Identify the original printer

Question

I am enumerating printers connected in the PC. I done it using C# System.Printing namespace. It works well. But mostly it shows software printers like Microsoft XPS Document writer,Microsoft Fax etc. I would like to know is it possible to remove these ssoftware printers from enumeration. The code I have done is show below :

PrintQueue printQueue = null;

LocalPrintServer localPrintServer = new LocalPrintServer();

// Retrieving collection of local printer on user machine
PrintQueueCollection localPrinterCollection =
    localPrintServer.GetPrintQueues(new[] { EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Local,
                                            EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Connections });

System.Collections.IEnumerator localPrinterEnumerator =
    localPrinterCollection.GetEnumerator();

while (localPrinterEnumerator.MoveNext())
{
    // Get PrintQueue from first available printer
    printQueue = (PrintQueue)localPrinterEnumerator.Current;

    if (!printQueue.IsOffline)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(printQueue.FullName.ToString());
        string s = "Printer found " + printQueue.FullName.ToString();
        listBox1.Items.Add(s);
    }
    else
    {
        // No printer exist, return null PrintTicket 
        // return null;
    }
}

score 12 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 13 '13 at 01:06

12

The key to distinguishing a real printer from a virtual printer is the port the printer is using. Real printers use hardware ports such as LPT1: or USB ports. Virtual printers use software-driven ports.

The complication will be network printers. It won't be easy determining if a network printer is using a hardware port.

I know this isn't a great answer but you've posed a very difficult question. I hope it gets your started in the right direction.

answered Apr 13 '13 at 01:06

Carey Gregory

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I've given this a lot of thought over the last few days, and I think I know the Windows printing subsystem as well as anyone outside of Microsoft, and... well, I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to reliably distinguish between a hardware and a virtual printer in all cases. I could give you a "usually right" solution, but I don't think an "always right" solution is possible. Sorry. :-( – Carey Gregory May 29 '13 at 06:33

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 29 '13 at 00:00

6

The only way I found is to compare the name of desired printer with the one we are getting.

edited May 29 '13 at 00:00

Victor Zakharov

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answered May 23 '13 at 09:22

Zigma

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jacob aloysious · Answer 3 · 2013-05-28T03:35:00.973

3

Few observations:

In the Properties window the Device Settings Page is available ONLY for the Real Printers and NOT for the Virtual Printers. And most of these values are available in printQueue.UserPrintTicket property
printQueue.QueuePort.Name contains an IP address appended with or without the port name. ex: "20.120.12.22_1" or "20.120.12.22" for Real Printers

enter image description here

edited May 28 '13 at 03:35

answered May 28 '13 at 03:29

jacob aloysious

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The print driver and port monitor control both these things and can do as they please. I can show you examples that don't match your findings. – Carey Gregory May 28 '13 at 06:34
@Zigma: Sorry, I haven't observed it, does it contain an `IP` address also? Any drivers you could point me to.. – jacob aloysious Jun 18 '13 at 01:30
no just the portname. ports will be network routers or something like that. – Zigma Jun 18 '13 at 04:00
@Zigma: Ok.. My objective was just to `hint` on which could be the possible cases to filter thing out.. – jacob aloysious Jun 19 '13 at 04:28

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 28 '13 at 21:19

2

You can use the Print Spooler API to manage printers and printjobs. Specially the EnumPrinters function might be useful for you. You can grab the c# wrapper from Pinvoke.net

answered May 28 '13 at 21:19

dsfgsho

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Identify the original printer

4 Answers4