ConnectToPrinterDlg function

Article
01/07/2021

The ConnectToPrinterDlg function displays a dialog box that lets users browse and connect to printers on a network. If the user selects a printer, the function attempts to create a connection to it; if a suitable driver is not installed on the server, the user is given the option of creating a printer locally.

Syntax

HANDLE ConnectToPrinterDlg(
  _In_ HWND  hwnd,
  _In_ DWORD Flags
);

Parameters

hwnd [in]: Specifies the parent window of the dialog box.
Flags [in]: This parameter is reserved and must be zero.

Return value

If the function succeeds and the user selects a printer, the return value is a handle to the selected printer.

If the function fails, or the user cancels the dialog box without selecting a printer, the return value is NULL.

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.

The ConnectToPrinterDlg function attempts to create a connection to the selected printer. However, if the server on which the printer resides does not have a suitable driver installed, the function offers the user the option of creating a printer locally. A calling application can determine whether the function has created a printer locally by calling GetPrinter with a PRINTER_INFO_2 structure, then examining that structure's Attributes member.

An application should call DeletePrinter to delete a local printer. An application should call DeletePrinterConnection to delete a connection to a printer.

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