Print to Memory Sample (also referenced as Memory Image Sample)

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The Black Ice Printer drivers can generate a printed document (image) in memory without saving the document or image on the local disk. Printing in memory used with database applications and with secure applications to prevent saving of the printed document locally.

All of the Black Ice Printer Drivers include a messaging interface. The printer drivers communicate with applications through this interface by sending printer messages at different stages of the printing process. The applications capture the messages sent by the printer driver and process them.

The printer driver will send messages when the following events happen during the printing process:

• Start of Document (StartDoc)
• Start of Page (StartPage)
• End of Page (EndPage)
• End of Document (EndDoc)
• Printer Settings changed
• Image passed in Memory
• Abort

The driver communicates with an application three different ways:

• Method 1: Through the WM_COPYDATA Windows message
• Method 2: Through a registered window message
• Method 3: Through a pipe interface (for Terminal Server printer drivers)

There is an option in the Black Ice Printer Driver to generate images only to the memory. If images are generated only in the memory, They will not consume hard disk space however you can still get this memory image after printing through the "Image passed in Memory" event.

In order to show the usage of this type of messaging interface of the printer driver, the Resource Toolkit includes the Print to Memory Sample (Memory Image Sample). This sample shows how to capture the printer driver messages in an application (using either Method 1, Method 2 or Method 3) when the image is passed in the memory only.

To help Visual Basic, Delphi or other developers, the Resource Toolkit includes the BiPrnDrv.OCX that makes the process of capturing printer driver messages easy. The OCX will capture every printer driver message internally and will fire an OCX event for every message.

Source code for the Print to Memory Sample (Memory Image Sample) is available in C++. Using the Start Application feature of the Black Ice printer drivers along with the messaging interface provides a straightforward method of monitoring the printing process.

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