Cordova Printer-Plugin

A bunch of printing plugins for Cordova 3.x.x

by Sebastián Katzer (github.com/katzer)

Supported Platforms

• iOS (Print from iOS devices to AirPrint compatible printers)
  See Drawing and Printing Guide for iOS for detailed informations and screenshots.

• Android (Print through 3rd party printing apps)

Adding the Plugin to your project

Through the Command-line Interface:

cordova plugin add https://github.com/katzer/cordova-plugin-printer.git

Removing the Plugin from your project

Through the Command-line Interface:

cordova plugin rm de.appplant.cordova.plugin.printer

Release Notes

Version 0.4.0 (24.08.2013)

• [feature]: Added Android support
  Based on the Print Android plugin made by Eion Robb
• [feature]: print() accepts a 4th arguments for platform specific properties.
• [change]: the callback of print() will be called with a result code about the user action.

Version 0.2.1 (13.08.2013)

• [feature]: Support for callback scopes.

Version 0.2.0 (11.08.2013)

• [feature]: Added iOS support
  Based on the Print iOS plugin made by Randy McMillan

Using the plugin

The plugin creates the object window.plugin.printer with two methods:

isServiceAvailable()

Printing is only available on devices capable of multi-tasking (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 etc.) running iOS 4.2 or later. You can use this function to hide print functionality from users who will be unable to use it.
Function takes a callback function, passed to which is a boolean property. Optionally you can assign the scope in which the callback will be executed as a second parameter (default to window).

/*
 * Find out if printing is available. Use this for showing/hiding print buttons.
 */
window.plugin.printer.isServiceAvailable(
    function (isAvailable) {
        alert(isavailable ? 'Service is available' : 'Service NOT available');
    }
);

Android: The callback function will be called with a second argument which is an array, indicating which printer apps are available for printing.

/*
 * Find out if printing is available. Use this to find out which apps are available for printing.
 */
window.plugin.printer.isServiceAvailable(
    function (isAvailable, installedAppIds) {
        alert('The following print apps are installed on your device: ' + installedAppIds.join(', '));
    }
);

print()

Function takes an html string and (optionally) a callback function. Optionally you can assign the scope in which the callback will be executed as a third parameter (default to window).

// Get HTML string
var page = document.body.innerHTML;

/*
 * Pass an HTML and - optionally - a callback function.
 */
window.plugin.printer.print(page, function (code) {
	switch (code) {
	    case 0:     // printing cancelled (cancel button pressed)
	    case 2:     // printed
	    case 3:     // printing failed
	    case 4:     // page not printed (something wrong happened e.g. service is not available)
	}
}, this);

Android: An App-ID can be assigned as a platform configuration to indicate which 3rd party printing app shall be used. Otherwise the first found application will be used.

/*
 * Pass an HTML and - optionally - a platform specific configuration.
 */
window.plugin.printer.print(page, null, this, { appId: 'epson.print' });

Quirks

Testing in the iOS Simulator

There's no need to waste lots of paper when testing - if you're using the iOS simulator, select File->Open Printer Simulator to open some dummy printers (print outs will appear as PDF files).

Adding Page Breaks to Printouts

Use the 'page-break-before' property to specify a page break, e.g.

<p>
First page.
</p>

<p style="page-break-before: always">
Second page.
</p>

See W3Schools for more more information: http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_print_pagebb.asp

Note: you will need to add an extra top margin to new pages.

Printing on Real Printers (iOS)

Printing is only supported on AirPrint-enabled printers or with the use of third-party software on your computer. The following pages contain more information:

• AirPrint-enabled printers: http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/airprint.html
• Enabling AirPrint on your computer: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20023976-233.html, or http://www.ecamm.com/mac/printopia/