Catch printer activity

Hi all,

Just wondering if there is some VB6 code that can "watch" the system, and if someone tries to print, launches an application? I'm trying to make a kind of print auditing/print controller type application.

The problem with most of the ready-made apps, is that they require a print server to run the controller on, and my printer connects directly to the network. So I'd like to make a stand-alone app that will run on each PC in the network (5 in total, so not many) and logs who prints and adds a total to their balence.

Any code which can make my application run as a service, and maybe respond to a key-combination (similar to key-logger type programs and DeepFreeze) would also be appreciated.

Thanks!
James.

I don't know how close to what you need this sample but give it the try anyway. It's a great sample project.

That's a great bit of code, thank you!

However, it's not really what I need. I want to build something that, say, when someone prints a file, pops up with a little message box informing them that their balence has gone up, and give saved statistice like how many pages they have printed to datw, how much their owe, how many pages since last reset and etc.

What I really need is to make a self-contained app that will run on a system hidden, preferably as a service and certainly not showing anything on the desktop/system tray. It should watch for printer events and give the user a pop-up, and I should be able to access it with a shortcut key (say, ctrl+shift+alt+p) and a password, to access an admin panel to reset settings and set user's balences, and that kind of thing.

First, I just need something that watches for a print event in Windows, and can respond (or will let me respond with some code). Plus some information on running an app as a hidden service, and loading/unhiding a form based on a hotkey. This all might be a bit adventurous for someone with my skill level, though :)