c# check printer status

Question

in my application (Windows 7, VS2010) i have to decrement a credit counter after successfully printing an image. Anyway, before starting the entire process, i\'d like to kno

Answer 1

You don't say what version of .Net you're using, but since .Net 3.0 there has been some good printing functionality. I've used this and whilst I can't be sure that it reports all kinds of status levels, I've certainly seen messages such as 'Toner Low' for various printers etc.

PrinterDescription is a custom class, but you can see the properties its using.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.printing.aspx

        PrintQueueCollection printQueues = null;
        List printerDescriptions = null;

        // Get a list of available printers.
        this.printServer = new PrintServer();
        printQueues = this.printServer.GetPrintQueues(new[] { EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Local, EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Connections });
        printerDescriptions = new List();

        foreach (PrintQueue printQueue in printQueues)
        {
            // The OneNote printer driver causes crashes in 64bit OSes so for now just don't include it.
            // Also redirected printer drivers cause crashes for some printers. Another WPF issue that cannot be worked around.
            if (printQueue.Name.ToUpperInvariant().Contains("ONENOTE") || printQueue.Name.ToUpperInvariant().Contains("REDIRECTED"))
            {
                continue;
            }

            string status = printQueue.QueueStatus.ToString();

            try
            {
                PrinterDescription printerDescription = new PrinterDescription()
                {
                    Name = printQueue.Name,
                    FullName = printQueue.FullName,
                    Status = status == Strings.Printing_PrinterStatus_NoneTxt ? Strings.Printing_PrinterStatus_ReadyTxt : status,
                    ClientPrintSchemaVersion = printQueue.ClientPrintSchemaVersion,
                    DefaultPrintTicket = printQueue.DefaultPrintTicket,
                    PrintCapabilities = printQueue.GetPrintCapabilities(),
                    PrintQueue = printQueue
                };

                printerDescriptions.Add(printerDescription);
            }
            catch (PrintQueueException ex)
            {
                // ... Logging removed
            }
        }