Browsing network printers

[kettch]

Is there a way to see all of the printers that are shared on a remote server programatically? I have tried just using the Directory and DirectoryInfo but it complains and says that the pathname must be \\server\share and i cant just look at \\server

I don't think that I am even going about this right, can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[weevilofdoom]

If the printer is installed, you can use the PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters property, and get strings of each printer that is installed, here's a basic example of getting all installed printers on a computer, or network, and adding their respective strings to a combo box.

Note, this is a StringCollection( an array of read only strings), so it has to be retrieved via a string.
Only has a get, not a set.

foreach( string str in PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters)
combobox.Items.Add(str);

You can use this information for a dialog box, or whatever else you need.


Remember, you can always

PrinterSettings.StringCollection sc = PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters();

Then you can

sc.Count; //get the number of printers
sc[0]; //this would reference the 1st installed printer
sc[1]; //this would reference the 2nd installed printer.

Likewise, you can do:
PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Count (not using a variable)

or
PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters[1]; //reference the 2nd installed printer.

OR you could research the PrintDialog() .. the standard print dialog, which has a default value of ShowNetwork (which shows network printers) to be true.


Hope this is what you're looking for, if not, I'm sorry, but it's useful anyways

The weevil of doooooooooom
-The eagle may soar, but the weasel never gets sucked up by a jet engine (Anonymous)

 

[kettch]

I don't care about printers already installed, I have already incorporated that into the project.

I think the problem with the print dialog is that it involves user interaction which may, I don't know yet, or may not be OK.

Thanks for the tip though, I will look into it!