Sending+image+files+to+the+printer

//by Richard Russell, May 2006, updated November 2010 and January 2012//

BBC BASIC for Windows provides the ***DISPLAY** command to display an image contained in a Windows Bitmap (.BMP) file on the screen, but there is no equivalent command for sending the file to the printer. You can of course first display it on the screen and then transfer it to the printer using ***HARDCOPY**, but the quality of the resulting printout is then limited by the resolution of the screen.

BMP images
The program below allows you to send a **BMP** file to the printer. Although in this example nothing else is printed, you can if you wish output text or other images to the same page before finally printing it.

code format="bb4w" bmp$ = "C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper\Bliss.bmp" VDU 2,1,32 PROCprintbmp(bmp$, 1, 1, 6, 4.5) VDU 1,12,3 END

DEF PROCprintbmp(bmp$, X, Y, W, H)     LOCAL A%, L%, sx%, sy% A% = OPENIN(bmp$) IF A% = 0 ERROR 100, "Couldn't open file "+bmp$ L% = EXT#A% : CLOSE#A% SYS "GlobalAlloc", 0, L% TO A%     OSCLI "LOAD """+bmp$+""" "+STR$~A%+"+"+STR$~L% SYS "GetDeviceCaps", @prthdc%, 88 TO sx% SYS "GetDeviceCaps", @prthdc%, 90 TO sy% SYS "SetStretchBltMode", @prthdc%, 4 SYS "StretchDIBits", @prthdc%, X*sx%, Y*sy%, W*sx%, H*sy%, 0, 0, \ \                   A%!18, A%!22, A%+A%!10, A%+14, 0, &CC0020 SYS "GlobalFree", A%     ENDPROC code The four numeric parameters to are the position (horizontal, vertical) and size (width, height) respectively of the image on the paper, in __inches__, measured from the top left-hand corner.

GIF or JPEG images
If you want to print a **GIF** or **JPEG** file you can use the code below:

code format="bb4w" pic$ = "C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper\Azul.jpg" VDU 2,1,32 PROCprintgifjpeg(pic$, 1, 1, 6, 4.5) VDU 1,12,3 END

DEF PROCprintgifjpeg(pic$, X, Y, W, H)     LOCAL ole%, iid%, pic%, gpp%, hmw%, hmh% DIM iid% LOCAL 15, pic% LOCAL 513

SYS "LoadLibrary", "OLEAUT32.DLL" TO ole% SYS "GetProcAddress", ole%, "OleLoadPicturePath" TO `OleLoadPicturePath`

SYS "MultiByteToWideChar", 0, 0, pic$, -1, pic%, 256

iid%!0 = &7BF80980 iid%!4 = &101ABF32 iid%!8 = &AA00BB8B iid%!12 = &AB0C3000

SYS `OleLoadPicturePath`, pic%, 0, 0, 0, iid%, ^gpp% IF gpp% = 0 ERROR 100, "Couldn't open file "+pic$

SYS !(!gpp%+24), gpp%, ^hmw% SYS !(!gpp%+28), gpp%, ^hmh%

SYS "GetDeviceCaps", @prthdc%, 88 TO sx% SYS "GetDeviceCaps", @prthdc%, 90 TO sy% SYS !(!gpp%+32), gpp%, @prthdc%, X*sx%, Y*sy%, W*sx%, H*sy%, \ \               0, hmh%, hmw%, -hmh%, 0

SYS !(!gpp%+8), gpp% ENDPROC code The parameters for are as described for  above. Note that it is important to include the //drive letter// in the file specification.

will in fact print **BMP** files as well, but is simpler if that's all you need to do.

PNG or TIFF images
If you want to print a **PNG** or **TIFF** file you can use the code below:

code format="bb4w" pic$ = "C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\news.png" VDU 2,1,32 PROCprintpngtiff(pic$, 1, 1, 6, 4.5) VDU 1,12,3 END DEF PROCprintpngtiff(pic$, X, Y, W, H)     LOCAL tSI{}, bmi{}, pic%, gdip%, image%, ix%, iy%, gfx%, lGDIP% DIM pic% LOCAL 513 SYS "MultiByteToWideChar", 0, 0, pic$, -1, pic%, 256 SYS "LoadLibrary", "GDIPLUS.DLL" TO gdip% IF gdip% = 0 ERROR 100, "Couldn't load GDIPLUS.DLL" SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdiplusStartup" TO `GdiplusStartup` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipLoadImageFromFile" TO `GdipLoadImageFromFile` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipDrawImageRectRectI" TO `GdipDrawImageRectRectI` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipGetImageHeight" TO `GdipGetImageHeight` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipGetImageWidth" TO `GdipGetImageWidth` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipCreateFromHDC" TO `GdipCreateFromHDC` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipSetSmoothingMode" TO `GdipSetSmoothingMode` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipDeleteGraphics" TO `GdipDeleteGraphics` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdipDisposeImage" TO `GdipDisposeImage` SYS "GetProcAddress", gdip%, "GdiplusShutdown" TO `GdiplusShutdown` DIM tSI{GdiplusVersion%, DebugEventCallback%, \ \      SuppressBackgroundThread%, SuppressExternalCodecs%} DIM bmi{biSize%, biWidth%, biHeight%, biPlanes{l&,h&}, biBitCount{l&,h&}, \ \      biCompression%, biSizeImage%, biXPelsPerMeter%, biYPelsPerMeter%, \ \      biClrUsed%, biClrImportant%} tSI.GdiplusVersion% = 1 SYS `GdiplusStartup`, ^lGDIP%, tSI{}, 0 SYS `GdipLoadImageFromFile`, pic%, ^image% IF image% = 0 THEN SYS `GdiplusShutdown`, lGDIP% SYS "FreeLibrary", gdip% ERROR 90, "Couldn't load " + pic$ ENDIF SYS `GdipGetImageWidth`, image%, ^ix% SYS `GdipGetImageHeight`, image%, ^iy% SYS `GdipCreateFromHDC`, @prthdc%, ^gfx% IF gfx%=0 ERROR 90, "GdipCreateFromHDC failed" SYS `GdipSetSmoothingMode`, gfx%, 2 SYS `GdipDrawImageRectRectI`, gfx%, image%, X*100, Y*100, W*100, H*100, \ \                                          0, 0, ix%, iy%, 2, 0, 0, 0 SYS `GdipDeleteGraphics`, gfx% SYS `GdipDisposeImage`, image% SYS `GdiplusShutdown`, lGDIP% SYS "FreeLibrary", gdip% ENDPROC code The parameters for are as described for  above.

will in fact print **BMP**, **GIF** and **JPEG** files as well, and may give better quality results. However it relies on the presence of the //GDI Plus// library so will work only on Windows XP (or later) or if you have specifically installed **GDIPLUS.DLL** on the target computer. Microsoft permits you to redistribute this file so you can include it with your program if necessary.