Silently Print PDF with ShellExecute

I spent hours searching for a way to print pdf's without opening Acrobat and finally got it working using ShellExecute. I figured I would share

vb.net Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.IO
 
Public Class PDFPrinter
 
#Region " CONSTANTS "
    Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL As Integer = 2
#End Region
 
#Region " API "
    <DllImport("shell32")> _
    Public Shared Function ShellExecute(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
                                        ByVal lpOperation As String, _
                                        ByVal lpFile As String, _
                                        ByVal lpParameters As String, _
                                        ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
                                        ByVal nShowCmd As Integer) As IntPtr
    End Function
#End Region
 
#Region " PUBLIC MEMBERS "
    Public Function PrintPDF(ByVal FilePath As String) As Boolean
        If IO.File.Exists(FilePath) Then
            If ShellExecute(1, "Print", FilePath, "", _
            Directory.GetDirectoryRoot(FilePath), SW_SHOWNORMAL).ToInt32 <= 32 Then
                Return False
            Else
                Return True
            End If
        Else
            Return False
        End If
    End Function
#End Region
End Class

I assume this uses default printer? Is there a way to designate the printer.
I guess i can always change the default printer via code and then set it back.

I'm impressed with the code and basically understand it. However, I'm new to vb and was wondering what the code behind and html would look like in a practical use. Do you have a sample page available to look at?

:thumb:

This is not going to work on a website. This will print using Acrobat on the system where the code is executed. It is designed for a Windows application not a website.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bmahler

I spent hours searching for a way to print pdf's without opening Acrobat and finally got it working using ShellExecute.

---

Why don't you just use the AcroReader command line parameters to print a PDF? It's much simpler than what you posted in #1. Or am I not understanding what you're trying to do here?

So this is not specifically for printing a PDF is it, its just for printing any specified file to the default printer right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bmahler

I spent hours searching for a way to print pdf's without opening Acrobat and finally got it working using ShellExecute. I figured I would share

vb.net Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.IO
 
Public Class PDFPrinter
 
#Region " CONSTANTS "
    Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL As Integer = 2
#End Region
 
#Region " API "
    <DllImport("shell32")> _
    Public Shared Function ShellExecute(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
                                        ByVal lpOperation As String, _
                                        ByVal lpFile As String, _
                                        ByVal lpParameters As String, _
                                        ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
                                        ByVal nShowCmd As Integer) As IntPtr
    End Function
#End Region
 
#Region " PUBLIC MEMBERS "
    Public Function PrintPDF(ByVal FilePath As String) As Boolean
        If IO.File.Exists(FilePath) Then
            If ShellExecute(1, "Print", FilePath, "", _
            Directory.GetDirectoryRoot(FilePath), SW_SHOWNORMAL).ToInt32 <= 32 Then
                Return False
            Else
                Return True
            End If
        Else
            Return False
        End If
    End Function
#End Region
End Class

---

I have added this code and tested it with a pdf file, and when I ran it it still opened Adobe before it printed out!
Do i have to make any other settings to stop this happening, as I just want to print pdf files without Adobe opening and closing for each print?

Thanks