Help setting default printer (picking the right one if it moves) Topic is solved

[whitenack]

Hello all...first post! I recently found AHK and have really been enjoying its functionality. I can do the basic things, but am starting to get more complicated and need some clarification on things.

I have the need to set a default printer at computer start. I have created a script that points the mouse to a place where the printer should be in the window, and then selects it. This works some of the time. The problem comes when the printer window gets resized...this causes the printer to move to a different position in the window, and the wrong printer is chosen. I need a step that finds the printer wherever it is in the window, then selects it.

Here is what I have so far...

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Run, control printers ; opens the Devices and Printers settings page where the printers are listed
WinWaitActive, Devices and Printers
sleep, 500
click, right, 389, 489 ; right clicks on the printer that I want to choose (depending on the sizing of the window)
sleep, 500
click, 423, 527 ; chooses "Set as default printer" 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[AHK_user]

Try to use the following functions, these should work more stable:

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	Printer_SetDefault(sPrinter){
		DefaultPrinter := Printer_GetDefault()
		If DefaultPrinter = %sPrinter% ; Checks if current printer is correct
		{	return
		}
		
		DllCall("system32\winspool.drv\SetDefaultPrinterW", "str", sPrinter)
		TrayTip, Printers and Faxes, %sPrinter% set as default printer., 10, 17
		
		; waits till default printer is correct
		while (DefaultPrinter != sPrinter ) {	
			DefaultPrinter := Printer_GetDefault()
		}
		DefaultPrinter = 
		
		;Printer_SetDefault("\\PS22\HP Designjet T790 PS") (example)
		return
	}
	
	Printer_GetDefault() {
		nSize := VarSetCapacity(gPrinter, 256)
		DllCall("system32\winspool.drv\GetDefaultPrinterW", "str", gPrinter, "UintP", nSize)
		if gPrinter not contains \\ ; if not a server printer
		{	;DllCall("winspool.drv\GetDefaultPrinterA", "str", gPrinter, "UintP", nSize)
			DllCall(A_WinDir . "\system\winspool.drv\GetDefaultPrinterA", "str", gPrinter, "UintP", nSize)
			
		}
		
		return gPrinter
	}

[whitenack]

Thanks for the reply.

This is way over my head...do I just copy and paste this into my script to replace what I had? Where, in your script, do I plug in which printer I want to be the default?

[DataLife]

@whitenack

Here you go. One line solution.
Just put in the EXACT name of your printer.

Put only this line in the autoexecute section of your script.

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RunWait, %WinDir%\System32\RUNDLL32.exe PRINTUI.DLL`,PrintUIEntry /y /n "Canon MG2500 series Printer"

Only tested on Windows 10, Ansi and Unicode Autohotkey.

Note:...........................
If you want to use ahk_users code instead of my 1 line then put this

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Printer_SetDefault("Canon MG2500 series Printer")

in the autoexecute section and ahk_users code after the autoexecute section. ahk_users code only works on Unicode. At least I tried it on Ansi and it did not work. I tried it on Unicode and it did work.

[DataLife]

@AHK_user
I had to remove \\ in your example to get it to work.

[whitenack]

@whitenack

Here you go. One line solution.
Just put in the EXACT name of your printer.

Put only this line in the autoexecute section of your script.

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RunWait, %WinDir%\System32\RUNDLL32.exe PRINTUI.DLL`,PrintUIEntry /y /n "Canon MG2500 series Printer"

Awesome. This worked perfectly and cleanly. Behind the scenes.