Get Printer Names

Use the GetPrinterNames method to retrieve all available printers connected to the machine. The method will return a list of printer names in string data type.

Here's an example code of how you might implement the GetPrinterNames method in C#:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing.Printing;

class PrinterUtility
{
    public static List<string> GetPrinterNames()
    {
        // Initialize a list to store printer names.
        List<string> printerNames = new List<string>();

        // Iterate through the installed printers on the machine.
        foreach (string printer in PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters)
        {
            // Add each printer's name to the list.
            printerNames.Add(printer);
        }

        // Return the list of printer names.
        return printerNames;
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        // Retrieve the list of printer names.
        List<string> printers = GetPrinterNames();

        // Display each printer name in the console.
        foreach (string printer in printers)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(printer);
        }
    }
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing.Printing;

class PrinterUtility
{
    public static List<string> GetPrinterNames()
    {
        // Initialize a list to store printer names.
        List<string> printerNames = new List<string>();

        // Iterate through the installed printers on the machine.
        foreach (string printer in PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters)
        {
            // Add each printer's name to the list.
            printerNames.Add(printer);
        }

        // Return the list of printer names.
        return printerNames;
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        // Retrieve the list of printer names.
        List<string> printers = GetPrinterNames();

        // Display each printer name in the console.
        foreach (string printer in printers)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(printer);
        }
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Drawing.Printing

Friend Class PrinterUtility
	Public Shared Function GetPrinterNames() As List(Of String)
		' Initialize a list to store printer names.
		Dim printerNames As New List(Of String)()

		' Iterate through the installed printers on the machine.
		For Each printer As String In PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters
			' Add each printer's name to the list.
			printerNames.Add(printer)
		Next printer

		' Return the list of printer names.
		Return printerNames
	End Function

	Shared Sub Main()
		' Retrieve the list of printer names.
		Dim printers As List(Of String) = GetPrinterNames()

		' Display each printer name in the console.
		For Each printer As String In printers
			Console.WriteLine(printer)
		Next printer
	End Sub
End Class

Explanation:

• Namespaces:

  • System: Provides basic definitions and classes.
  • System.Collections.Generic: Contains interfaces and classes for defining generic collections.
  • System.Drawing.Printing: Provides access to printer settings and printer-related information.

• Method GetPrinterNames:

  • Initializes an empty list printerNames to store the names of the printers.
  • Uses PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters which is a StringCollection that contains the names of all the printers installed on the machine.
  • Iterates over the collection, adding each printer's name to the printerNames list.
  • Returns the list of printer names.
• Main Method:
  • Calls GetPrinterNames() to get the list of printers installed.
  • Iterates through the list and prints each printer's name to the console.

This code snippet provides a simple and effective way to list all printers connected to your machine, which can be quite useful for debugging or managing printer configurations in larger applications.