INCA Hellas

ApoPantou - Print on windows printer from everywhere

What is it

ApoPantou lets you, the developer, print to a Windows™ attached printer from everywhere:

Print to Windows printer from iPad or iPhone
Print to Windows printer from Android tablet
Print to Windows printer from Windows mobile/ Windows CE
Print to Windows printer from BlackBerry
Print to Windows printer from Symbian
Print to Windows printer from any Linux PC
Print to Windows printer from AS/400
Print to Windows printer from any mobile phone
Print to Windows printer from another Windows PC
Print to Windows printer from any other operating system

Capabilities

Use any Windows™ printer
Draw text of any language, any font
Draw lines and shapes
Draw images

How does it work

Printer is attached to a Windows workstation, whether serial, parallel, USB, network or...
Quick setup: Windows workstation must be running a WEB server with PHP 5 installed. Tested with PHP 5.2.14.
You need a network connection to the WEB server workstation, whether it is LAN, WiFi, internet over GPRS, or what else...
PHP language:
You need only include a class definition file and call its methods.
No special dll is needed. WEB server operating system must be Windows (whether Apache or IIS or...).

All other languages:
You need prepare an XML file like that below and post it to WEB server, where above PHP class has been installed.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer>Epson 480-J</Printer>
   <page>
      <DrawString x="1" y="1">Hello world</DrawString>
   </page>
</ApoPantou>

All languages need save data in UTF-8. This is about the same as plain ascii, if you are writing in English only.

Requirements on printing workstation

Operating system Windows XP (Home/Pro) or newer.
Installed Windows printer.
Available fonts for the language of your choise. I.e. If you want print Greek, you need have some Greek fonts, like Arial Greek, etc.
Always use dot (.) as decimal separator when specifying floating point numbers in parameters.

License

Program is released under the MIT license, which means you can use it for free for either personal or commercial use. Copyright is held by INCA Hellas Ltd.

Download

Download ApoPantou here

Installation

Have installed .NET framework 4.0 (or newer).
Have a running web server with PHP 5 installed. Tested with PHP 5.2.14.
Download and install INCA Hellas ApoPantou.
This will install ApoPantou service controller in your services, supposed to run under Local System Account. You may have to adjust appropriate security settings for your printers, or change Logon info. for the service.
Copy php files into an appropriate directory, under your WEB server DocumentRoot.
If you are developing in PHP, include apopantou.inc.php in your php files and follow directions below.
If you are developing in other languages, you need prepare an XML file, according to directions below, and post it to apopantou.proxy.php.
XML data should be sent via field XMLDATA.

Registry keys

HKLM\Software\INCA Hellas\ApoPantou\CommonDir: Working directory
HKLM\Software\INCA Hellas\ApoPantou\Timer: Integer value in milliseconds, for timer, to check working dir. for incoming files.
Default value is 300 milliseconds.
HKLM\Software\INCA Hellas\ApoPantou\MaxPendingJobs: Integer. If set greater than 0 (should be at least 2), will clear spooler pending jobs list and reboot the PC.
Default value is 0 (no spool check - no reboot).

Syntax help

string cPRINTJOB::version()

Get php code version number.
No object instantiation is needed.

cPRINTJOB()

Object constructor.

XML:

Tag: ApoPantou
Position: root tag
Parameter creator: string, 'www.incahellas.com', required!

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
    echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
    return;
}

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   ...
   ...
   ...
</ApoPantou>

bool set_printer($printer_name, $ar1=false)

Parameters:

printer_name: string, name of printer in windows, i.e. "Epson 760" or "\\myserver\printer1"
ar1: array of named properties.

Supported named properties:

Name	Value type	Meaning
color	bool	Print in color if true.
unit_mm	bool	Measurement units are in millimeter if true, otherwise in inches. Default is inches.
landscape	bool	Print in landscape if true.
filename	string	Output filename, if specified. This allows you i.e. to create an XPS file using Microsoft XPS Document Writer. Attention if you are thinking to create a PDF file using a free PDF printer driver: most of free PDF printer drivers, when used with the filename option, do actually create a Postscript file, not a PDF one.
filetype	string	If filename is defined but left empty, filetype is used to create a random filename in `%CommonDatapath%/INCA Hellas/ApoPantouOut`
papersize	string	You must know which sizes your printer supports and set one of them, i.e. A4.
paperheight	int	Units of 1/100 of inch, for custom paper size.
paperwidth	int	Units of 1/100 of inch, for custom paper size.
margins	comma separated list of 4 integers	Left, Top & Right, Bottom points in 1/100 of inch

XML:

Tag: Printer
Position: inside root
Parameter color: int, 1/0 for yes/no
Parameter unit_mm: int, 1/0 for yes/no
Parameter landscape: int, 1/0 for yes/no
Parameter filename: string, output filename (if set) instead of printing
Parameter papersize: string
Parameter paperheight: int, units of 1/100 of inch
Parameter paperwidth: int, units of 1/100 of inch
Parameter margins: comma separated list of 4 integers: Left, Top & Right, Bottom points in 1/100 of inch
Text: printer name

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   ...
   ...
   ...
</ApoPantou>

$fontRC create_font($fontname, $sz, $attr=false)

Parameters:

fontname: font face name, i.e. Arial.
sz: font size in printer points (1/72 of inch), i.e. 10.
attr: optional string that contains a comma separated list of the following words: bold, italic, strikeout, underline.

Returns:

Font resource.

XML:

Tag: Font
Position: inside root or Page
Parameter id: int, numerical id (1,2,3,...)
Parameter size: int, printer points
Parameter style: comma separated list of 'bold', 'italic', 'strikeout', 'underline'
Text: face name

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

$f_id=$pj->create_font('Arial', 10, 'bold');

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Font id="1" size="10" style="bold">Arial</Font>
   ...
   ...
   ...
</ApoPantou>

$penRC create_pen($color, $sz)

Parameters:

color: string as aarrggbb. aa=alpha value (FF=no transparency), rr, gg, bb are hex values for red, green, blue, i.e. FF0000FF for blue.
sz: float number, size (width) of pen, in measurement units.

Returns:

Pen resource.

XML:

Tag: Pen
Position: inside root or Page
Parameter id: int, numerical id (1,2,3,...)
Parameter size: float
Text: color as aarrggbb

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

$p_id=$pj->create_pen('ff000000', 0.01); // create black pen of 0.01 inches width

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Pen id="1" size="0.01">ff000000</Pen>
   ...
   ...
   ...
</ApoPantou>

$brushRC create_brush($type='solid', $color)
$brushRC create_brush($type='texture', $image, $wrapmode=false)
$brushRC create_brush($type='gradient', $color1, $color2, $spec)

Parameters:

color, color1, color2: string as aarrggbb. aa=alpha value (FF=no transparency), rr, gg, bb are hex values for red, green, blue, i.e. FF0000FF for blue.
image: fullpath name of image file (relative to printing server).
If you want to use network path, use UNC syntax, i.e. \\some_machine\c\mypath\image1.bmp
wrapmode: optional string, one of the following: Tile, TileFlipX, TileFlipY, TileFlipXY, Clamp. Check WrpaMode enumeration in .NET.
spec: array with following values: float x, float y, float width, float height (rectangle), string LinearGradientMode.
LinearGradientMode is one of the following words: Horizontal, Vertical, ForwardDiagonal, BackwardDiagonal. Check .NET for these values.

Returns:

Brush resource.

XML:

Tag: Brush
Position: inside root or Page
Parameter id: int, numerical id (1,2,3,...)
Parameters color, color1, color2: strings as aarrggbb.
Parameter image: image file fullpath name.
Parameter wrapmode: 'Tile', 'TileFlipX', 'TileFlipY', 'TileFlipXY' or 'Clamp'.
Parameters x, y, width, height: floats for RectangleF definition.
Parameter mode: 'Horizontal', 'Vertical', 'ForwardDiagonal' or 'BackwardDiagonal'.
Text: 'solid', 'texture' or 'gradient'

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

$b_id=$pj->create_brush('solid', 'ffff0000' ); // create solid red brush

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Brush id="1" color="ffff0000">solid</Brush>
   ...
   ...
   ...
</ApoPantou>

bool draw_string($str, $fontRC, $brushRC, $x, $y)

Parameters:

str: string to print; may contain one or more \r\n sequences to specify multiple lines of text at once.
fontRC: font resource or null.
brushRC: brush resource or null.
x: float, x position fot printing, in measurement units.
y: float, y position fot printing, in measurement units.

XML:

Tag: DrawString
Position: inside Page
Parameter font: int, Id
Parameter brush: int, Id
Parameter x: float
Parameter y: float
Text: string to be print

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );
$f_id=$pj->create_font('Arial', 12, 'bold' );
$b_id=$pj->create_brush('solid', 'ffff0000'); // red brush

$pj->draw_string('Hello world', null, null, 1, 1); // print in default (Arial,10)
$pj->draw_string('Hello world', $f_id, $b_id, 1, 1.5); // print with Arial,12,bold,red
$pj->draw_string('One line\r\nAnother line', null, null, 1, 2); // print 2 lines at once

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Font id="1" size="12" style="bold">Arial</Font>
   <Brush id="1" color="ffff0000">solid</Brush>
   <Page>
      <DrawString x="1" y="1">Hello world</DrawString>
      <DrawString font="1" brush="1" x="1" y="1.5">Hello world</DrawString>
      <DrawString x="1" y="2">One line
Another line</DrawString>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool draw_next($s1, $fontRC=false, $brushRC=false, $dx=0, $dy=0)

Parameters:

str: string to print; may contain one or more \r\n sequences to specify multiple lines of text at once.
fontRC: font resource or null.
brushRC: brush resource or null.
dx: delta x (move from previous one) position fot printing, in measurement units.
dy: delta y (move from previous one) position fot printing, in measurement units.

XML:

Tag: DrawNext
Position: inside Page
Parameter font: int, Id
Parameter brush: int, Id
Parameter x: float
Parameter y: float
Text: string to be print

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );
$b_id=$pj->create_brush('solid', 'ffff0000'); // red brush

$pj->draw_string('Hello ', null, null, 1, 1); // print in default (Arial,10)
$pj->draw_next('world', null, $b_id, 1, 1.5); // print next in red

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Brush id="1" color="ffff0000">solid</Brush>
   <Page>
      <DrawString x="1" y="1">Hello </DrawString>
      <DrawNext brush="1">world</DrawNext>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool draw_rectangle($penRC, $x, $y, $width, $height)

Parameters:

penRC: pen resource or null.v
x: float, left position of rectangle, in measurement units.
y: float, top position of rectangle, in measurement units.
width: float, width of rectangle, in measurement units.
height: float, height of rectangle, in measurement units.

XML:

Tag: DrawRectangle
Position: inside Page
Parameter pen: int, Id
Text: comma separated list of 4 floats: top left x,y position of rectangle, width, height

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );
$p_id=$pj->create_pen('ff000000', 0.01); // create black pen of 0.01 inches width

$pj->draw_rectangle($p_id, 1, 1, 5, 3); // draw rectangle 5 inches in width, 3 in height

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Pen id="1" size="0.01">ff000000</Pen>
   <Page>
      <DrawRectangle pen="1">1,1,5,3</DrawRectangle>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool draw_lines($penRC, $points)

Parameters:

penRC: pen resource or null.
points: array of floats, pairs of x,y for points to be connected. Must contain at least 4 floats.

XML:

Tag: DrawLines
Position: inside Page
Parameter pen: int, Id
Text: comma separated list of points: pairs of x,y floats.

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );
$p_id=$pj->create_pen('ff000000', 0.01); // create black pen of 0.01 inches width

$pj->draw_lines($p_id,  array(1,0.9, 7,0.9, 1,9, 7,9) ); // draw a Z

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Pen id="1" size="0.01">ff000000</Pen>
   <Page>
      <DrawLines pen="1">1,0.9, 7,0.9, 1,9, 7,9</DrawLines>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool draw_image($image, $up_left_x, $up_left_y, $up_right_x, $up_right_y, $lo_left_x, $lo_left_y)

Print an image file into parallelogram defined area.

Parameters:

image: fullpath name of image file (relative to printing server).
File types supported: .BMP, .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG, .TIFF
If you want to use network path, use UNC syntax, i.e. \\some_machine\c\mypath\image1.bmp
up_left_x: float, upper left corner (x) of printing area parallelogram, in measurement units.
up_left_y: float, upper left corner (y) of printing area parallelogram.
up_right_x: float, upper right corner (x) of printing area parallelogram.
up_right_y: float, upper right corner (y) of printing area parallelogram.
lo_left_x: float, lower left corner (x) of printing area parallelogram.
lo_left_y: float, lower left corner (y) of printing area parallelogram.

XML:

Tag: DrawImage
Position: inside Page
Parameter image: string, image fullpath filename.
Text: comma separated list of the 6 floats: up_left_x, up_left_y, up_right_x,....

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

$img="C:\\Users\\Bill\\Pictures\\sony ericsson\\DSC00013.JPG";
// draw image 8-1=7 inches in width, 8.25-3=5.25 inches in height:
$pj->draw_image($img, 1, 3, 8, 3, 1, 8.25);
// draw the same image with 45 degrees rotation
$pj->draw_image($img, 1, 4.5, 4.5, 1, 3.62, 7.12);

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Page>
      <!-- draw image 8-1=7 inches in width, 8.25-3=5.25 inches in height -->
      <DrawImage image="C:\Users\Bill\Pictures\sony ericsson\DSC00013.JPG">1, 3, 8, 3, 1, 8.25</DrawImage>
      <!-- draw the same image with 45 degrees rotation -->
      <DrawImage image="C:\Users\Bill\Pictures\sony ericsson\DSC00013.JPG">1, 4.5, 4.5, 1, 3.62, 7.12</DrawImage>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool new_page()

Change page. XML:

Tag: Page
Position: inside root
Contents: drawing commands

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
$pj->set_printer('Epson 760', array('color'=>true, 'landscape'=>false, 'papersize'=>'A4' ) );

$pj->draw_string('Hello', null, null, 1, 1); // print in 1st page

$pj->new_page();
$pj->draw_string('world', null, null, 1, 1); // print in 2nd page

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ApoPantou creator="www.incahellas.com">
   <Printer color="1" landscape="0" papersize="A4" >Epson 760</Printer>
   <Page>
      <!-- print in 1st page -->
      <DrawString x="1" y="1">Hello</DrawString>
   </Page>
   <Page>
      <!-- print in 2nd page -->
      <DrawString x="1" y="1">world</DrawString>
   </Page>
</ApoPantou>

bool finalize()

Finalize printing. Optional: it will be called anyway upon object destruction.
However, by calling the function you have the option to get printing (job submission) result.

PHP Example | XML Example |

$pj = new cPRINTJOB();
if ($pj->err!==false) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
   return;
}
...
...
...
if (!$pj->finalize()) {
   echo "cPRINTJOB error: ".htmlentities($pj->err);
}

No XML counterpart.

Comment:

Printing will take place after object destruction, i.e. script termination, or when you call optional function finalize(). Actually, the php script will just initiate the printing procedure and quit. It is the ApoPantou Windows service, that will do the printout.
This allows for the php script, or other language you choose, to disengage very quickly from the printout completion, even for very big printouts.