Author: Maarten de Haan

How to send a raw string to the printer

Answer:

procedure PrintRawStr(const S: ANSIString);

1   uses WinSpool, Printers;
2   
3   var
4     sDefaultPrinter: string;
5     Handle: THandle;
6     dwN: DWORD;
7     diDocInfo1: TDocInfo1; // Uses WinSpool
8     bP: BYTE;
9   
10  begin
11    // Get the default printer or the printer choosen in the Printer Setup Dialog
12    // if you have one in the application
13    if Printer.Printers.Count > 0 then
14    begin
15      sDefaultPrinter := Printer.Printers[Printer.PrinterIndex]; // Uses Printers
16      //uses Printers, get default printer
17      bP := Pos(' on ', sDefaultPrinter);
18      if bP > 0 then
19        sDefaultPrinter := Copy(sDefaultPrinter, 1, bP - 1);
20    end
21    else
22      Exit; // No printers installed on this system...
23  
24    if not OpenPrinter(PChar(sDefaultPrinter), Handle, nil) then
25    begin
26      case GetLastError of
27        87: ShowMessage('Printer name does not exists.');
28      else
29        ShowMessage('Error ' + IntToStr(GetLastError)); // Uses Dialogs
30      end;
31      Exit; // Cannot find the printer
32    end;
33  
34    with diDocInfo1 do
35    begin
36      pDocName := PChar('Print job raw'); // Will be seen in printer spooler
37      pOutputFile := nil;
38      pDataType := 'RAW';
39    end;
40  
41    StartDocPrinter(Handle, 1, @diDocInfo1);
42    StartPagePrinter(Handle);
43    WritePrinter(Handle, PChar(S), Length(S), dwN);
44    EndPagePrinter(Handle);
45    EndDocPrinter(Handle);
46    ClosePrinter(Handle);
47  end;