Using Flex Build-in Print Function

The build-in print function provided by Adobe Flex is actually pretty straightforward. For a single page print, it is good enough. Here is how it works:

Things You Need

• mx.printing.FlexPrintJob

Steps You Do

1. Create a FlexPrintJob Instance     
   var flexPrintJob: FlexPrintJob = new FlexPrintJob();

2. Start FlexPrintJob
   flexPrintJob.start();

3. Add Target Component to FlexPrintJob 
   printJob.addObject(targetComponent);

4. Print
   printJob.send();

Sample Code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
    layout="absolute"
    initialize="init()">

    <mx:Script>
    	<![CDATA[
    	import mx.printing.FlexPrintJob;
    	import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;

    	[Bindable]
    	public var dataSource:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();

        private var totalRecords:Number = 15; 

    	private function init():void {
		for (var i:int = 1; i<=totalRecords; i++) {
    		     var dataObject:Object = new Object();
    		     dataObject.Name = "Name #" + i;
    		     dataObject.Phone = "Phone #" + i;
    		     dataObject.Address = "Address #" + i;
    		     dataSource.addItem(dataObject);
    		}
    	}

    	private function doPrint():void {
    		var printJob:FlexPrintJob = new FlexPrintJob();
    	   	if (printJob.start()) {
    	            printJob.addObject(myData);
    		    printJob.send();
    		}
    	}

    	]]>
    </mx:Script>

    <mx:Panel title="Flex Tutorial - Print"
    	width="500" height="500"
    	horizontalCenter="0" verticalCenter="0"
    	horizontalAlign="center" verticalAlign="middle">

        <mx:DataGrid id="myData"
            dataProvider="{dataSource}"
            width="400" height="400" />

        <mx:Button label="Print" click="doPrint()"/>

    </mx:Panel>

</mx:Application>

Conclusion

Adobe Flex provides FlexPrintJob to handle the print request. It is very simple to use. However, the biggest challenge is printing multiple pages. In the above sample code, if you change the code,

From:

private var totalRecords:Number = 15;

To:

private var totalRecords:Number = 100;

It will generate 100 records in the DataGrid. Guess how many of them will be printed if you click the Print button?  Depends on your page and printer setting, maybe just 17-20. You will even see a ugly vertical scoll bar. The problem here is, FlexPrintJob itself can not SCOLL those Scollable Components like DataGrid or TextArea.

To resolve this problem, Adobe provides a workaround in Flex framework. In the next tutorial, we will see Printing Multiple Pages Using PrintDataGrid.