Connecting to a Network Printer

Discussion

The AddWindowsPrinterConnection method adds a networked printer to the local machine and was introduced in WSH 2.0. The syntax for the method is as follows :

objNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnectionstrPrinterPath, [strDriverName] [,strPort]

Table 4-4 lists the parameters for the AddWindowsPrinterConnection method.

Using this method is the same as using the Control Panel Printers applet to add a printer connection. In Windows 95/98/ME, the printer driver must already be installed on the machine in order for the AddWindowsPrinterConnection method to work, which reduces the usefulness of this method on these platforms. Windows NT/2000/XP will download the driver if the driver is not installed on the local computer the printer is being installed on. An error will occur if the driver does not successfully install.

Once you have added a printer, you may want to make it, or an existing printer, the default printer for your Windows applications. A default printer is automatically selected when you attempt to print from a Windows application. The syntax for the method is as follows:

objNetwork.SetDefaultPrinter(strPrinterPath)

The strPrinterPath parameter specifies the UNC path of the printer you want to make the default printer. The printer must be installed as a Windows printer appearing under the Control Panel Printer applet. The following code snippet sets the default printer to the network printer \\odin\brother :

Dim objNetwork Set objNetwork = CreateObject("WScript.Network") objNetwork.SetDefaultPrinter "\\odin\brother"

WSH has supported the addition of printers since the initial release using the AddPrinterConnection method. This method is useful only if you need to connect to printers from the command-line environment; the method is the equivalent of using the net use command. Printers that are connected using this method are not available from Windows applications.

The syntax for this method is as follows:

objNetwork. AddPrinterConnection strPort, strPrinterPath,[bUpdateProfile], [strUser], [strPassword]

Table 4-5 lists the parameters for the AddPrinterConnection method.

Set objNetwork = CreateObject("Wscript.Network") objNetwork.AddPrinterConnection "LPT2", "\\odin\laserjet"