printing HTML via Jeditorpane

[excession]

Hi all,

I'm trying to print some html from a jeditorpane. I have found a couple of print classes on the net that facilitate this. One is DocumentRenderer (from

http://www.fawcette.com/javapro/2002_12/online/print_kgauthier_12_10_02/default_pf.aspx)

is smart enough to beak the page between lines rather than in the middle of a line, but for some unknow reason does not print any of the table borders. The other print class, PrintUtilities (from

http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Swing-Tutorial/Swing-Tutorial-Printing.html)

Prints the table borders fine but breaks the page anywhere - commonly through the middle of a line.

HAs anyone come across this problem before and does anyone know the solution/have a print class that works?

Thanks in advance

Looking for a job as a programmer in Bristol UK.

 

[Diancecht]

You mean printing on the screen or on a printer?

Cheers,

Dian

 

[excession]

I'm printing to a printer.

Initially my html is displayed on screen in the jEditorPane and looks fine there, it's only when I send it to the printer the problem occurrs.

Looking for a job as a programmer in Bristol UK.

 

[Diancecht]

Did you have a look at

http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=215404&messageID=3440057

Cheers,

Dian

 

[excession]

Dian,

Yes, this was one of the print classes I tried (well the one further down the page posted by gseaton on the 13th @4:16). This one will render and print the table borders correctly, but will break the page anywhere - including through the middle of a line. It also doesn't scale the page wonderfully and the print quality isn't amazing.

I've spent hours trawling the net and the Java forums looking for a solution to this one, but so far I haven't found any solution.

Perhaps one solution to this is not to even print HTML, but I'm still newish to Java and havn't yet figured out how to create and print a page containing headings, text and tables - hence the use of the jEditorPane to render a HTML document.

Cheers

Gary

Looking for a job as a programmer in Bristol UK.

 

[excession]

Finally Cracked it... here is the code with the corrections in that prints HTML from a jEditorPane AND correctly renders the table borders AND is smart enough not to break the page through the middle of a line!

/*  Copyright 2002
    Kei G. Gauthier
    Suite 301
    77 Winsor Street
    Ludlow, MA  01056
*/



import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.Shape;
import java.awt.print.PageFormat;
import java.awt.print.Printable;
import java.awt.print.PrinterException;
import java.awt.print.PrinterJob;
import javax.swing.JEditorPane;
import javax.swing.text.Document;
import javax.swing.text.PlainDocument;
import javax.swing.text.View;
import javax.swing.text.html.HTMLDocument;

public class DocumentRenderer implements Printable {
/*  DocumentRenderer prints objects of type Document. Text attributes, including
    fonts, color, and small icons, will be rendered to a printed page.
    DocumentRenderer computes line breaks, paginates, and performs other
    formatting.

    An HTMLDocument is printed by sending it as an argument to the
    print(HTMLDocument) method. A PlainDocument is printed the same way. Other
    types of documents must be sent in a JEditorPane as an argument to the
    print(JEditorPane) method. Printing Documents in this way will automatically
    display a print dialog.

    As objects which implement the Printable Interface, instances of the
    DocumentRenderer class can also be used as the argument in the setPrintable
    method of the PrinterJob class. Instead of using the print() methods
    detailed above, a programmer may gain access to the formatting capabilities
    of this class without using its print dialog by creating an instance of
    DocumentRenderer and setting the document to be printed with the
    setDocument() or setJEditorPane(). The Document may then be printed by
    setting the instance of DocumentRenderer in any PrinterJob.
*/
  protected int currentPage = -1;               //Used to keep track of when
                                                //the page to print changes.

  protected JEditorPane jeditorPane;            //Container to hold the
                                                //Document. This object will
                                                //be used to lay out the
                                                //Document for printing.

  protected double pageEndY = 0;                //Location of the current page
                                                //end.

  protected double pageStartY = 0;              //Location of the current page
                                                //start.

  protected boolean scaleWidthToFit = true;     //boolean to allow control over
                                                //whether pages too wide to fit
                                                //on a page will be scaled.


/*    The DocumentRenderer class uses pFormat and pJob in its methods. Note
      that pFormat is not the variable name used by the print method of the
      DocumentRenderer. Although it would always be expected to reference the
      pFormat object, the print method gets its PageFormat as an argument.
*/
  protected PageFormat pFormat;
  protected PrinterJob pJob;

/*  The constructor initializes the pFormat and PJob variables.
*/
  public DocumentRenderer() {
    pFormat = new PageFormat();
    pJob = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
  }

/*  Method to get the current Document
*/
  public Document getDocument() {
    if (jeditorPane != null) return jeditorPane.getDocument();
    else return null;
  }

/*  Method to get the current choice the width scaling option.
*/
  public boolean getScaleWidthToFit() {
    return scaleWidthToFit;
  }

/*  pageDialog() displays a page setup dialog.
*/
  public void pageDialog() {
    pFormat = pJob.pageDialog(pFormat);
  }

/*  The print method implements the Printable interface. Although Printables
    may be called to render a page more than once, each page is painted in
    order. We may, therefore, keep track of changes in the page being rendered
    by setting the currentPage variable to equal the pageIndex, and then
    comparing these variables on subsequent calls to this method. When the two
    variables match, it means that the page is being rendered for the second or
    third time. When the currentPage differs from the pageIndex, a new page is
    being requested.

    The highlights of the process used print a page are as follows:

    I.    The Graphics object is cast to a Graphics2D object to allow for
          scaling.
    II.   The JEditorPane is laid out using the width of a printable page.
          This will handle line breaks. If the JEditorPane cannot be sized at
          the width of the graphics clip, scaling will be allowed.
    III.  The root view of the JEditorPane is obtained. By examining this root
          view and all of its children, printView will be able to determine
          the location of each printable element of the document.
    IV.   If the scaleWidthToFit option is chosen, a scaling ratio is
          determined, and the graphics2D object is scaled.
    V.    The Graphics2D object is clipped to the size of the printable page.
    VI.   currentPage is checked to see if this is a new page to render. If so,
          pageStartY and pageEndY are reset.
    VII.  To match the coordinates of the printable clip of graphics2D and the
          allocation rectangle which will be used to lay out the views,
          graphics2D is translated to begin at the printable X and Y
          coordinates of the graphics clip.
    VIII. An allocation Rectangle is created to represent the layout of the
          Views.

          The Printable Interface always prints the area indexed by reference
          to the Graphics object. For instance, with a standard 8.5 x 11 inch
          page with 1 inch margins the rectangle X = 72, Y = 72, Width = 468,
          and Height = 648, the area 72, 72, 468, 648 will be painted regardless
          of which page is actually being printed.

          To align the allocation Rectangle with the graphics2D object two
          things are done. The first step is to translate the X and Y
          coordinates of the graphics2D object to begin at the X and Y
          coordinates of the printable clip, see step VII. Next, when printing
          other than the first page, the allocation rectangle must start laying
          out in coordinates represented by negative numbers. After page one,
          the beginning of the allocation is started at minus the page end of
          the prior page. This moves the part which has already been rendered to
          before the printable clip of the graphics2D object.

    X.    The printView method is called to paint the page. Its return value
          will indicate if a page has been rendered.

    Although public, print should not ordinarily be called by programs other
    than PrinterJob.
*/
  public int print(Graphics graphics, PageFormat pageFormat, int pageIndex) {
    double scale = 1.0;
    Graphics2D graphics2D;
    View rootView;
//  I
    graphics2D = (Graphics2D) graphics;
//  II
    jeditorPane.setSize((int) pageFormat.getImageableWidth(),Integer.MAX_VALUE);
    jeditorPane.validate();
//  III
    rootView = jeditorPane.getUI().getRootView(jeditorPane);
//  IV
    if ((scaleWidthToFit) && (jeditorPane.getMinimumSize().getWidth() >
    pageFormat.getImageableWidth())) {
      scale = pageFormat.getImageableWidth()/
      jeditorPane.getMinimumSize().getWidth();
      graphics2D.scale(scale,scale);
    }
//  V
    graphics2D.setClip((int) (pageFormat.getImageableX()/scale),
    (int) (pageFormat.getImageableY()/scale),
    (int) (pageFormat.getImageableWidth()/scale),
    (int) (pageFormat.getImageableHeight()/scale));
//  VI
    if (pageIndex > currentPage) {
      currentPage = pageIndex;
      pageStartY += pageEndY;
      pageEndY = graphics2D.getClipBounds().getHeight();
    }
//  VII
    graphics2D.translate(graphics2D.getClipBounds().getX(),
    graphics2D.getClipBounds().getY());
//  VIII
    Rectangle allocation = new Rectangle(0,
    (int) -pageStartY,
    (int) (jeditorPane.getMinimumSize().getWidth()),
    (int) (jeditorPane.getPreferredSize().getHeight()));
//  X
    if (printView(graphics2D,allocation,rootView)) {
      return Printable.PAGE_EXISTS;
    }
    else {
      pageStartY = 0;
      pageEndY = 0;
      currentPage = -1;
      return Printable.NO_SUCH_PAGE;
    }
  }

/*  print(HTMLDocument) is called to set an HTMLDocument for printing.
*/
  public void print(HTMLDocument htmlDocument) {
    setDocument(htmlDocument);
    printDialog();
  }

/*  print(JEditorPane) prints a Document contained within a JEDitorPane.
*/
  public void print(JEditorPane jedPane) {
    setDocument(jedPane);
    printDialog();
  }

/*  print(PlainDocument) is called to set a PlainDocument for printing.
*/
  public void print(PlainDocument plainDocument) {
    setDocument(plainDocument);
    printDialog();
  }

/*  A protected method, printDialog(), displays the print dialog and initiates
    printing in response to user input.
*/
  protected void printDialog() {
    if (pJob.printDialog()) {
      pJob.setPrintable(this,pFormat);
      try {
        pJob.print();
      }
      catch (PrinterException printerException) {
        pageStartY = 0;
        pageEndY = 0;
        currentPage = -1;
        System.out.println("Error Printing Document");
      }
    }
  }

/*  printView is a recursive method which iterates through the tree structure
    of the view sent to it. If the view sent to printView is a branch view,
    that is one with children, the method calls itself on each of these
    children. If the view is a leaf view, that is a view without children which
    represents an actual piece of text to be painted, printView attempts to
    render the view to the Graphics2D object.

    I.    When any view starts after the beginning of the current printable
          page, this means that there are pages to print and the method sets
          pageExists to true.
    II.   When a leaf view is taller than the printable area of a page, it
          cannot, of course, be broken down to fit a single page. Such a View
          will be printed whenever it intersects with the Graphics2D clip.
    III.  If a leaf view intersects the printable area of the graphics clip and
          fits vertically within the printable area, it will be rendered.
    IV.   If a leaf view does not exceed the printable area of a page but does
          not fit vertically within the Graphics2D clip of the current page, the
          method records that this page should end at the start of the view.
          This information is stored in pageEndY.
*/
  protected boolean printView(Graphics2D graphics2D, Shape allocation,
  View view) {
    boolean pageExists = false;
    Rectangle clipRectangle = graphics2D.getClipBounds();
    Shape childAllocation;
    View childView;

    if (view.getViewCount() > 0 &&
          !view.getElement().getName().equalsIgnoreCase("td")) {
      for (int i = 0; i < view.getViewCount(); i++) {
        childAllocation = view.getChildAllocation(i,allocation);
        if (childAllocation != null) {
          childView = view.getView(i);
          if (printView(graphics2D,childAllocation,childView)) {
            pageExists = true;
          }
        }
      }
    } else {
//  I
      if (allocation.getBounds().getMaxY() >= clipRectangle.getY()) {
        pageExists = true;
//  II
        if ((allocation.getBounds().getHeight() > clipRectangle.getHeight()) &&
        (allocation.intersects(clipRectangle))) {
          view.paint(graphics2D,allocation);
        } else {
//  III
          if (allocation.getBounds().getY() >= clipRectangle.getY()) {
            if (allocation.getBounds().getMaxY() <= clipRectangle.getMaxY()) {
              view.paint(graphics2D,allocation);
            } else {
//  IV
              if (allocation.getBounds().getY() < pageEndY) {
                pageEndY = allocation.getBounds().getY();
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
    return pageExists;
  }

/*  Method to set the content type the JEditorPane.
*/
  protected void setContentType(String type) {
    jeditorPane.setContentType(type);
  }

/*  Method to set an HTMLDocument as the Document to print.
*/
  public void setDocument(HTMLDocument htmlDocument) {
    jeditorPane = new JEditorPane();
    setDocument("text/html",htmlDocument);
  }

/*  Method to set the Document to print as the one contained in a JEditorPane.
    This method is useful when Java does not provide direct access to a
    particular Document type, such as a Rich Text Format document. With this
    method such a document can be sent to the DocumentRenderer class enclosed
    in a JEditorPane.
*/
  public void setDocument(JEditorPane jedPane) {
    jeditorPane = new JEditorPane();
    setDocument(jedPane.getContentType(),jedPane.getDocument());
  }

/*  Method to set a PlainDocument as the Document to print.
*/
  public void setDocument(PlainDocument plainDocument) {
    jeditorPane = new JEditorPane();
    setDocument("text/plain",plainDocument);
  }

/*  Method to set the content type and document of the JEditorPane.
*/
  protected void setDocument(String type, Document document) {
    setContentType(type);
    jeditorPane.setDocument(document);
  }

/*  Method to set the current choice of the width scaling option.
*/
  public void setScaleWidthToFit(boolean scaleWidth) {
    scaleWidthToFit = scaleWidth;
  }
}

 

[user0]

excession,
Thanks for the code. I'd like to know if you have ever seen a problem that I am going to describe here. We have a Java Swing application. When printing out a big report(more than 400 rows of table data, and about 16 pages), which consists of a header, a table, and a tailer, in some pages, column lines are missing, and sometimes some rows data are not printed. It happens in a HP LaserJet 8000N and it didn't happen when using a HP color printer. It seems like a print driver problem, but somehow I suspect that it may be some other problem. Do you have any input on this problem. Thanks.

 

[excession]

From what you have said it does sound rather like a printer driver problem since if there were a problem with your swing application then the same error in the print output would be sent to both printers. This fault only happens with one printer which make me suspect it's the printer and not the application. If it were me I would try printing the report on other makes of printer, this should help determine were the fault lies.

Other than that the only I don't really know what to suggest.

Sorry i can't be more help.

 

[user0]

Somehow in my mind I think that it may related to how we format and calculate our page. Although printing in a color printer, it was not missing column lines or row data, it had misaligned some cell data, i.e. cell 2 data showed up at another cell, etc. I searched web up and down, and have not seen any problem similar to ours, i.e. missing column lines and row data. Well, thanks for your code. You did a good job explaining how it works.

 

[excession]

lol - explaining how it works wasn't me. as you'll note the original code was developed by someone else, I just added a line to make it render table borders.

Why don't you try sending your html to a txt file and then examineing it to make sure there are no glitches in it?

If you have a look on

http://www.w3.org

there is a small freeware program called tidy which will examine html and flag any errors. It may be that you have a mistake in the code that generates the html so it isn't being rendered correctly?

 

[user0]

OK. Although that is not your code, thanks for posting it. We are not printing HTML. My post is kind of off the subject of this post, but the printing code you post did help. We print from a Java Swing table with a custom header and tailer using Swing Apis. I am trying to see if there is any mistake in calculating the size of table, which may cause the problem.