Print Provider Capabilities

By supporting predefined sets of API functions, Windows 2000 and later print providers can supply the following capabilities:

• Print Queue Management

  Adding, deleting, opening, closing, enumerating, and setting parameters for print queues. Also, providing notification of changes to a print queue's state.

• Printer Driver Management

  Adding, deleting, enumerating, and specifying a directory for printer drivers.

• Print Job Creation

  Starting and ending a document, starting and ending a document page, writing the job's data stream to a port, reading printer status information.

• Print Job Scheduling

  Scheduling, enumerating, and setting parameters for a print job.

• Forms Management

  Adding, deleting, enumerating, and setting parameters for print forms.

• Print Processor Management

  Adding, deleting, enumerating, specifying a directory for and the data types supported by print processors.

• Print Monitor Management

  Adding, deleting, and enumerating print monitors.

• Port Management

  Adding, deleting, configuring, enumerating, and setting parameters for printer ports.

• Registry Management

  Creating, deleting, and enumerating registry keys and values associated with a print provider.

• Other Capabilities

  Displaying a message box, shutting down the print provider, reading a memory mapped spool file, providing a communication path between port monitor UI DLLs and port monitor server DLLs.

These capabilities are implemented as a set of functions defined by print providers.