Getting and Setting the Default Printer

- JanetTerra

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Liberty BASIC's Printerdialog Command

The printerdialog function brings up the standard Windows printer dialog box. From the Liberty BASIC helpfile

• PRINTERDIALOG

• Description

• This command opens the standard Windows Common Printer Dialog. If the user chooses a printer and accepts, the next print job will go to this printer. Accepting a printer also sets the global variables PrinterName$, PrintCollate and PrintCopies to reflect what the user chose for the Printer Name, Collate and Copies. If no printer is accepted, then PrinterName$ is set to an empty string.

Unfortunately, Liberty BASIC doesn't interact well with Windows printer dialog. Despite what information PrinterName$ holds, all documents, whether text ( lprint, dump ) or graphics ( vga , svga , xga ) will be sent to the default printer. A work-around is to set the desired printer as default before printing the document. This work-around is based upon contributions of - StPendl . All of the code used in this article has been compiled from postings made by - StPendl , both at Liberty BASIC Conforums and at the Official Liberty BASIC Support Group . The compiled snippets have been modified slightly for consistency with descriptive variable names, but otherwise remain intact.

The code in this article is only valid for Windows 2k/XP/Vista/2k3/2k8 . This code will not work for Windows 9x/ME . For code that will work with Windows 9x/ME, see Problem with printerdialog at the Liberty BASIC Community Forum .

The first step is to identify (get) the current default printer.

Get Default Printer

The information derived from the winspool.drv DLL will be placed in a struct. The struct must first be defined, here it's pcchBuffer , and the length of the struct element value set to _MAX_PATH. The call to the DLL is then made and the name of the default printer is placed into pcchBuffer.value.struct . Note that byRef is used so that the changes to currentDefaultPrinter$ are made both locally and globally. The function itself returns a number, 0 for a failure, non-zero for success.

 GetDefaultPrinter = GetDefaultPrinter(currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 if GetDefaultPrinter = 0 then 
 print "Call failed" 
 else 
 print "DefaultPrinter = ";currentDefaultPrinter$ 
 end if 
 end 
 
 function GetDefaultPrinter(byref currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 struct pcchBuffer, value as ulong 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = space$(_MAX_PATH) 
 pcchBuffer.value.struct = _MAX_PATH 
 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "GetDefaultPrinterA", _ 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ as ptr, _ 
 pcchBuffer as struct, _ 
 GetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 end function 

Stefan's code has always been accompanied with an error catching routine. Should the call not work, Liberty BASIC can identify the cause of the failure.

 GetDefaultPrinter = GetDefaultPrinter(currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 if GetDefaultPrinter = 0 then 
 print "Call failed" 
 else 
 print "DefaultPrinter = ";currentDefaultPrinter$ 
 end if 
 end 
 
 function GetDefaultPrinter(byref currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 struct pcchBuffer, value as ulong 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = space$(_MAX_PATH) 
 pcchBuffer.value.struct = _MAX_PATH 
 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "GetDefaultPrinterA", _ 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ as ptr, _ 
 pcchBuffer as struct, _ 
 GetDefaultPrinter as long 
 if GetDefaultPrinter = 0 then 
 call DisplayError 
 else 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = left$(currentDefaultPrinter$, pcchBuffer.value.struct - 1) 
 end if 
 close #winspool 
 end function 
 
 sub DisplayError 
 ErrorCode = GetLastError() 
 
 dwFlags = _FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM 
 nSize = 1024 
 lpBuffer$ = space$(nSize); chr$(0) 
 dwMessageID = ErrorCode 
 
 calldll #kernel32, "FormatMessageA", _ 
 dwFlags as ulong, _ 
 lpSource as ulong, _ 
 dwMessageID as ulong, _ 
 dwLanguageID as ulong, _ 
 lpBuffer$ as ptr, _ 
 nSize as ulong, _ 
 Arguments as ulong, _ 
 result as ulong 
 
 print "Error "; ErrorCode; ": "; left$(lpBuffer$, result) 
 end sub 
 
 function GetLastError() 
 calldll #kernel32, "GetLastError", _ 
 GetLastError as ulong 
 end function 

Storing the current default printer in a variable is important to allow that printer to be reassigned as default once the document has been printed.

List All Printers

The next step is to get a list of all available printers. This requires a little more work and three more structs. Stefan's function loops around to obtain all the printer names, until there are no names left. The printer names are concatenated, deliminated with a semicolon, in the string variable PrinterInfo$. The loop ends when error #122 (The data area passed to a system call is too small) is encounered. Once again, byRef is used so that PrinterInfo$ remains the same locally and globally.

Enumerating the printers requires allocating and searching blocks of memory, resulting in rather complex code. Also, listing printers available to the computer by a local (physical) connection requires different variables than listing printers available to the computer by a network or wireless connection. The EnumPrinters() function must be accessed twice, first for local printers then for network printers. The appropriate variables should be passed to the function each time.

• Flag to List Local Printers
• PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL = hexdec("2")

• Flag to List Network Printers
• PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS = hexdec("4")

The first pass stores the retrieved information in LocalPrinterInfo$ and the second pass stores the retrieved information in NetworkPrinterInfo$ . These two stringes are then concatenated with a semicolon to hold all printers in PrinterInfo$ . Finally, an array is constructed to hold the individual printer names.

 ' Count and enumerate all printers 
 ' Need to access function twice, first for local printers, second for network printers 
 PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL = hexdec("2") 
 PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS = hexdec("4") 
 
 nLocalPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL) 
 print "nLocalPrinters = ";nLocalPrinters 
 LocalPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 print "LocalPrinterInfo$ = ";LocalPrinterInfo$ 
 print 
 nNetworkPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS) 
 print "nNetworkPrinters = ";nNetworkPrinters 
 NetworkPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 print "NetworkPrinterInfo$ = ";NetworkPrinterInfo$ 
 print 
 
 ' Add both to total and combine the 2 printer strings 
 nPrinters = nLocalPrinters + nNetworkPrinters 
 Print "nPrinters = ";nPrinters 
 PrinterInfo$ = LocalPrinterInfo$;";";NetworkPrinterInfo$ 
 print "PrinterInfo$ = ";PrinterInfo$ 
 
 ' Place all printers in an array 
 dim availablePrinters$(nPrinters) 
 for i = 1 to nPrinters 
 availablePrinters$(i) = word$(PrinterInfo$, i, ";") 
 next i 
 for i = 1 to nPrinters 
 print i, availablePrinters$(i) 
 next i 
 end 
 
 function EnumPrinters(byref PrinterInfo$, nFlags) 
 ' Returns the number of printers found 
 ' Fills the submitted variable with the printer names 
 ' Separated by semicolons (;) 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 struct pcbNeeded, value as ulong 
 struct pcReturned, value as ulong 
 struct PrinterInfo4, _ 
 pPrinterName$ as ptr, _ 
 pServerName$ as ptr, _ 
 Attributes as ulong 
 PrinterInfo4Len = len(PrinterInfo4.struct) 
 Level = 4 
 cbBuf = PrinterInfo4Len 
 uFlags = _LMEM_MOVEABLE or _LMEM_ZEROINIT 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalAlloc", _ 
 uFlags as uLong, _ 
 cbBuf as uLong, _ 
 hMem as uLong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as uLong 
 
 [retryEnumPrinters] 
 calldll #winspool, "EnumPrintersA", _ 
 nFlags as ulong, _ 
 PrinterName as ulong, _ 
 Level as ulong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 pcbNeeded as struct, _ 
 pcReturned as struct, _ 
 result as boolean 
 if result = 0 then 
 if GetLastError() = 122 then 
 cbBuf = pcbNeeded.value.struct 
 hOldMem = hMem 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalReAlloc", _ 
 hOldMem as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 uFlags as ulong, _ 
 hMem as ulong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong 
 goto [retryEnumPrinters] 
 else 
 call DisplayError 
 end if 
 else 
 EnumPrinters = pcReturned.value.struct 
 BufferPointer = pBuffer 
 for count = 0 to EnumPrinters - 1 
 calldll #kernel32, "RtlMoveMemory", _ 
 PrinterInfo4 as struct, _ 
 BufferPointer as ulong, _ 
 PrinterInfo4Len as ulong, _ 
 result as void 
 BufferPointer = BufferPointer + PrinterInfo4Len 
 pointer = PrinterInfo4.pPrinterName$.struct 
 PrinterInfo$ = winstring(pointer); ";"; PrinterInfo$ 
 next count 
 PrinterInfo$ = left$(PrinterInfo$, len(PrinterInfo$)-1) 
 end if 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalFree", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 result as uLong 
 close #winspool 
 end function 
 
 function GetLastError() 
 calldll #kernel32, "GetLastError", _ 
 GetLastError as ulong 
 end function 

The final step is to designate a different printer as default.

Set Default Printer

The code to set a default printer is the simplest of all, just passing a valid printer name to the winspool.drv dll. Like the GetDefaultPrinter() function, the SetDefaultPrinter() function returns a 0 for failure, a non-zero for success.

 selectedDefaultPrinter$ = "My Inkjet Printer" 
 ' Set new default printer 
 SetDefaultPrinter = SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 end 
 
 function SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "SetDefaultPrinterA",_ 
 selectedDefaultPrinter$ as ptr,_ 
 SetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 end function 

This is the same code, but with Stefan's error trapping included.

 selectedDefaultPrinter$ = "My Inkjet Printer" 
 ' Set new default printer 
 SetDefaultPrinter = SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 end 
 
 function SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "SetDefaultPrinterA",_ 
 selectedDefaultPrinter$ as ptr,_ 
 SetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 if SetDefaultPrinter = 0 then call DisplayError 
 end function 
 
 sub DisplayError 
 ErrorCode = GetLastError() 
 
 dwFlags = _FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM 
 nSize = 1024 
 lpBuffer$ = space$(nSize); chr$(0) 
 dwMessageID = ErrorCode 
 
 calldll #kernel32, "FormatMessageA", _ 
 dwFlags as ulong, _ 
 lpSource as ulong, _ 
 dwMessageID as ulong, _ 
 dwLanguageID as ulong, _ 
 lpBuffer$ as ptr, _ 
 nSize as ulong, _ 
 Arguments as ulong, _ 
 result as ulong 
 
 print "Error "; ErrorCode; ": "; left$(lpBuffer$, result) 
 end sub 
 
 function GetLastError() 
 calldll #kernel32, "GetLastError", _ 
 GetLastError as ulong 
 end function 

Getting, Listing, Setting the Default Printer (Mainwindow)

Using all three components, the programmer now has full control of getting, listing, and setting the default printer.

 ' Get the original default printer 
 GetDefaultPrinter = GetDefaultPrinter(origDefaultPrinter$) 
 print "origDefaultPrinter$ = ";origDefaultPrinter$ 
 print 
 
 ' Count and enumerate all printers 
 ' Need to access function twice, first for local printers, second for network printers 
 PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL = hexdec("2") 
 PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS = hexdec("4") 
 
 nLocalPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL) 
 print "nLocalPrinters = ";nLocalPrinters 
 LocalPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 print "LocalPrinterInfo$ = ";LocalPrinterInfo$ 
 print 
 nNetworkPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS) 
 print "nNetworkPrinters = ";nNetworkPrinters 
 NetworkPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 print "NetworkPrinterInfo$ = ";NetworkPrinterInfo$ 
 print 
 
 ' Add both to total and combine the 2 printer strings 
 nPrinters = nLocalPrinters + nNetworkPrinters 
 Print "nPrinters = ";nPrinters 
 PrinterInfo$ = LocalPrinterInfo$;";";NetworkPrinterInfo$ 
 print "PrinterInfo$ = ";PrinterInfo$ 
 
 ' Place all printers in an array 
 dim availablePrinters$(nPrinters) 
 for i = 1 to nPrinters 
 availablePrinters$(i) = word$(PrinterInfo$, i, ";") 
 next i 
 for i = 1 to nPrinters 
 print i, availablePrinters$(i) 
 next i 
 print 
 
 ' Select another default printer 
 Input "Printer to set as default > ";selectedDefaultPrinter 
 selectedDefaultPrinter$ = availablePrinters$(selectedDefaultPrinter) 
 print 
 
 ' Set new default printer 
 SetDefaultPrinter = SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 end 
 
 
 function EnumPrinters(byref PrinterInfo$, nFlags) 
 ' Returns the number of printers found 
 ' Fills the submitted variable with the printer names 
 ' Separated by semicolons (;) 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 struct pcbNeeded, value as ulong 
 struct pcReturned, value as ulong 
 struct PrinterInfo4, _ 
 pPrinterName$ as ptr, _ 
 pServerName$ as ptr, _ 
 Attributes as ulong 
 PrinterInfo4Len = len(PrinterInfo4.struct) 
 Level = 4 
 cbBuf = PrinterInfo4Len 
 uFlags = _LMEM_MOVEABLE or _LMEM_ZEROINIT 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalAlloc", _ 
 uFlags as uLong, _ 
 cbBuf as uLong, _ 
 hMem as uLong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as uLong 
 
 [retryEnumPrinters] 
 calldll #winspool, "EnumPrintersA", _ 
 nFlags as ulong, _ 
 PrinterName as ulong, _ 
 Level as ulong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 pcbNeeded as struct, _ 
 pcReturned as struct, _ 
 result as boolean 
 if result = 0 then 
 if GetLastError() = 122 then 
 cbBuf = pcbNeeded.value.struct 
 hOldMem = hMem 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalReAlloc", _ 
 hOldMem as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 uFlags as ulong, _ 
 hMem as ulong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong 
 goto [retryEnumPrinters] 
 else 
 call DisplayError 
 end if 
 else 
 EnumPrinters = pcReturned.value.struct 
 BufferPointer = pBuffer 
 for count = 0 to EnumPrinters - 1 
 calldll #kernel32, "RtlMoveMemory", _ 
 PrinterInfo4 as struct, _ 
 BufferPointer as ulong, _ 
 PrinterInfo4Len as ulong, _ 
 result as void 
 BufferPointer = BufferPointer + PrinterInfo4Len 
 pointer = PrinterInfo4.pPrinterName$.struct 
 PrinterInfo$ = winstring(pointer); ";"; PrinterInfo$ 
 next count 
 PrinterInfo$ = left$(PrinterInfo$, len(PrinterInfo$)-1) 
 end if 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalFree", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 result as uLong 
 close #winspool 
 end function 
 
 
 function GetDefaultPrinter(byref currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 
 struct pcchBuffer, value as ulong 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = space$(_MAX_PATH) 
 pcchBuffer.value.struct = _MAX_PATH 
 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "GetDefaultPrinterA", _ 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ as ptr, _ 
 pcchBuffer as struct, _ 
 GetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 
 if GetDefaultPrinter = 0 then 
 call DisplayError 
 else 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = left$(currentDefaultPrinter$, pcchBuffer.value.struct - 1) 
 end if 
 end function 
 
 function SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "SetDefaultPrinterA",_ 
 selectedDefaultPrinter$ as ptr,_ 
 SetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 if SetDefaultPrinter = 0 then call DisplayError 
 end function 
 
 sub DisplayError 
 ErrorCode = GetLastError() 
 
 dwFlags = _FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM 
 nSize = 1024 
 lpBuffer$ = space$(nSize); chr$(0) 
 dwMessageID = ErrorCode 
 
 calldll #kernel32, "FormatMessageA", _ 
 dwFlags as ulong, _ 
 lpSource as ulong, _ 
 dwMessageID as ulong, _ 
 dwLanguageID as ulong, _ 
 lpBuffer$ as ptr, _ 
 nSize as ulong, _ 
 Arguments as ulong, _ 
 result as ulong 
 
 print "Error "; ErrorCode; ": "; left$(lpBuffer$, result) 
 end sub 
 
 function GetLastError() 
 calldll #kernel32, "GetLastError", _ 
 GetLastError as ulong 
 end function 

Getting, Listing, Setting the Default Printer (GUI)

A demo using a dialog window to select the user's choice of printer. The program returns the original default printer as default after each print.

 ' Get the original default printer 
 GetDefaultPrinter = GetDefaultPrinter(origDefaultPrinter$) 
 origDefaultPrinter$ = origDefaultPrinter$ 
 defaultPrinter$ = origDefaultPrinter$ 
 
 ' Count and enumerate all printers 
 ' Need to access function twice, first for local printers, second for network printers 
 PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL = hexdec("2") 
 PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS = hexdec("4") 
 
 nLocalPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.LOCAL) 
 LocalPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 nNetworkPrinters = EnumPrinters(PrinterInfo$, PRINTER.ENUM.CONNECTIONS) 
 NetworkPrinterInfo$ = PrinterInfo$ 
 
 ' Add both to total and combine the 2 printer strings 
 nPrinters = nLocalPrinters + nNetworkPrinters 
 PrinterInfo$ = LocalPrinterInfo$;";";NetworkPrinterInfo$ 
 
 ' Place all printers in an array 
 dim availablePrinters$(nPrinters) 
 for i = 1 to nPrinters 
 availablePrinters$(i) = word$(PrinterInfo$, i, ";") 
 next i 
 
 WindowWidth = 809 
 WindowHeight = 600 
 UpperLeftX = Int((DisplayWidth - WindowWidth) / 2) 
 UpperLeftY = Int((DisplayHeight - WindowHeight) / 2) 
 menu #main, "&File", "&Print",[printerSelection], |,"E&xit", [quit] 
 Graphicbox #main.g, 1, 0, 800, 550 
 open "Printer Selection" for Window as #main 
 #main "trapclose [quit]" 
 call screenDisplay 
 
 wait 
 
 [quit] 
 close #main 
 end 
 
 [printerSelection] 
 WindowWidth = 250 
 WindowHeight = 150 
 UpperLeftX = 8 
 UpperLeftY = 8 
 listbox #dlg.sel, availablePrinters$(), [printScreen], 14, 20, 214, 54 
 button #dlg.prnt, "Print", [printScreen], UL, 14, 84, 70, 28 
 button #dlg.cncl, "Cancel", [closeDlg], UL, 160, 84, 70, 28 
 stylebits #dlg, _WS_POPUP or _WS_THICKFRAME, _WS_CAPTION, 0, 0 
 open "Select Printer" for dialog_modal as #dlg 
 #dlg "trapclose [closeDlg]" 
 #dlg.sel "select ";defaultPrinter$ 
 wait 
 
 [printScreen] 
 #dlg.sel "selection? selPrinter$" 
 defaultPrinter$ = selPrinter$ 
 ' Set the default printer as the selected printer 
 SetDefaultPrinter = SetDefaultPrinter(selPrinter$) 
 #main.g "print svga" 
 ' Return the default printer to the original default printer 
 SetDefaultPrinter = SetDefaultPrinter(origDefaultPrinter$) 
 
 [closeDlg] 
 close #dlg 
 wait 
 
 sub screenDisplay 
 #main.g "down; font verdana 14 bold; place 300 200" 
 #main.g, "\Hello World" 
 #main.g, "flush" 
 end sub 
 
 function EnumPrinters(byref PrinterInfo$, nFlags) 
 ' Returns the number of printers found 
 ' Fills the submitted variable with the printer names 
 ' Separated by semicolons (;) 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 struct pcbNeeded, value as ulong 
 struct pcReturned, value as ulong 
 struct PrinterInfo4, _ 
 pPrinterName$ as ptr, _ 
 pServerName$ as ptr, _ 
 Attributes as ulong 
 PrinterInfo4Len = len(PrinterInfo4.struct) 
 Level = 4 
 cbBuf = PrinterInfo4Len 
 uFlags = _LMEM_MOVEABLE or _LMEM_ZEROINIT 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalAlloc", _ 
 uFlags as uLong, _ 
 cbBuf as uLong, _ 
 hMem as uLong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as uLong 
 
 [retryEnumPrinters] 
 calldll #winspool, "EnumPrintersA", _ 
 nFlags as ulong, _ 
 PrinterName as ulong, _ 
 Level as ulong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 pcbNeeded as struct, _ 
 pcReturned as struct, _ 
 result as boolean 
 if result = 0 then 
 if GetLastError() = 122 then 
 cbBuf = pcbNeeded.value.struct 
 hOldMem = hMem 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalReAlloc", _ 
 hOldMem as ulong, _ 
 cbBuf as ulong, _ 
 uFlags as ulong, _ 
 hMem as ulong 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalLock", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 pBuffer as ulong 
 goto [retryEnumPrinters] 
 else 
 call DisplayError 
 end if 
 else 
 EnumPrinters = pcReturned.value.struct 
 BufferPointer = pBuffer 
 for count = 0 to EnumPrinters - 1 
 calldll #kernel32, "RtlMoveMemory", _ 
 PrinterInfo4 as struct, _ 
 BufferPointer as ulong, _ 
 PrinterInfo4Len as ulong, _ 
 result as void 
 BufferPointer = BufferPointer + PrinterInfo4Len 
 pointer = PrinterInfo4.pPrinterName$.struct 
 PrinterInfo$ = winstring(pointer); ";"; PrinterInfo$ 
 next count 
 PrinterInfo$ = left$(PrinterInfo$, len(PrinterInfo$)-1) 
 end if 
 calldll #kernel32, "LocalFree", _ 
 hMem as uLong, _ 
 result as uLong 
 close #winspool 
 end function 
 
 
 function GetDefaultPrinter(byref currentDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 
 struct pcchBuffer, value as ulong 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = space$(_MAX_PATH) 
 pcchBuffer.value.struct = _MAX_PATH 
 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "GetDefaultPrinterA", _ 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ as ptr, _ 
 pcchBuffer as struct, _ 
 GetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 
 if GetDefaultPrinter = 0 then 
 call DisplayError 
 else 
 currentDefaultPrinter$ = left$(currentDefaultPrinter$, pcchBuffer.value.struct - 1) 
 end if 
 end function 
 
 function SetDefaultPrinter(selectedDefaultPrinter$) 
 ' Returns zero if call fails 
 open "winspool.drv" for dll as #winspool 
 
 calldll #winspool, "SetDefaultPrinterA",_ 
 selectedDefaultPrinter$ as ptr,_ 
 SetDefaultPrinter as long 
 
 close #winspool 
 if SetDefaultPrinter = 0 then call DisplayError 
 end function 
 
 sub DisplayError 
 ErrorCode = GetLastError() 
 
 dwFlags = _FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM 
 nSize = 1024 
 lpBuffer$ = space$(nSize); chr$(0) 
 dwMessageID = ErrorCode 
 
 calldll #kernel32, "FormatMessageA", _ 
 dwFlags as ulong, _ 
 lpSource as ulong, _ 
 dwMessageID as ulong, _ 
 dwLanguageID as ulong, _ 
 lpBuffer$ as ptr, _ 
 nSize as ulong, _ 
 Arguments as ulong, _ 
 result as ulong 
 
 print "Error "; ErrorCode; ": "; left$(lpBuffer$, result) 
 end sub 
 
 function GetLastError() 
 calldll #kernel32, "GetLastError", _ 
 GetLastError as ulong 
 end function 

Printer Dialog Clone

- robmcal offers code for a look alike printer dialog box .

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