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iosxcodeairprint

Air Printing of a UIView generates white pages


I have the following code for printing, I want it to print the UIVIew of the view controller that the class is attached to,

but printing just generates empty white pages (and two pages instead of one)

I am fairly new to xcode, can you please help spot the mistake?

UIPrintInteractionController *pc = [UIPrintInteractionController
                                        sharedPrintController];
    UIPrintInfo *printInfo = [UIPrintInfo printInfo];
    printInfo.outputType = UIPrintInfoOutputGeneral;
    printInfo.jobName = @"Print file";
    pc.printInfo = printInfo;
    UIViewPrintFormatter *Pformatter = [self.view viewPrintFormatter];
    pc.printFormatter = Pformatter;

    UIPrintInteractionCompletionHandler completionHandler =
    ^(UIPrintInteractionController *printController, BOOL completed,
      NSError *error) {
        if(!completed && error){
            NSLog(@"Print failed - domain: %@ error code %u", error.domain,
                  error.code);
        }
    };
    if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad) {
        [pc presentFromBarButtonItem:self.btnPrint animated:YES
                   completionHandler:completionHandler];
    } else {
        [pc presentAnimated:YES completionHandler:completionHandler];
    }

Solution

  • FWIW here's complete working code to print a bitmap from any UIView from iPad/iPhone

    NOTE, THIS ONLY PRINTS A BITMAP.

    Note that (bizarrely) iOS seems to NOT INCLUDE the concept of rendering a UIView to postscript .. Print a UIView, but NOT by rendering as a bitmap image

    In other words the following seems to be meaningless in iOS, as yet...

    UIViewPrintFormatter *f = [self.view viewPrintFormatter];
    

    Anyway the following will print (JUST AS A BITMAP) absolutely any UIView whatsoever...

    You simply use renderInContext: or,

    for more modern code,

    the combination drawViewHierarchyInRect: and UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()

    - (IBAction)printB:(id)sender
        {
        // we want to print a normal view ... some UILabels, maybe a black line
    
        // in this technique, depressingly we CREATE AN IMAGE of the view...
    
        // step 1. make a UIImage, of the whole view.
    
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.printMe.bounds.size, NO, 0.0);
    
        // [self.printMe.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
        // UIImage *asAnImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
        // .... or, more futuristically.....
        [self.printMe drawViewHierarchyInRect:self.printMe.bounds
            afterScreenUpdates:NO];
        UIImage *snapshotImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    
        // step 2. choose grayscale, etc
    
        UIPrintInfo *info = [UIPrintInfo printInfo];
        info.orientation = UIPrintInfoOrientationPortrait;
        info.outputType = UIPrintInfoOutputGrayscale;
    
        // step 3, print that UIImage
    
        UIPrintInteractionController *pic =
           [UIPrintInteractionController sharedPrintController];
        pic.delegate = self;
        //pic.printingItem = asAnImage;
        pic.printingItem = snapshotImage;
        pic.printInfo = info;
    
        UIPrintInteractionCompletionHandler completionHandler =
        ^(UIPrintInteractionController *pic, BOOL completed, NSError *error)
            {
            if (error)
                NSLog(@"failed... %@ %ld", error.domain, (long)error.code);
            if (completed)
                NSLog(@"completed yes");
            else
                NSLog(@"completed no");
            };     
    
        [pic presentAnimated:YES completionHandler:completionHandler];
        }
    

    It's really that simple, fortunately. But it is a rendered bitmap image.