AddPrinterConnection function

Article
01/07/2021

The AddPrinterConnection function adds a connection to the specified printer for the current user.

Syntax

BOOL AddPrinterConnection(
  _In_ LPTSTR pName
);

Parameters

pName [in]: A pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of a printer to which the current user wishes to establish a connection.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is a nonzero value.

If the function fails, the return value is zero.

Remarks

Note

This is a blocking or synchronous function and might not return immediately. How quickly this function returns depends on run-time factors such as network status, print server configuration, and printer driver implementation factors that are difficult to predict when writing an application. Calling this function from a thread that manages interaction with the user interface could make the application appear to be unresponsive.

When Windows makes a connection to a printer, it may need to copy printer driver files to the server to which the printer is attached. If the user does not have permission to copy files to the appropriate location, the AddPrinterConnection function fails, and GetLastError returns ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED.

A printer connection established by calling AddPrinterConnection will be enumerated when EnumPrinters is called with dwType set to PRINTER_ENUM_CONNECTION.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Header	Winspool.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Winspool.lib
DLL	Winspool.drv
Unicode and ANSI names	AddPrinterConnectionW (Unicode) and AddPrinterConnectionA (ANSI)