Print any type of document .doc, .docx, .pdf, .xslx, .png etc. C#

Question

1.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

In my project there is a requirement , to print any type of documents to provided printer on server side. 1. My application hosted on IIS server. 2. From client side i.e. from UI request initiate for printing to web API. 3. As application is hosted in IIS .net ProcessStart option not working. Also not allowed to change application pool identity and its rights so that this idea dropped.

Please provide/suggest me the alternative solution for mentioned scenario.

What I have tried:

I tried .net system.Diagnostic Process class to print files using PrintTo verb.
But my application is hosted in IIS so unable to achieve it.

Posted 30-Apr-18 6:40am

SURAJ-CDAC

Updated 30-Apr-18 10:05am

Add a Solution

Comments

Mehdi Gholam 30-Apr-18 13:14pm

For each extension you need software on your server that recognizes and can print it. Try looking into components that do this.

SURAJ-CDAC 30-Apr-18 14:25pm

I have all software i.e. MS WORD ,Acrobat reader, Notepad , Wordpad , mspaint etc.
Is there any generic solution to achieve this

Richard Deeming 30-Apr-18 13:21pm

You're printing from the server, so the printer needs to be connected to the server.

If you're trying to print to the client's printer, then it's not going to work.

SURAJ-CDAC 30-Apr-18 14:22pm

Yes i m printing from server. Also all printers are connected to the server.
Is there any generic solution to achieve this

2 solutions

Solution 1

Of course printing from the server side for the client is involves a very complicated printer selection (even server can access all printers), but I leave that for you (And I not even mention how wrong is to have a server with all those UI based tools installed on)...
When you right click a file in Explorer you - mostly - get a Print/Print To option somewhere next to Open...
Explorer can add that menu item based on info stored in the registry for each and every extension (file type)...
You can do the same...
For instance if you have a .txt (text) file you can go to the registry and retrieve the print command to print that file...

C#

string szExt = Registry.GetValue("HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\" + ext, string.Empty, null);
string szPrintTo = Registry.GetValue(string.Format(@"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\{0}\shell\Printto\command", szExt), string.Empty, null);

All you have to do is replace the parameters (%1, %2) with your files and execute the command (using Process)...

Posted 30-Apr-18 9:05am

Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Dave Kreskowiak · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-30T10:06:00

This isn't going to be practical at all, and in some cases, impossible to do.

In order to print all of those files, you would need software installed on the server that can read and render every format of those files you want to support.

Some of those extensions will only print from Microsoft Office, which you can NOT use from a web server, or any other unattended process, like a Windows Service.

There is no generic method for printing any file type you want! You either have the software to print each specific file type or you don't print it.