Codeunit 5523742bdev.Print Agent sends print jobs to a printer configuration. Three kinds of job are supported - a PDF document, ZPL commands for a Zebra label printer, and raw data for everything that speaks its own printer language.
Code
printAgent: Codeunit "bdev.Print Agent";
Every print method exists in several overloads, differing in three ways:
where the document comes from - a Temp Blob codeunit, an InStream, or a Text;
whether you name the document - the name appears in the print job history of the app;
how the target is stated - a bdev.PrA Printer Configuration record, or its code as a Text[250].
IsPrinted()
States whether the last print job was handed over successfully.
Code
procedure IsPrinted(): Boolean
Returnstrue when the previous print job was executed successfully, false otherwise. Use GetLastErrorText() for the reason.
The print methods report nothing by themselves
None of the print methods returns a value or raises an error when the job fails. Check IsPrinted after every print, or a failed print goes unnoticed - the user believes the label was printed and only the missing label says otherwise.
Code
procedure PrintLabel(documentName: Text; var document: Codeunit "Temp Blob"; printerConfigurationCode: Code[250]) var printerConfiguration: Record "bdev.PrA Printer Configuration"; printAgent: Codeunit "bdev.Print Agent"; printJobFailedErr: Label 'The print job failed with the following error message: %1', Comment = '%1 = Error message'; begin if (not printerConfiguration.Get(printerConfigurationCode)) then exit; if (not printerConfiguration.Enabled) then exit; printAgent.PrintPdf(documentName, document, printerConfiguration); if (not printAgent.IsPrinted()) then Error(printJobFailedErr, GetLastErrorText()); end;
The name the job is listed under in the print job history. Omitted, it becomes External PDF document.
document / stream
Codeunit "Temp Blob" / InStream
The PDF document.
noOfCopies
Integer
Overrides the copies of the printer configuration, see below.
printerConfiguration / printerName
Record / Text[250]
The printer configuration, as a record or by its code.
Copies
noOfCopies counts the additional copies, not the total: 1 produces the original and one copy. It is the same value the No. of Copies field of the printer configuration holds.
Zero does not mean one
A noOfCopies of 0 does not suppress the copies of the configuration - it leaves the configuration untouched, so a configuration set to three copies still prints four sheets. To print exactly one document, use an overload without noOfCopies and a configuration whose No. of Copies is 0.
PrintZPL(...)
Sends Zebra Programming Language commands to a label printer.
The name in the print job history. Omitted, it becomes ZPL commands.
zplCommands / stream
Text / InStream
The ZPL commands.
encoding
TextEncoding
How the commands are written to the stream. Defaults to MSDos, which is what a Zebra printer expects for the standard code page.
printerConfiguration / printerName
Record / Text[250]
The printer configuration, as a record or by its code.
ZPL is for Zebra printers
ZPL commands are understood by ZPL-compatible printers. Sending them to another printer produces pages of command text at best. The app does not check the printer model.
procedure PrintShippingLabel(shipmentNo: Code[20]; printerConfiguration: Record "bdev.PrA Printer Configuration") var printAgent: Codeunit "bdev.Print Agent"; zpl: TextBuilder; begin zpl.AppendLine('^XA'); zpl.AppendLine('^FO50,50^A0N,40,40^FD' + shipmentNo + '^FS'); zpl.AppendLine('^XZ'); printAgent.PrintZPL(shipmentNo, zpl.ToText(), printerConfiguration); if (not printAgent.IsPrinted()) then Error(GetLastErrorText()); end;
PrintRAW(...)
Sends data to the printer unchanged - for printer languages the app knows nothing about, or for a document that is already in the printer's own format.
The name in the print job history. Omitted, it becomes RAW data.
rawData / stream
Text / InStream
The data, sent to the printer as it is. A Text is written with MSDos encoding.
printerConfiguration / printerName
Record / Text[250]
The printer configuration, as a record or by its code.
Version
PrintRAW has been introduced with 365 business Print Agent 18.12, and it needs a Print Agent Client of version 1.8.0.0 or newer. Against an older client the call fails with an error naming the client and the required version - before anything is sent, so nothing is printed twice.
