under the covers' and send 'raw data' directly to the printer. The
Win32 API has always provided this capability (see below).

I would think that there could be lots of reasons to avoid all the
platform-dependant printer driver issues. The ability to send 'raw' data
to the printer, combined with all the info available through the new 1.4
javax.print system, would be very powerful!

When I first downloaded the 1.4 beta, I was hoping to find something
like this: (and don't you want to do things the way programmers expect
them to be ? ;^) ..)

'Binary' DocFlavor's always available for all Win32 PrintServices:

   application/octet-stream; class="[B"

   application/octet-stream; class="java.io.InputStream"

   application/octet-stream; class="java.net.URL"

And DocFlavor's to access them:

   DocFlavor.INPUT_STREAM.BYTES (or something like that?)
   etc.
   (or find them with 'AUTOSENSE' ?)


Here is a link to the Win32 API info on 'Sending Data Directly to a
Printer' (this link seems to work better in IE):

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/gdi/prntspol_93g2.htm

And here is (abbreviated) Delphi code we use to do this; note the 'RAW'
pDataType:

%<------------------------------------------------------
 if OpenPrinter(PChar(PrinterName), PrinterHandle, nil) then
  with DocInfo1 do begin
    pDocName := PChar(JobName);
    pOutputFile := nil;
    pDataType := 'RAW'; // Here's the trick !?
  end;
  JobNo := StartDocPrinter(PrinterHandle, 1, @DocInfo1);
  if JobNo <> 0 then begin
    if StartPagePrinter(PrinterHandle) then begin
      WritePrinter(PrinterHandle,
                   PChar(PrintString),
                   Length(PrintString),
                   BytesWritten);
      if not(EndPagePrinter(PrinterHandle)) then GetErrorList (
GetLastError );
    end else GetErrorList( GetLastError );
    if not(EndDocPrinter(PrinterHandle)) then GetErrorList (
GetLastError );
  end else GetErrorList( GetLastError );
  ClosePrinter(PrinterHandle);
%<------------------------------------------------------

                                 __o
Jim Adrig _ \<,_
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                  ___________ `-' `-'