SAMPLE: Printing in Visual Basic and C

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows, version 3.1

EZPRINT: No-Frills Printing in Visual Basic and C

Dennis Crain Microsoft Developer Network Technology Group

Created: April 19, 1993

Abstract

Printing from applications written for the Microsoft Windows version 3.1 operating system can be trying at times. This article describes a convenient method for printing from applications using a dynamic-link library (DLL) called EZPRINT.DLL. EZPRINT provides three exported functions--StartDocument, PrintObject, and EndDocument--to start the printing job, print various objects on the page, and end the printing job. The sample DLL code and Visual Basic code that calls EZPRINT are included with this article. You may use the DLL as is or modify it to meet your needs. In its present form, EZPRINT prints text, rectangles, and lines with various attributes.

This article was written for developers who have relatively little printing experience and whose printing needs involve text placement and simple line drawing only. Experienced developers can also use EZPRINT as a framework for implementing more sophisticated printing capabilities.

Download EZPRINT.EXE, a self-extracting file, from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services:

• Microsoft Download Service (MSDL)

        Dial (206) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL
        Download EZPRINT.EXE (size: 53865 bytes) 
  

• Internet (anonymous FTP)

        ftp ftp.microsoft.com
        Change to the \SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory
        Get EZPRINT.EXE (size: 53865 bytes)