About Print Processors

A print processor works in conjunction with a printer driver to despool data types for the spooler during print spool file playback. For more information about the relationship between print processors and printer drivers, as well as information about the spool file playback process, see the sections that describe the playback of spooled raw files and the playback of spooled EMF files in About the Print Spooler.

Microsoft provides a print processor executable that works with the printer driver shipped with Windows 95. Printer vendors may have to develop another print processor if

• The vendor develops their own driver or
• The vendor supports a data type different than the data types supported by the Microsoft print processor.

IHVs may also want to develop a print processor that provides filter functions.

A print processor developed by a printer vendor is a 32-bit dynamic-link library (DLL) that is called by the local print provider. A print processor must export certain functions to the local print provider and also shares certain global data structures with the local print provider.

After the Windows 95 DDK is installed, sample print processor source code is provided in the Windows 95 DDK sub directory \%DDKROOT%\PRINTER\SAMPLES\SPOOLER\WINPRINT.