Package javax.print
- Discover and select print services based on their capabilities
- Specify the format of print data
- Submit print jobs to services that support the document type to be printed.
Print Service Discovery
An application invokes the static methods of the abstract classPrintServiceLookup
to locate print
services that have the capabilities to satisfy the application's print
request. For example, to print a double-sided document, the application first
needs to find printers that have the double-sided printing capability.
The JDK includes PrintServiceLookup
implementations that can locate
the standard platform printers. To locate other types of printers, such as
IPP printers or JINI printers, a print-service provider can write
implementations of PrintServiceLookup
. The print-service provider can
dynamically install these PrintServiceLookup
implementations using
the ServiceLoader
facility.
Attribute Definitions
Thejavax.print.attribute
and javax.print.attribute.standard
packages define print attributes, which describe the capabilities of a print
service, specify the requirements of a print job, and track the progress of a
print job.
The javax.print.attribute
package describes the types of attributes
and how they can be collected into sets. The
javax.print.attribute.standard
package enumerates all of the standard
attributes supported by the API, most of which are implementations of
attributes specified in the IETF Specification,
RFC 2911 Internet Printing
Protocol, 1.1: Model and Semantics, dated September 2000. The attributes
specified in javax.print.attribute.standard
include common
capabilities, such as: resolution, copies, media sizes, job priority, and
page ranges.
Document Type Specification
TheDocFlavor
class represents the print data
format, such as JPEG or PostScript. A DocFlavor
object consists of a
MIME type, which describes the format, and a document representation class
name that indicates how the document is delivered to the printer or output
stream. An application uses the DocFlavor
and an attribute set to
find printers that can print the document type specified by the
DocFlavor
and have the capabilities specified by the attribute set.
Using the API
A typical application using the Java Print Service API performs these steps to process a print request:- Chooses a
DocFlavor
. - Creates a set of attributes.
- Locates a print service that can handle the print request as specified
by the
DocFlavor
and the attribute set. - Creates a
Doc
object encapsulating theDocFlavor
and the actual print data, which can take many forms including: a Postscript file, a JPEG image, aURL
, or plain text. - Gets a print job, represented by
DocPrintJob
, from the print service. - Calls the print method of the print job.
FileInputStream psStream; try { psStream = new FileInputStream("file.ps"); } catch (FileNotFoundException ffne) { } if (psStream == null) { return; } DocFlavor psInFormat = DocFlavor.INPUT_STREAM.POSTSCRIPT; Doc myDoc = new SimpleDoc(psStream, psInFormat, null); PrintRequestAttributeSet aset = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet(); aset.add(new Copies(5)); aset.add(MediaSizeName.ISO_A4); aset.add(Sides.DUPLEX); PrintService[] services = PrintServiceLookup.lookupPrintServices(psInFormat, aset); if (services.length > 0) { DocPrintJob job = services[0].createPrintJob(); try { job.print(myDoc, aset); } catch (PrintException pe) {} }
Please note: In the javax.print
APIs, a null
reference
parameter to methods is incorrect unless explicitly documented on the method
as having a meaningful interpretation. Usage to the contrary is incorrect
coding and may result in a run time exception either immediately or at some
later time. IllegalArgumentException
and NullPointerException
are examples of typical and acceptable run time exceptions for such cases.
- Since:
- 1.4
-
ClassDescriptionInterface
AttributeException
is a mixin interface which a subclass ofPrintException
can implement to report an error condition involving one or more printing attributes that a particular Print Service instance does not support.This interface is used by a printing application to cancel a print job.InterfaceDoc
specifies the interface for an object that supplies one piece of print data for a Print Job.ClassDocFlavor
encapsulates an object that specifies the format in which print data is supplied to aDocPrintJob
.ClassDocFlavor.BYTE_ARRAY
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors using a byte array (byte[]
) as the print data representation class.ClassDocFlavor.CHAR_ARRAY
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors using a character array (char[]
) as the print data representation class.ClassDocFlavor.INPUT_STREAM
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors using a byte stream (java.io.InputStream
) as the print data representation class.ClassDocFlavor.READER
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors using a character stream (java.io.Reader
) as the print data representation class.ClassDocFlavor.SERVICE_FORMATTED
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors for service formatted print data.ClassDocFlavor.STRING
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects for example doc flavors using a string (java.lang.String
) as the print data representation class.ClassDocFlavor.URL
provides predefined static constantDocFlavor
objects.This interface represents a print job that can print a specified document with a set of job attributes.InterfaceFlavorException
is a mixin interface which a subclass ofPrintException
can implement to report an error condition involving a doc flavor or flavors (classDocFlavor
).InterfaceMultiDoc
specifies the interface for an object that supplies more than one piece of print data for a Print Job.Obtained from aMultiDocPrintService
, aMultiDocPrintJob
can print a specified collection of documents as a single print job with a set of job attributes.InterfaceMultiPrintService
is the factory for aMultiDocPrintJob
.ClassPrintException
encapsulates a printing-related error condition that occurred while using a Print Service instance.InterfacePrintService
is the factory for aDocPrintJob
.Implementations of this class provide lookup services for print services (typically equivalent to printers) of a particular type.This class is a collection of UI convenience methods which provide a graphical user dialog for browsing print services looked up through the Java Print Service API.Services may optionally provide UIs which allow different styles of interaction in different roles.This class is an implementation of interfaceDoc
that can be used in many common printing requests.This class extendsPrintService
and represents a print service that prints data in different formats to a client-provided output stream.AStreamPrintServiceFactory
is the factory forStreamPrintService
instances, which can print to an output stream in a particular document format described as a mime type.InterfaceURIException
is a mixin interface which a subclass ofPrintException
can implement to report an error condition involving aURI
address.