Interface PrintService is the factory for a DocPrintJob. A PrintService describes the capabilities of a Printer and can be queried regarding a printer's supported attributes.

Example:

DocFlavor flavor = DocFlavor.INPUT_STREAM.POSTSCRIPT;
   PrintRequestAttributeSet aset = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet();
   aset.add(MediaSizeName.ISO_A4);
   PrintService[] pservices =
                 PrintServiceLookup.lookupPrintServices(flavor, aset);
   if (pservices.length > 0) {
       DocPrintJob pj = pservices[0].createPrintJob();
       try {
           FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("test.ps");
           Doc doc = new SimpleDoc(fis, flavor, null);
           pj.print(doc, aset);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException fe) {
        } catch (PrintException e) {
        }
   }

Determines the print data formats a client can specify when setting up a job for this PrintService. A print data format is designated by a "doc flavor" (class DocFlavor) consisting of a MIME type plus a print data representation class.

Note that some doc flavors may not be supported in combination with all attributes. Use getUnsupportedAttributes(..) to validate specific combinations.

Determines if this print service supports a specific DocFlavor. This is a convenience method to determine if the DocFlavor would be a member of the result of getSupportedDocFlavors().

Note that some doc flavors may not be supported in combination with all attributes. Use getUnsupportedAttributes(..) to validate specific combinations.

Determines the printing attribute categories a client can specify when setting up a job for this print service. A printing attribute category is designated by a Class that implements interface Attribute. This method returns just the attribute categories that are supported; it does not return the particular attribute values that are supported.

This method returns all the printing attribute categories this print service supports for any possible job. Some categories may not be supported in a particular context (ie for a particular DocFlavor). Use one of the methods that include a DocFlavor to validate the request before submitting it, such as getSupportedAttributeValues(..).

Determines whether a client can specify the given printing attribute category when setting up a job for this print service. A printing attribute category is designated by a Class that implements interface Attribute. This method tells whether the attribute category is supported; it does not tell whether a particular attribute value is supported.

Some categories may not be supported in a particular context (ie for a particular DocFlavor). Use one of the methods which include a DocFlavor to validate the request before submitting it, such as getSupportedAttributeValues(..).

This is a convenience method to determine if the category would be a member of the result of getSupportedAttributeCategories().

Determines this print service's default printing attribute value in the given category. A printing attribute value is an instance of a class that implements interface Attribute. If a client sets up a print job and does not specify any attribute value in the given category, this Print Service will use the default attribute value instead.

Some attributes may not be supported in a particular context (ie for a particular DocFlavor). Use one of the methods that include a DocFlavor to validate the request before submitting it, such as getSupportedAttributeValues(..).

Not all attributes have a default value. For example the service will not have a defaultvalue for RequestingUser i.e. a null return for a supported category means there is no service default value for that category. Use the isAttributeCategorySupported(Class) method to distinguish these cases.

Determines the printing attribute values a client can specify in the given category when setting up a job for this print service. A printing attribute value is an instance of a class that implements interface Attribute.

If flavor is null and attributes is null or is an empty set, this method returns all the printing attribute values this Print Service supports for any possible job. If flavor is not null or attributes is not an empty set, this method returns just the printing attribute values that are compatible with the given doc flavor and/or set of attributes. That is, a null return value may indicate that specifying this attribute is incompatible with the specified DocFlavor. Also if DocFlavor is not null it must be a flavor supported by this PrintService, else IllegalArgumentException will be thrown.

If the attributes parameter contains an Attribute whose category is the same as the category parameter, the service must ignore this attribute in the AttributeSet.

DocAttributes which are to be specified on the Doc must be included in this set to accurately represent the context.

This method returns an Object because different printing attribute categories indicate the supported attribute values in different ways. The documentation for each printing attribute in package javax.print.attribute.standard describes how each attribute indicates its supported values. Possible ways of indicating support include:

• Return a single instance of the attribute category to indicate that any value is legal -- used, for example, by an attribute whose value is an arbitrary text string. (The value of the returned attribute object is irrelevant.)
• Return an array of one or more instances of the attribute category, containing the legal values -- used, for example, by an attribute with a list of enumerated values. The type of the array is an array of the specified attribute category type as returned by its getCategory(Class).
• Return a single object (of some class other than the attribute category) that indicates bounds on the legal values -- used, for example, by an integer-valued attribute that must lie within a certain range.

Determines whether a client can specify the given printing attribute value when setting up a job for this Print Service. A printing attribute value is an instance of a class that implements interface Attribute.

If flavor is null and attributes is null or is an empty set, this method tells whether this Print Service supports the given printing attribute value for some possible combination of doc flavor and set of attributes. If flavor is not null or attributes is not an empty set, this method tells whether this Print Service supports the given printing attribute value in combination with the given doc flavor and/or set of attributes.

Also if DocFlavor is not null it must be a flavor supported by this PrintService, else IllegalArgumentException will be thrown.

DocAttributes which are to be specified on the Doc must be included in this set to accurately represent the context.

This is a convenience method to determine if the value would be a member of the result of getSupportedAttributeValues(...).

Identifies the attributes that are unsupported for a print request in the context of a particular DocFlavor. This method is useful for validating a potential print job and identifying the specific attributes which cannot be supported. It is important to supply only a supported DocFlavor or an IllegalArgumentException will be thrown. If the return value from this method is null, all attributes are supported.

DocAttributes which are to be specified on the Doc must be included in this set to accurately represent the context.

If the return value is non-null, all attributes in the returned set are unsupported with this DocFlavor. The returned set does not distinguish attribute categories that are unsupported from unsupported attribute values.

A supported print request can then be created by removing all unsupported attributes from the original attribute set, except in the case that the DocFlavor is unsupported.

If any attributes are unsupported only because they are in conflict with other attributes then it is at the discretion of the service to select the attribute(s) to be identified as the cause of the conflict.

Use isDocFlavorSupported() to verify that a DocFlavor is supported before calling this method.

Determines if two services are referring to the same underlying service. Objects encapsulating a print service may not exhibit equality of reference even though they refer to the same underlying service.

Clients should call this method to determine if two services are referring to the same underlying service.

Services must implement this method and return true only if the service objects being compared may be used interchangeably by the client. Services are free to return the same object reference to an underlying service if that, but clients must not depend on equality of reference.