PrintingHTMLDocuments

How to quickly build an HTML document containing text and graphics and use WebView to print it (Part of the series Mastering Android)

• Dependencies and prerequisites : Android 4.4 (API Level 19) or higher
• The Android framework provides a way to use HTML to compose a document and print it with a minimum of code.
• In Android 4.4 (API level 19), the WebView class has been updated to enable printing HTML content. The class allows you to load a local HTML resource or download a page from the web, create a print job and hand it off to Android's print services.

When using WebView for creating print documents, you should be aware of the following limitations:

• You cannot add headers or footers, including page numbers, to the document.
• The printing options for the HTML document do not include the ability to print page ranges, for example: Printing page 2 to 4 of a 10 page HTML document is not supported.
• An instance of WebView can only process one print job at a time.
• An HTML document containing CSS print attributes, such as landscape properties, is not supported.
• You cannot use JavaScript in a HTML document to trigger printing.

Possible Error

• It is possible that when you click the print button you get "Unfortunately, Print Spooler has stopped". In such a case, the only solution I seem to have come accross is to clear the cache of Print Spooler in the device and then try again.