Inside Macintosh: QuickDraw GX Printing Extensions and Drivers /

Chapter 6 - Printing Resources / Printing Resources Reference

Resources Used for Printing Extensions and Printer Drivers

The Printing Alert ('plrt') Resource

You need to include a printing alert resource to define the messages that require user attention during the printing process. Figure 6-3 shows the structure of the printing alert resource.

Figure 6-3 The printing alert resource

The printing alert resource contains a number of fields that you can use to define alert messages for display to the user in printing alert boxes.

• Alert version. The type of printing alert that this resource represents. There are currently 2 versions, as shown in Table 6-4.
• Icon ID. The type of icon to display in the upper-left corner of the alert. The icon types are shown in Table 6-5.
• Text size. The size of the text to display in the alert. You can use the value defaultSystemSize to indicate that the default text size for the system is to be used.
• Default button. The string to display on the default button. You use one of the values shown in Table 6-7.
• Cancel button. The string to display on the cancel button. You use one of the values shown in Table 6-7.
• Text string. The string to display in the alert window.
• Action button label. The string that is displayed on the action button. This is a required value.
• Button label 2. The string that is displayed on button 2. This is an optional value.
• Button label 3. The string that is displayed on button 3. This is an optional value.
• Font name. The name of the font used to display the text in this alert.
• Alert title. The title displayed for this alert.

Table 6-4 shows the constants that you can use to specify which kind of printing alert you are defining.

Table 6-4 Printing alert versions

Constant	Value	Explanation
printingAlert	1	Produces a modal alert dialog box
printingStatus	2	Produces a printing alert box that can only be used with QuickDraw GX printing

Table 6-5 shows the constants that you can use to specify the icon ID for a printing
alert resource.

Table 6-5 Icon IDs for a printing alert resource

Constant	Value	Explanation
noIcon	-1	No icon is displayed
stopIcon	0	The stop icon is displayed
noteIcon	1	The note icon is displayed
cautionIcon	2	The caution icon is displayed

Table 6-7 shows the constants that you can use to specify the default button strings in a printing alert resource.

Table 6-6 Default button string values for a printing alert resource

Constant	Value	Explanation
noDefaultTitle	0	There is no default button
defaultAction	1	Use the action button label string
defaultTitle2	2	Use the button label 2 string
defaultTitle3	3	Use the button label 3 string

Table 6-7 shows the constants that you can use to specify the cancel button strings in a printing alert resource.

Table 6-7 Cancel button string values for a printing alert resource

Constant	Value	Explanation
noCancelTitle	0	There is no cancel button
cancelAction	1	Use the action button label string
cancelTitle2	2	Use the button label 2 string
cancelTitle3	3	Use the button label 3 string

Listing 6-4 shows an example of a printing alert resource.

Listing 6-4 An example of a printing alert resource

resource 'plrt' (kDriverStatus, sysHeap, purgeable)
{
   printingStatus,
   cautionIcon,
   defaultSystemSize,
   defaultAction,
   noCancelTitle,
   "The document "!1" cannot be printed, because the printer "   ""!0" is offline.  To continue printing, please make "   "sure the printer is "   "properly connected and turned on.  If you wish "   "to cancel printing, please click Cancel Printing.",
   "Cancel Printing",
   "",
   "",
   " ",
   "Printer offline"};

This resource defines the contents of the printing alert box that corresponds to the second entry in the status resource that is shown in Listing 6-3 on page 6-21. The printing alert box contains a caution icon and a Cancel button. The text is displayed using the default system font and text size.

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