Scripting and Programming Support

Miraplacid Text Driver registers itself as COM object and could be used from any scripting and COM-compliant software.
Using this ability, you can control the printing process directly from your script or application.

Miraplacid Text Driver Scripting Object Creation

To create component, use following constructions

JScript: var obj = WScript.CreateObject("Miraplacid.TextDriver");
VBScript: set obj = WScript.CreateObject("Miraplacid.TextDriver")
Visual Basic: Set obj = CreateObject("Miraplacid.TextDriver")
To enable early binding, you have to check "Miraplacid Text Driver Type Library" in "Project References" dialog and insert the following code:
Dim obj As Miraplacid.TextDriver Set obj = CreateObject("Miraplacid.TextDriver")

where myscript.vbs is your script name (see sample scripts below)

Unregistered version of Miraplacid Text Driver will not show registration dialog until trial period expiration if used in autosave mode. After that, object creation will fail with appropriate message in errorinfo.

Object Miraplacid.TextDriver

Property	Type	Description
Value	VARIANT (String Name)	(Read / Write) All the Text Driver properties. This is Default Property. Meaning, it could be referred as obj("property_name") as well as obj.Value("property_name") All the parameters are listed below.
DocumentName	String	(Read Only) Original name of the printed document
TotalPages	Number	(Read Only) Total estimated amount of pages in current print job
RenderedPages	Number	(Read Only) Amount of rendered pages in current print job
TotalJobs	Number	(Read Only) Number of printed documents spooled in Text Driver and waiting for processing
JobProperty	VARIANT (String Name)	(Read Only) Current job various properties. All the parameters are listed below.
AutoSave	Number	(Read / Write) 0 - interactive mode; 1 - Process and Auto-send to the specified destinations
Identity	Number	(Read / Write) Identity value to replace {{IDENTITY}} tag
Format	String	(Read / Write) Selects format plug-in ("Output Style"). PLug-ins should be named by their internal (short) names. The following values are valid: Formatted - "Formatted Text" TWL - "Text with Layout" XML - "XML" RSS - "RSS" Plain - "Plain Text"
FormatParam	VARIANT(String PluginName, String ParameterName)	(Read / Write) Format Plug-in Parameters. All the parameters for all plug-ins are listed below.
FormatParamNoCheck	VARIANT(String PluginName, String ParameterName)	(Write Only) Format Plug-in Parameters. Use this option to set only appropriate property, without updating plug-in user interface and checking value. This option is useful when you need to set all options in a batch, and some options affect others. After all options are set, call FormatCheckSettings to update plug-in state correctly.
FormatPluginNames	String Collection	(Read Only) List of installed format plug-ins (XML, Plain Text and so on)
Transport	String	(Read / Write) Selected Transport Plug-in names. If more than one transport plug-in selected, names should be comma delimited. The following values are valid: Clipboard, FTP, File, HTTP. Mail, Printer.
TransportParam	VARIANT(String PluginName, String ParameterName)	(Read / Write) Transport Plug-in Parameters All the parameters for all plug-ins are listed below.
TransportParamNoCheck	VARIANT(String PluginName, String ParameterName)	(Write Only) Transport Plug-in Parameters. Use this option to set only appropriate property, without updating plug-in user interface and checking value. This option is useful when you need to set all options in a batch, and some options affect others. After all options are set, call TransportCheckSettings to update plug-in state correctly.
TransportPluginNames	String Collection	(Read Only) List of installed transport plug-ins (File, FTP and so on)
Printer	String	(Read / Write) Name of the currently selected printer
Printers	String Collection	(Read Only) List of all printers in Text Driver collection.
RedirectPrinter	String	(Read / Write) Name of the currently selected printer for redirection. If empty, no redirection will be performed.
SystemPrinters	String Collection	(Read Only) List of all printers installed in the system. Useful for user interface, this property allows UI to avoid using spooler API.
DefaultPrinter	String	(Read Only) Name of the default printer in the system.
Method	Parameters	Description
GetPage	Number, returns String	Get a rendered page by index.
UpdatePage	Number n, String s	Replace contents of nth page by s.
CancelJob	None	Cancel current Print Job. Returns immediately.
CancelJobWait	None	Cancel current Print Job. Waits until current job will be cancelled and the new one will be opened, if any.
CancelAllJobs	None	Cancel all jobs for this printer
SaveConfiguration	None	Save current configuration for active user and active printer
SaveCommonConfiguration	None	Save current configuration for all users (who do not have own configurations yet) and active printer
SavePage	Number page_number	Send particular page through selected Transport Plug-Ins. Returns immediately.
SaveAllPages	None	Send All through selected Transport Plug-Ins. Returns immediately.
SavePageWait	Number page_number	Send particular page through selected Transport Plug-Ins. Waits until page will be saved.
SaveAllPagesWait	None	Send All through selected Transport Plug-Ins. Waits until all pages will be saved.
Stop	None	Unloads plug-ins, get ready for unloading from memory. System will unload Miraplacid Text Driver core form memory with 2-5 seconds delay. We recommend you to add this method call at the end of each script.
FormatCheckSettings	String plug-in	Call this method after updating several plug-in settings in a batch (using FormatParamNoCheck). Some settings may affect others, and this method guarantees that they will be updated in correct order.
TransportCheckSettings	String plug-in	Call this method after updating several plug-in settings in a batch (using TransportParamNoCheck). Some settings may affect others, and this method guarantees that they will be updated in correct order.
Redirect	String printer, String document	This method provides an alternative way to print a copy of print job to another printer. Unlike RedirectPrinter property, which allows to set printer for automatic redirect, this method may be used in scripts or external programs when additional analysis needed to decide, redirect this job to that printer or not. Returns immediately. "Document" parameter allows you to provide alternative name of redirected print job. Ignored if NULL or empty string.
RedirectWait	String printer, String document	The same as Redirect method, but waits until redirect process will be completed.
LoadUI	None	Loads user interface component if it is not already loaded.
UnloadUI	None	Unloads user interface component, if it supports OnUnload event.
GetEMFPage	Number index, String filename	Extracts a page referred by index from current job and saves it as a file "filename" in EMF format. Caller is responsible for deleting this file. This method works only with print jobs in EMF format. Special tags supported.
SetEMFPage	Number index, String filename	Assigns a file "filename" to be a content of page referred by index. File must be in EMF format. Caller is responsible for deleting this file. File must not be deleted before the job is redirected. To set page back to original content from print job spool file, set filename to empty string or NULL value. This page manipulation will affect only EMF print job intended for redirect to another printer, not text job image for save. This method works only with print jobs in EMF format. Special tags supported.

Miraplacid Text Driver Properties Reference

All these properties accessible via default "Value" property:


obj.Value("Charset") = 1250

or just


obj("Charset") = 1250

Property	Type	Description
Charset	Number	Character set (codepage number) 5 - UNICODE 437 - OEM American DOS 850 - OEM Latin-1 DOS 852 - OEM Eastern Europe DOS 866 - OEM Cyrillic DOS 932 - Japanese 936 - Chinese (Simplified") 949 - Korean 950 - Chinese (Traditional)" 1250 - ANSI Latin-1 Windows 1251 - ANSI Cyrillic Windows 1252 - ANSI Eastern Europe Windows 1257 - ANSI Baltic Windows ...etc...
UnixEOL	Number	End Of Line style 0 means "Windows" EOL style (\r\n or 0x0D, 0x0A) 1 means "UNIX" EOL style (\n or 0x0A)
PageBreak	Number	1 - insert page break symbols (0xc) between pages; 0 - don't.
UnicodePrefix	Number	1 - insert Unicode prefix (0xfeff) before Unicode content; 0 - don't.
REMFMargins	Number	Value of redirection margins enumeration: 0 - Auto-compensated, 1 - Auto-normal, 2 - Custom.
REMFTop	Number	Value of top custom margin.
REMFBottom	Number	Value of bottom custom margin.
REMFLeft	Number	Value of left custom margin.
REMFRight	Number	Value of right custom margin.
REMFCompatibility	Number	Turn on/off Save as Image mode for EMF redirection
REMFConstrain	Number	Turn on/off constrain proportions for EMF redirection
RTextFont	String	Name of font which will be used for text redirection
RTextSize	Number	Text size which will be used for text redirection
RTextWeight	Number	Font weight (100 - 900) which will be used for text redirection
RPrinterSettings	ByteArray	One-dimentional Safearray of bytes containing printer settings (DEVMODE). To use default printer settings, set this value to the empty Safearray of bytes.

Miraplacid Text Driver Job Properties Reference

All these properties accessible via "JobProperty" property:


var job_status = obj.JobProperty("Status")

Property	Type	Description
JobID	Number	System print job ID for the current job. 0 if no active job.
Status	Number	Current job status. Binary flags (ORed): 0 - No print jobs currently in progress. 1 - Started - initial state just after StartJob event from driver. 2 - Opened for rendering. This may happen just after the job will be created, if not other jobs are in Text Driver queue, or after it will be printed, when current job will be saved and cancelled. 4 - Printed - printer driver completed all operations with current job. After that, the job may still not be available for save, it must be Opened and Rendered first. 8 - Rendered - ready for save. All the job contents are processed by selected rendering plug-in.
Resolution	Number	Resolution for the current job, in DPI. 0 if no active job.
Printer	String	Printer name for the current job. Empty string if no active job.
Document	String	Document name for the current job. Empty string if no active job.
Format	String	Data format for the current job - TEXT / NT EMF 1.006 / NT EMF 1.007 / NT EMF 1.008. Empty string if no active job.
SpoolFile	String	Spool file name with full path for the current job. Empty string if no active job.
SepFile	String	Separator file name with full path for the current job. Empty string if no active job or if no separator page applied to the job.

Miraplacid Text Driver Send To (Transport plug-ins) parameters

To query or modify Transport plug-in parameters, use TransportParam property of Miraplacid Text Driver object.


obj.TransportParam("File","filename")="textout_{{PAGE}}.txt"

File
Property	Type	Description
path	String	Destination File Path. Special tags supported.
filename	String	Destination File Name. Special tags supported.
open	Number	Opens resulting text file with post-processor.
hide	Number	0 = show post-processor window. 1 = hide post-processor window. Ignored if open=0.
exec	String	Post-processor filename with full path. Special tags supported. Ignored if open=0.
param	String	additional parameters for post-processor. Special tags supported. Ignored if open=0.
append	Number	Set it to 0 if you wish to overwrite resulting file. Set it to 1 if you wish to append current result to a previous file.
wait	Number	Set it to 1 if you wish to wait application termination before continue. Ignored if open=0.
FTP
Property	Type	Description
url	String	Destination FTP directory URL. Special tags supported.
file	String	Destination File Name. Special tags supported.
passive	Number	0 = FTP passive mode OFF. 1 = FTP passive mode ON.
user	String	FTP server username.
password	String	FTP server password.
HTTP
Property	Type	Description
url	String	Destination HTTP URL. Special tags supported.
file	String	Destination File Name. Special tags supported.
put	Number	0 = use POST method. 1 = use PUT method.
user	String	username.
password	String	password.
Printer
Property	Type	Description
printer	String	Printer name. Can be a real printer name or "Default" string which means default printer.
settings	ByteArray	One-dimentional Safearray of bytes containing printer settings (DEVMODE). To use default printer settings, set this value to the empty Safearray of bytes.
font	String	Font family name to use in print output or "Default" string to not to use any specific font when printing.
charset	Number	Numeric code of character set or DEFAULT_CHARSET value (equal to 1).
weight	Number	Weight of characters to be used in print output. The following values will be accepted: 0 - DONTCARE 100 - THIN 200 - EXTRALIGHT 300 - LIGHT 400 - NORMAL 500 - MEDIUM 600 - SEMIBOLD 700 - BOLD 800 - EXTRABOLD 900 - BLACK
height	Number	Height of characters to be used in print output.
italic	Number	Specifies an italic font if set to 1.
strikeout	Number	Specifies an strikeout font if set to 1.
underline	Number	Specifies an underline font if set to 1.
Mail
Property	Type	Description
mail	String	A set of email addresses of mail recipients, separated by semicolon.
subject	String	Email subject. Special tags supported.
message	String	Email message body. This value will be used as a header before actual email content (printed pages). Text Driver will place this message, separator line, then printed pages. Special tags supported.
attach	Number	Set it to 1 if you wish to send result as an attachment.
filename	String	Name of file which will be used as an attachment. Special tags supported.
Clipboard
Property	Type	Description
open	Number	Opens resulting text file with post-processor.
hide	Number	0 = show post-processor window. 1 = hide post-processor window. Ignored if open=0.
exec	String	Post-processor filename with full path. Ignored if open=0. Special tags supported.
param	String	additional parameters for post-processor. Ignored if open=0. Special tags supported.
wait	Number	Set it to 1 if you wish to wait application termination before continue.

Miraplacid Text Driver Formatting Style (Rendering plug-ins) parameters

To query or modify Format plug-in parameters, use FormatParam property of Miraplacid Text Driver object.


obj.FormatParam("TWL","margins")=1

In the table below, plug-ins are provided in Description (Name) format. For FormatParam, use name values.

Plain Text (Plain)
Property	Type	Description
delim	String	Delimiter which will be used to separate text boxes during rendering. This value may include the following escaped special characters: \s (whitespace), \t, \r, \n, \f, \\ (backslash itself) and \xnnnn (nnnn is a hexadecimal code of Unicode symbol).
lheight	Number	Vertical rendering mode: 0 = automatic, 1 = fixed.
ilgap	Number	Value of inter-line gap, in tenths of percents, it lheight = 0.
heightval	Number	Ling height in pixels, it lheight = 1.
Formatted Text (Formatted)
Property	Type	Description
margins	Number	1 - use printer margins in text rendering (at top and left side); 0 - don't.
usespaces	Number	1 - use whitespace strings from document; 0 - don't.
right	Number	1 - use right alignment rendering; 0 - don't.
char	Number	Character width calculation option: 0 - "Automatic, each page", 1 - "Automatic, first page", 2 - "Fixed value".
cwidth	Number	Manual character width if char option is set to 2.
lheight	Number	Vertical rendering mode: 0 = automatic, 1 = fixed.
ilgap	Number	Value of inter-line gap, in tenths of percents, it lheight = 0.
heightval	Number	Ling height in pixels, it lheight = 1.
Text with Layout (TWL)
Property	Type	Description
margins	Number	1 - use printer margins in text rendering (at top and left side); 0 - don't.
usespaces	Number	1 - use whitespace strings from document; 0 - don't.
lheight	Number	Vertical rendering mode: 0 = automatic, 1 = fixed.
ilgap	Number	Value of inter-line gap, in tenths of percents, it lheight = 0.
heightval	Number	Ling height in pixels, it lheight = 1.
XML (XML)
Property	Type	Description
optimize	Number	1 - merge textboxes into whole words; 0 - don't.
space	Number	Value in percents of average symbol width (10 - 100).
RSS-Atom (RSS)
Property	Type	Description
author	String	Author attribute of RSS channel/Atom feed (document).
link	String	Link attribute of RSS channel/Atom feed (document).
description	String	Description attribute of RSS channel/Atom feed (document).
br	Number	1 - add <BR> tag to the end of description lines; 0 - don't. HTML content type for Atom feed.

Miraplacid Text Driver Post-Processing System

You can setup Miraplacid Text Driver to launch an application to handle the results of text generation process.
Select Send To: File, check "Open with" checkbox and specify post-processor application.
For example, you can execute notepad.exe using the following settings:


path:       "c:\"

filename:   "textout.txt"

Open With:  "notepad.exe" 

Parameters: ""

Quotation marks are necessary when file name or path contains space characters.
Or, you can set up a viewer to open result text file for every printed page. You must add tag {{PAGE}} in filename textbox.


path:       "c:\"

filename:   "textout{{PAGE}}.txt"

Open With:  "notepad.exe" 

Parameters: ""

Notice that applications and files you use in post-processing should be specified with full path.