How do I get the Printer Status when WMI doesn't have it?

Question

I've been trying to get the printer status using my .Net desktop application, but it always returns Idle. In addition to using WMIObject, I've tried Microsoft's example of returning the print queue status which doesn't recognize when the printer is unavailable, and I tried using rundll32 printui.dll, PrintUIEntry, which also did not return the needed results.

Does anyone know what Microsoft is using to read the status shown in the first image, and if so, the syntax for using it? Or of any other method of extracting a printer's status that can circumvent the issue shown in the second image?

Thank you in advance

Answer 1

A test of PKEY_Printer_Status in VB =>

    Dim FOLDERID_PrintersFolder As Guid = New Guid("76FC4E2D-D6AD-4519-A663-37BD56068185")  
    Dim psi As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero  
    Dim hr As HRESULT = SHGetKnownFolderItem(FOLDERID_PrintersFolder, KNOWN_FOLDER_FLAG.KF_FLAG_DEFAULT, IntPtr.Zero, GetType(IShellItem).GUID, psi)  
    If (hr = HRESULT.S_OK) Then  
        Dim pShellItemFolder As IShellItem = CType(Marshal.GetObjectForIUnknown(psi), IShellItem)  
        Dim BHID_EnumItems As New Guid("94f60519-2850-4924-aa5a-d15e84868039")  
        Dim pEnumItemsPtr As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero  
        hr = pShellItemFolder.BindToHandler(IntPtr.Zero, BHID_EnumItems, GetType(IEnumShellItems).GUID, pEnumItemsPtr)  
        If (hr = HRESULT.S_OK) Then  
            Dim pEnumShellItems As IEnumShellItems = CType(Marshal.GetObjectForIUnknown(pEnumItemsPtr), IEnumShellItems)  
            Dim nFetched As UInteger = 0  
            Dim pShellItem As IShellItem = Nothing  
            Dim nCpt = 1  
            While ((HRESULT.S_OK = pEnumShellItems.Next(1, pShellItem, nFetched)) AndAlso (nFetched = 1))  
                Dim sbDisplayName As Text.StringBuilder = New Text.StringBuilder(260)  
                hr = pShellItem.GetDisplayName(SIGDN.SIGDN_NORMALDISPLAY, sbDisplayName)  
                If (hr = HRESULT.S_OK) Then  
                    Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Printer n° {0} : {1}", nCpt.ToString(), sbDisplayName.ToString()))  
                    Dim pShellItem2 As IShellItem2 = DirectCast(pShellItem, IShellItem2)  
                    Dim sModel As String = Nothing  
                    hr = pShellItem2.GetString(PKEY_Printer_Model, sModel)  
                    If (hr = HRESULT.S_OK) Then  
                        Console.WriteLine(String.Format(vbTab + "Model : {0}", sModel))  
                        Dim sStatus As String = Nothing  
                        hr = pShellItem2.GetString(PKEY_Printer_Status, sStatus)  
                        If (hr = HRESULT.S_OK) Then  
                            Console.WriteLine(String.Format(vbTab + "Status : {0}", sStatus))  
                        End If  
                    End If  
                End If  
                'Marshal.ReleaseComObject(pShellItem)  
                nCpt += 1  
            End While  
            Marshal.ReleaseComObject(pShellItem)  
            Marshal.ReleaseComObject(pEnumShellItems)  
        End If  
        Marshal.ReleaseComObject(pShellItemFolder)  
    End If  

with declarations (cannot post here) : IShellItem & IShellItem2

Answer 2

I had posted some code in this thread : Getting status of printer in VB6 WITHOUT printing a job first