>>>I having problems with function printsatus()
>>> where can I find some information about
>>>an API that does it better ?
>>
>>Hi Moises,
>>
>>You mean the fact that it always returns .T.? AFAIK, there's no way around this. Using the API it's possible to open the printer, even when it's turned off.
>
>You're pretty much right about this; as long as the spooler sits between the app and the printer, PRINTSTATUS() can only report a problem after it occurs. More detailed control can be obtained by setting up the print drive to prin directly to the printer rather than the spooler, but in VFP, this creates problems of its own, with VFP often reporting a problem connecting to the spooler.
>
>Short of writing something that functions at the device driver layer in C/C++, VFP doesn't have any easy way to directly monitor the actual port status. it gets even more complex when network printing becomes involved, since multiple spooler layers may be active, and you might never be able to determine the real port being accessed, or have adequate privileges to see the hardware directly.

Hi Ed,

I wrote a DLL calling GetPrinter() in Winspool.drv to retrieve information from a PRINTER_INFO_2 structure. One of the members of that structure is called Status and, according to the SDK, "Specifies the printer status. This member can be one of the following values:

Windows NT:

PRINTER_STATUS_PAUSED
PRINTER_STATUS_PENDING_DELETION

Windows 95:

PRINTER_STATUS_BUSY
PRINTER_STATUS_DOOR_OPEN
PRINTER_STATUS_ERROR
PRINTER_STATUS_INITIALIZING
PRINTER_STATUS_IO_ACTIVE
PRINTER_STATUS_MANUAL_FEED
PRINTER_STATUS_NO_TONER
PRINTER_STATUS_NOT_AVAILABLE
PRINTER_STATUS_OFFLINE
PRINTER_STATUS_OUT_OF_MEMORY
PRINTER_STATUS_OUTPUT_BIN_FULL
PRINTER_STATUS_PAGE_PUNT
PRINTER_STATUS_PAPER_JAM
PRINTER_STATUS_PAPER_OUT
PRINTER_STATUS_PAPER_PROBLEM
PRINTER_STATUS_PAUSED
PRINTER_STATUS_PENDING_DELETION
PRINTER_STATUS_PRINTING
PRINTER_STATUS_PROCESSING
PRINTER_STATUS_TONER_LOW
PRINTER_STATUS_UNAVAILABLE
PRINTER_STATUS_USER_INTERVENTION
PRINTER_STATUS_WAITING
PRINTER_STATUS_WARMING_UP"

which would seem to be able to tell you what you need (and want) to know about the printer. However, in usage, it always returns 0 (which is none of the above). I even tried calling it directly after a report command directed to the printer and the result was the same.

Of course, this leads us to the question, "Was the DLL working correctly?" Apparently so. Another member of the structure, Attributes, is properly set. I've tested this on several different workstations with different types of printers and the value returned is always correct. Further, note that the only difference in the the functions is the assignment statement for the return value (I've even flip-flopped them with no difference).

Right now, I have no idea as to why this occurs. This value may not be available unless called directly from a device driver.