Hi guys,

I have been looking for a few days, but no one seems to know how to print to
a file with automatic file renaming.

I made an application in VB.NET 2005 that prints pdf visio and project files.
Select the files or folders, select a printer and the applications are
executed with the correct print command.

We have a Generic PostScript Printer, which prints to a ps file in a certain
folder.
This folder is watched by a service that converts this ps file to a pdf file.

But when printing to the Generic PostScript Printer, a dialog box pops up in
which you need to specify the path and filename. To avoid this box from
popping up and changing the filename from within the code, after digging
around I managed to accomplish this.

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.ServiceProcess

Public Function PrintToFile(ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
       filename = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Right(filename, filename.Length -
InStrRev(filename, "\"))
       filename = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left(filename, InStrRev(filename, ".
"))
       filename = PSin + "\" + filename + "ps" 'PSin is a variable (L:\in)
       PostScriptPort = filename
   End Function

Public Function SetFileToPrintPort(ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
       Dim regkey As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey
       regkey = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\
Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Ports", True)
       regkey.SetValue(filename, "", Microsoft.Win32.RegistryValueKind.
String)
       regkey.Close()
       myController = New ServiceController("Spooler")
       Dim sStatus As String
       myController.Refresh()
       sStatus = myController.Status.ToString
       
       If myController.CanStop Then
           myController.Stop()
       Else
           MsgBox("Spooler service cannot be stopped")
       End If

       Try
           myController.Start()
       Catch exp As Exception
           MsgBox("Could not start spooler service")
       End Try
       myController.Refresh()

       myController.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running)

       Shell("rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n " + Chr(34) +
"Generic PostScript Printer" + Chr(34) + " PortName " + Chr(34) + filename +
Chr(34), AppWinStyle.Hide, True)

   End Function

   Public Function RestoreGeneric(ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
       Dim rk As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey

       Shell("rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n " + Chr(34) +
"Generic PostScript Printer" + Chr(34) + " PortName " + Chr(34) + "FILE:" +
Chr(34), AppWinStyle.Hide, True)

       rk = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("Software\
Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Ports", True)
       rk.DeleteValue(filename, True)
       rk.Close()
   End Function

Private Sub Startup()
Dim item As String
Dim GenPr As Boolean = False
For Each item In ListbVisio.SelectedItems
If CbPrinters.SelectedItem = "Generic PostScript Printer" Then
           GenPr = True
End If

  If GenPr Then
                       PrintToFile(item)
                       SetFileToPrintPort(PostScriptPort)
                   End If
                   
                   Shell(VisioAppPath + " /pt " + Chr(34) + item + Chr(34) +
"," + printer, AppWinStyle.Hide, True) 'MS Visio commandline Print commando  

                   If GenPr Then
                       RestoreGeneric(PostScriptPort)
                   End If
Next
End Sub