Printing

Printing lets people print from inside a published application or desktop. Each job is turned into a PDF and sent to their browser, where they can open it, save it or print it on whatever printer their own computer uses. This page explains how it works and how to switch it on.

How printing works

A published application runs on a host, so its Print command can only see printers that the host knows about. Sharing every user's own printer with the host means drivers, queues and support calls. DartRelay takes a simpler route:

1. When printing is on for a resource, a single virtual printer appears inside the person's session. Its name is one you choose.
2. The person prints to that printer from the application as usual.
3. DartRelay turns the job into a PDF and sends it to the person's browser over the same connection as the session.
4. A small panel appears in the session listing the finished job, with Open and Save buttons.
5. From there the person can keep the PDF, or open it and print it on their own local printer.

Nothing is installed on the host, no physical printer is shared with it, and print output is not written to the host's disk.

Why the PDF does not open by itself

Browsers block a page from opening a new window unless the person has just clicked something. A print job arrives on its own, with no click behind it, so an automatic window would be blocked as a pop-up. The panel's Open and Save buttons supply that click. If someone prints several jobs, they queue in the panel one under another rather than replacing each other.

Switch printing on for a resource

Printing is set per desktop and per app group, on the same edit page as file transfer.

1. Open the resource. In the console, go to Catalog → Desktops or Catalog → Remote Apps and open the desktop or app group for editing.
2. Find the Printing card. It sits beside the File Transfer card.
3. Switch printing on.
4. Optionally set the printer name. This is the name people will pick in the application's print dialog. Leave it blank to use DartRelay Printer.
5. Click Save. The printer appears in the next session opened for this resource. Sessions already open are not changed; the person needs to close the resource and open it again.

Printing card reference

Example: an application that prints to a named printer

Some older line-of-business applications print to a printer by name, and fail if that exact printer is missing. Suppose an accounts package always prints to a printer called Accounts Printer.

1. Open the app group that publishes the package and switch printing on.
2. Set the printer name to Accounts Printer and save.

The application now finds the printer it expects, and every report arrives in the person's browser as a PDF. Remember the character rule: a name such as Accounts (Main)! would become Accounts Main, so choose a name made of letters, digits, spaces, hyphens and underscores if the application must match it exactly.

What people see

For the people using the portal, printing looks like this:

• The printer you named appears in the application's print dialog. On a full desktop it also appears in the Windows printer list.
• After they print, a panel appears in the session with the finished job and Open and Save buttons.
• Open shows the PDF in a browser tab; Save downloads it. To get paper, they open the PDF and print it from their own computer.

The end-user guide Files and printing in a session walks through this in plain language and is written to be sent to staff.

Printing and file transfer together

Printing and file transfer are independent switches. You can turn on either, both or neither for each resource:

• Printing only suits people who need paper copies or PDFs of reports but should not move files in and out.
• File transfer only suits people who exchange documents but never print.
• Both is common for office applications.

Printing needs no share, folder or account; it only needs the switch. See File transfer for the drive and file browser.

If something goes wrong

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