QPrinter

NAME

SYNOPSIS

Inherits QPaintDevice.

Public Members

DESCRIPTION

On Windows it uses the built-in printer drivers. On X11 it generates postscript and sends that to lpr, lp, or another print command.

QPrinter is used in much the same way as QWidget and QPixmap are used. The big difference is that you must keep track of the pages.

QPrinter supports a number of settable parameters, most of which can be changed by the end user when the application calls QPrinter::setup().

The most important parameters are:

setOrientation() tells QPrinter which page orientation to use (virtual).

setPageSize() tells QPrinter what page size to expect from the printer.

setResolution() tells QPrinter what resolution you wish the printer to provide (in dpi).

setFullPage() tells QPrinter whether you want to deal with the full page or just with the part the printer can draw on. The default is FALSE, so that by default you should be able to paint on (0,0). If TRUE the origin of the coordinate system will be in the top left corner of the paper and most probably the printer will not be able to paint something there due to it's physical margins.

setNumCopies() tells QPrinter how many copies of the document it should print.

setMinMax() tells QPrinter and QPrintDialog what the allowed range for fromPage() and toPage() are.

Except where noted, you can only call the set functions before setup(), or between QPainter::end() and setup(). (Some may take effect between setup() and begin(), or between begin() and end(), but that's strictly undocumented and such behaviour may differ depending on platform.)

There are also some settings that the user sets (through the printer dialog) and that applications are expected to obey:

pageOrder() tells the application program whether to print first-page-first or last-page-first.

colorMode() tells the application program whether to print in color or grayscale. (If you print in color and the printer does not support color, Qt will try to approximate. The document may take longer to print, but the quality should not be made visibly poorer.)

fromPage() and toPage() indicate what pages the application program should print.

paperSource() tells the application progam which paper source to print from.

You can of course call these functions to establish defaults before you ask the user through QPrinter::setup().

Once you start printing, calling newPage() is essential. You will probably also need to look at the QPaintDeviceMetrics for the printer (see the print function in the Application walk-through). In previous versions, paint device metrics were valid only after the QPrinter has been set up, i.e. after setup() has returned successfully. This is no longer the case and paint device metrics can be requested safely before set up.

If you want to abort the print job, abort() will try its best to stop printing. It may cancel the entire job or just some of it.

If your current locale converts "," to ".", you will need to set a locale (via the standard C setlocale() function) that doen't do this before using QPrinter. The "C" locale works well for this.

The TrueType font embedding for Qt's postscript driver uses code by David Chappell of Trinity College Computing Center.

Copyright 1995, Trinity College Computing Center. Written by David Chappell.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

TrueType font support. These functions allow PPR to generate PostScript fonts from Microsoft compatible TrueType font files.

The functions in this file do most of the work to convert a TrueType font to a type 3 PostScript font.

Most of the material in this file is derived from a program called" ttf2ps" which L. S. Ng posted to the usenet news group" comp.sources.postscript". The author did not provide a copyright notice or indicate any restrictions on use.

Last revised 11 July 1995.

See also Graphics Classes and Image Processing Classes.  

Member Type Documentation

QPrinter::ColorMode

QPrinter::Color - print in color if available, otherwise in grayscale.

QPrinter::GrayScale - print in grayscale, even on color printers. Might be a little faster than Color. This is the default.

QPrinter::Orientation

QPrinter::Portrait - the page's height is greater than its width (the default).

QPrinter::Landscape - the page's width is greater than its height.

This type interacts with QPrinter::PageSize and QPrinter::setFullPage() to determine the final size of the page available to the application.  

QPrinter::PageOrder

QPrinter::FirstPageFirst - the lowest-numbered page should be printed first.

QPrinter::LastPageFirst - the highest-numbered page should be printed first.

QPrinter::PageSize

The defined sizes (with setFullPage(TRUE)) are:

QPrinter::A0 - 841 x 1189 mm This value is not supported on windows.

QPrinter::A1 - 594 x 841 mm This value is not supported on windows.

QPrinter::A2 - 420 x 594 mm

QPrinter::A3 - 297 x 420 mm

QPrinter::A4 - 210 x 297 mm, 8.26 x 11.7 inches

QPrinter::A5 - 148 x 210 mm

QPrinter::A6 - 105 x 148 mm

QPrinter::A7 - 74 x 105 mm

QPrinter::A8 - 52 x 74 mm

QPrinter::A9 - 37 x 52 mm

QPrinter::B0 - 1030 x 1456 mm

QPrinter::B1 - 728 x 1030 mm

QPrinter::B10 - 32 x 45 mm

QPrinter::B2 - 515 x 728 mm

QPrinter::B3 - 364 x 515 mm

QPrinter::B4 - 257 x 364 mm

QPrinter::B5 - 182 x 257 mm, 7.17 x 10.13 inches

QPrinter::B6 - 128 x 182 mm

QPrinter::B7 - 91 x 128 mm

QPrinter::B8 - 64 x 91 mm

QPrinter::B9 - 45 x 64 mm

QPrinter::C5E - 163 x 229 mm

QPrinter::Comm10E - 105 x 241 mm, US Common #10 Envelope

QPrinter::DLE - 110 x 220 mm

QPrinter::Executive - 7.5 x 10 inches, 191 x 254 mm

QPrinter::Folio - 210 x 330 mm

QPrinter::Ledger - 432 x 279 mm

QPrinter::Legal - 8.5 x 14 inches, 216 x 356 mm

QPrinter::Letter - 8.5 x 11 inches, 216 x 279 mm

QPrinter::Tabloid - 279 x 432 mm

QPrinter::Custom

QPrinter::NPageSize - (internal)

With setFullPage(FALSE) (the default), the metrics will be a bit smaller; how much depends on the printer in use.  

QPrinter::PaperSource

Note: this is currently only implemented for Windows.

QPrinter::OnlyOne

QPrinter::Lower

QPrinter::Middle

QPrinter::Manual

QPrinter::Envelope

QPrinter::EnvelopeManual

QPrinter::Auto

QPrinter::Tractor

QPrinter::SmallFormat

QPrinter::LargeFormat

QPrinter::LargeCapacity

QPrinter::Cassette

QPrinter::FormSource

QPrinter::PrintRange

QPrinter::AllPages - All pages should be printed

QPrinter::Selection - Only the selection should be printed.

QPrinter::PageRange - From page, to page option.

See also setPrintRange() and printRange().  

QPrinter::PrinterMode

QPrinter::ScreenResolution - Sets the resolution of the print device to the screen resolution. This has the big advantage that the results obtained when painting on the printer will match more or less exactly the visible output on the screen. It is the easiest to use, as font metrics on the screen and on the printer are the same. This is the default value. ScreenResolution will produce a lower quality output than HighResolution and should only be used for drafts.

QPrinter::PrinterResolution - Use the physical resolution of the printer on Windows. On Unix, set the postscript resolution to 72 dpi.

QPrinter::HighResolution - Use printer resolution on windows, set the resolution of the postscript driver to 600dpi.

QPrinter::Compatible - Almost the same as PrinterResolution, but keeps some peculiarities of the Qt 2.x printer driver. This is useful for applications ported from Qt 2.x to Qt 3.x.

QPrinter::PrinterOption

QPrinter::PrintToFile - Describes if print to file should be enabled.

QPrinter::PrintSelection - Describes if printing selections should be enabled.

QPrinter::PrintPageRange - Describes if printing page ranges (from, to) should be enabled

See also setOptionEnabled() and isOptionEnabled().  

MEMBER FUNCTION DOCUMENTATION

QPrinter::QPrinter ( PrinterMode m = ScreenResolution )

See also QPrinter::PrinterMode.  

QPrinter::~QPrinter ()

bool QPrinter::abort ()

See also aborted().  

bool QPrinter::aborted () const

See also abort().  

ColorMode QPrinter::colorMode () const

See also setColorMode().  

QString QPrinter::creator () const

See also setCreator().  

QString QPrinter::docName () const

See also setDocName().  

int QPrinter::fromPage () const

If fromPage() and toPage() both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.

The programmer is responsible for reading this setting and printing accordingly.

See also setFromTo() and toPage().  

bool QPrinter::fullPage () const

See setFullPage() for details and caveats.

See also setFullPage(), PageSize, and QPaintDeviceMetrics.  

bool QPrinter::isOptionEnabled ( PrinterOption option )

See also setOptionEnabled().  

QSize QPrinter::margins () const

If you have called setFullPage( TRUE ), margins().width() may be treated as the smallest sane left margin you can use, and margins().height() as the smallest sane top margin you can use.

If you have called setFullPage( FALSE ) (this is the default), margins() is automatically subtracted from the pageSize() by QPrinter.

See also setFullPage(), QPaintDeviceMetrics, and PageSize.  

void QPrinter::margins ( uint * top, uint * left, uint * bottom, uint * right ) const

Sets top, left, bottom and right to the margins of the printer. On Unix, this is a best-effort guess, not based on perfect knowledge.

If you have called setFullPage( TRUE ), the four values specify the smallest sane margins you can use.

If you have called setFullPage( FALSE ) (this is the default), the margins are automatically subtracted from the pageSize() by QPrinter.

See also setFullPage(), QPaintDeviceMetrics, and PageSize.  

int QPrinter::maxPage () const

See also minPage(), setMinMax(), and setFromTo().  

int QPrinter::minPage () const

See also maxPage(), setMinMax(), and setFromTo().  

bool QPrinter::newPage ()

Examples:  

int QPrinter::numCopies () const

This value will return the number of times the application is required to print in order to match the number specified in the printer setup dialog. This has been done since some printer drivers are not capable of buffering up the copies and the application in those cases have to make an explicit call to the print code for each copy.

See also setNumCopies().  

Orientation QPrinter::orientation () const

See also setOrientation().  

QString QPrinter::outputFileName () const

See also setOutputFileName() and setOutputToFile().  

bool QPrinter::outputToFile () const

This function is currently only supported under X11 and Mac OS X.

See also setOutputToFile() and setOutputFileName().  

PageOrder QPrinter::pageOrder () const

The default page order is FirstPageFirst.

Bugs and limitations:

This value is not kept in sync with the Windows or Mac OS X printer dialogs.

PageSize QPrinter::pageSize () const

See also setPageSize().  

PaperSource QPrinter::paperSource () const

See also setPaperSource().  

QString QPrinter::printProgram () const

The default is to return a null string; meaning that QPrinter will try to be smart in a system-dependent way. On X11 only, you can set it to something different to use a specific print program.

On Windows, this function returns the name of the printer device driver.

See also setPrintProgram() and setPrinterSelectionOption().  

PrintRange QPrinter::printRange () const

See also setPrintRange().  

QString QPrinter::printerName () const

See also setPrinterName().  

QString QPrinter::printerSelectionOption () const

The default value (a null string) implies that the printer should be selected in a system-dependent manner.

Any other value implies that the given value should be used.

See also setPrinterSelectionOption().  

int QPrinter::resolution () const [virtual]

See also setResolution().  

void QPrinter::setColorMode ( ColorMode newColorMode ) [virtual]

See also colorMode().  

void QPrinter::setCreator ( const QString & creator ) [virtual]

This function is only applicable to the X11 version of Qt. If no creator name is specified, the creator will be set to "Qt" followed by some version number.

See also creator().  

void QPrinter::setDocName ( const QString & name ) [virtual]

void QPrinter::setFromTo ( int fromPage, int toPage ) [virtual]

The from-page and to-page settings specify what pages to print.

If fromPage() and toPage() both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.

This function is useful mostly to set a default value that the user can override in the print dialog when you call setup().

See also fromPage(), toPage(), setMinMax(), and setup().  

void QPrinter::setFullPage ( bool fp ) [virtual]

The default is FALSE. You can (probably) print on (0,0), and QPaintDeviceMetrics will report something smaller than the size indicated by PageSize. (Note that QPrinter may be wrong on Unix systems - it does not have perfect knowledge of the physical printer.)

If you set fp to TRUE, QPaintDeviceMetrics will report the exact same size as indicated by PageSize, but you cannot print on all of that - you must take care of the output margins yourself.

See also PageSize, setPageSize(), QPaintDeviceMetrics, and fullPage().

Examples:  

void QPrinter::setMargins ( uint top, uint left, uint bottom, uint right )

This function currently only has an effect on Unix systems.

See also margins().  

void QPrinter::setMinMax ( int minPage, int maxPage ) [virtual]

The min-page and max-page restrict the from-page and to-page settings. When the printer setup dialog appears, the user cannot select a from page or a to page that are outside the range specified by min and max pages.

See also minPage(), maxPage(), setFromTo(), and setup().  

void QPrinter::setNumCopies ( int numCopies ) [virtual]

The printer driver reads this setting and prints the specified number of copies.

See also numCopies() and setup().  

void QPrinter::setOptionEnabled ( PrinterOption option, bool enable )

See also isOptionEnabled().  

void QPrinter::setOrientation ( Orientation orientation ) [virtual]

The orientation can be either QPrinter::Portrait or QPrinter::Landscape.

The printer driver reads this setting and prints using the specified orientation. On Windows this setting won't take effect until the printer dialog is shown (using QPrinter::setup()).

Windows only! This option can be changed while printing and will take effect from the next call to newPage()

See also orientation().  

void QPrinter::setOutputFileName ( const QString & fileName ) [virtual]

Setting a null or empty name (0 or "") disables output to a file, i.e. calls setOutputToFile(FALSE). Setting a non-empty name enables output to a file, i.e. calls setOutputToFile(TRUE).

This function is currently only supported under X11.

See also outputFileName() and setOutputToFile().  

void QPrinter::setOutputToFile ( bool enable ) [virtual]

Will output to a file if enable is TRUE, or will output directly to the printer if enable is FALSE.

This function is currently only supported under X11 and Mac OS X.

See also outputToFile() and setOutputFileName().  

void QPrinter::setPageOrder ( PageOrder newPageOrder ) [virtual]

The page order can be QPrinter::FirstPageFirst or QPrinter::LastPageFirst. The application programmer is responsible for reading the page order and printing accordingly.

This function is useful mostly for setting a default value that the user can override in the print dialog when you call setup().

Bugs and limitations:

This value is not kept in sync with the Windows or Mac OS X printer dialogs.

void QPrinter::setPageSize ( PageSize newPageSize ) [virtual]

The default page size is system-dependent.

This function is useful mostly for setting a default value that the user can override in the print dialog when you call setup().

See also pageSize(), PageSize, setFullPage(), and setResolution().  

void QPrinter::setPaperSource ( PaperSource source ) [virtual]

Windows only! This option can be changed while printing and will take effect from the next call to newPage()

See also paperSource().  

void QPrinter::setPrintProgram ( const QString & printProg ) [virtual]

On X11, this function sets the program to call with the PostScript output. On other platforms, it has no effect.

See also printProgram().  

void QPrinter::setPrintRange ( PrintRange range )

See also printRange().  

void QPrinter::setPrinterName ( const QString & name ) [virtual]

The default printer will be used if no printer name is set.

Under X11, the PRINTER environment variable defines the default printer. Under any other window system, the window system defines the default printer.

See also printerName().  

void QPrinter::setPrinterSelectionOption ( const QString & option ) [virtual]

If the printer selection option is changed while the printer is active, the current print job may or may not be affected.

See also printerSelectionOption().  

void QPrinter::setResolution ( int dpi ) [virtual]

This setting affects the coordinate system as returned by, for example, QPaintDeviceMetrics and QPainter::viewport().

The value depends on the PrintingMode used in the QPrinter constructor. By default, the dpi value of the screen is used.

This function must be called before setup() to have an effect on all platforms.

See also resolution() and setPageSize().  

void QPrinter::setWinPageSize ( short winPageSize )

bool QPrinter::setup ( QWidget * parent = 0 )

Returns TRUE if the user pressed "OK" to print, or FALSE if the user canceled the operation.

Examples:  

int QPrinter::toPage () const

If fromPage() and toPage() both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.

The programmer is responsible for reading this setting and printing accordingly.

See also setFromTo() and fromPage().  

short QPrinter::winPageSize () const

Use pageSize() to get the PageSize, e.g. 'A4', 'Letter', etc.

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