NAME¶
Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog - a simple, pure Perl dialog for printing PostScript data
in GTK+ applications.
SYNOPSIS¶
use Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog;
my $dialog = Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog->new; # a new dialog
$dialog->set_data($postscript_data); # supply some postscript data
$dialog->set_filename($postscript_file); # get postscript from a file
$dialog->run; # show the dialog to the user
DESCRIPTION¶
This module implements a dialog widget that can be used to print PostScript
data. It is intended to be a lightweight and pure-perl alternative to the
Gnome2::Print libraries.
This module uses a simple system of operating-system specific backends that are
used to do the job of printing. Currently, only a generic Linux/Unix backend
(implemented using Net::CUPS) is available, more will be added in the future.
The dialog itself is intended to comply with the GNOME Human Interface
Guidelines (HIG). It allows the user to print to any printer installed on the
system, or to an external command such as "lpr", or to print a
PostScript or PDF file.
This module is UNSTABLE, the behaviour and API of its components may change in
the future.
OBJECT HIERARCHY¶
Glib::Object
+----Gtk2::Object
+----Gtk2::Widget
+----Gtk2::Container
+----Gtk2::Bin
+----Gtk2::Window
+----Gtk2::Dialog
+----Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog
METHODS¶
my $dialog = Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog->new;
Returns an instance of "Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog". These dialogs are
subclasse of "Gtk2::Dialog" so all corresponding methods, signals
and properties from that class are also available.
The dialog will handle user actions itself so you will probably not need to
connect to any signals.
$dialog->set_data($data);
This tells the dialog to use the PostScript data in $data. This might be
PostScript data you create yourself, or from another application. This data
can subsequently retrieved using "get_data()".
$dialog->set_filename($file);
This tells the dialog to use the PostScript data in $file. The file name can be
subsequently retrieved using "get_filename()". The contents of the
file are read into memory when "set_filename()" is called, so any
subequent calls to "get_data()" will return the contents of $file.
LOCALISATION ISSUES¶
If the "Locale::gettext" module is available on the system, and your
application uses it, all the strings used in the dialog will be automagically
translated, as long as these default values are translated in your .mo files.
WRITING BACKENDS¶
Backends are Perl modules with names of the form
C<Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog::$^O>
See perlvar for details of the $^O variable. The module must have the following
methods:
- "$backend = Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog::$^O->new"
- The constructor.
- "$backend->get_printers"
- Returns an array of printer names.
- "$backend->print_file($printer, $file)"
- Prints the contents of $file to the printer named $file
- "$backend->get_default_print_command"
- Returns the path to the default print command, if applicable (eg
'"lpr"')
- "$backend->can_print_pdf"
- Returns a true value if PDF printing is supported, "undef"
otherwise.
- "$backend->print_to_pdf($data, $file)"
- Prints the PostScript data in $data to the PDF file named $file.
Consult Gtk2::Ex::PrintDialog::Unix for an example. Please note that this
interface may change in the future.
PREREQUISITES¶
- Gtk2
- Locale::gettext (recommended)
- Net::CUPS (for the Unix/Linux backend)
- Ghostscript, for the "ps2pdf" command (recommended)
SEE ALSO¶
Gnome2::Print provides Perl bindings to the "offical" GNOME printing
library. If you want a simple way to generate PostScript data, consider
PostScript::Simple.
TO DO¶
- Implement a "Print Preview" function, maybe using Poppler.
- More backends.
AUTHOR¶
Gavin Brown (gavin dot brown at uk dot com)
COPYRIGHT¶
(c) 2005 Gavin Brown. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you
can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
itself.