With the Exit32.DLL
included in the package, you can preview prints from any
Windows application, including your own.
The base product produces a multipage TIFF file
and launches the application you have specified as the default
viewer for files having extensions of .TIF. Registering the product gives you the source code for the DLL called by the driver. The
DLL receives each page of the print job as a bitmap. You can
modify the source code to do whatever you want with the bitmap
delivered from the driver. The source code is compatible with Visual
C++ V6.0.
You can intercept pages from any Windows application
and perform any kind of image processing, indexing, or
print redirection you like.
For example, you can stamp any document the user
prints with the name of the user, the user's signature,
or date/time before sending the printout to a real
printer.
The demo version of the driver displays a
dialog box for each print job but is otherwise the same as the registered version.
There are optional Exit32.dll versions available for
rendering documents to bitmap (.bmp) or JPEG (.jpg)
files. Since these file formats do not support multip
pages, all of the pages for a document are stored in a
folder in a separate file for each document page.
Configuration File
The Exit32.dll reads and write a
configuration file named "nedprint.ini".
This file is optional and can be
used to monitor the operation of the print job.
Nedprint.ini must be located in the Windows directory.
On most machines this would be the c:\Windows
folder.
An example nedprint.ini file is shown
here:
[File]
;The driver writes this tag to let you know the job is done. Delete this tag from
; your application, or manually, then check for it to match what you specify in
; the path tag below. When it matches, the print job is done.
Written=c:\myimage.tif<
BR>
; Uncomment the following line to write the image where ever you want
path=c:\myimage.tif<
BR>
[options]
; This line tells the driver to open the image viewer. Set to 0 or comment out
; to disable running of the app at the end of the print job.
runviewer=1<
BR>
; Uncomment this line to open the image with IE or whatever app you want. The
; path to the image file is sent to
the application you specify.
;application=c:\program files\Imaging Professional\kodakimg.exe
For versions of the Exit32.dll that write
single-page files, such as the bitmap and JPEG dlls, the
"path" tag indicates the name of the folder containing
the files rather than the file
name.
Special Considerations for Windows Vista
Windows Vista implements a "User
Account Control" (UAC) feature that prevents a process
from launching a process in a different desktop than the
first process. When Exit32.dll launches the default
application, or the application specified in
nedprint.ini, Vista displays a dialog box prompting the
user to allow the launched application to execute. If
the user replies affirmatively, the application launches
in the Vista-controlled desktop. For most users this
will not be a problem. It does require that the user
acknowledge the Vista dialog, however. This problem
could be alleviated by using a standard interprocess
mechanism, such as a TCPIP/Socket connection, to
communicate between the Exit32.dll and a serving
"process launcher" that runs in the logged-in users
session. That process could then launch the viewing
application to display the document.
Vista places
extra security on the Windows folder, so permissions on
the nedprint.ini need to be specifically set to allow
updating if you intend to use the "Written" tag to
monitor print completion.
Earlier versions of Exit32.dll wrote
to the Windows folder by default (when not overridden by
the path tag in nedprint.ini). Without creating a
specifically permissioned folder in Windows, writes to
the folder would fail. The new versions of Exit32.dll
write to the
user's document folder, which normally has adequate permission for file creation.
Printer Definition (GPD) file
All printer characteristics and
page sizes are defined in the nedip.gpd file. You can
add new paper sizes or change the attributes of existing
page sizes by modifying this file. This file is a text
file so you can edit it with any text editor. Refer to
the Microsoft DDK documentation for GPD files, which is
located in the Help documentation for the DDK. You
should always test with a copy of the original GPD file,
since it is easy to make a mistake in this file and
cause partial or complete failure of the driver. The
nedip.gpd file resides in the
Windows/system32/spool/w32x86/3 folder. You
can modify this file and test the changes without rebooting the machine.
|
