Printing with Attributes(Tray Control, Duplex, etc...) using javax.print library
The problem is that the the Java print API is a bridge between worlds. Printer manufacturers don't release drivers for the JVM. They release drivers for Windows, Macintosh, and maybe someone has a a driver for a given printer that works on one or more *nix platforms.
Along you come with some Java code running inside a JVM on some host system. When you start querying the printer features, you aren't talking to the printers -- you are talking to a bridge class in java.awt.print that hook into the JVM, which hooks to the host operating system, which hooks into whatever particular driver was installed for a given printer. So there are several places where this can fall apart... The particular JVM you are on may or may not fully implement the API for querying printer features, let alone passing those parameters along for a given job.
A few suggestions:
- look into the javax.print classes as an alternative to java.awt.print -- I've had more luck printing from there.
- try using alternative print drivers for your printers -- you can define multiple named connections to a given printer, each with a different driver. If you've got a manufacturer provided driver, try a more generic driver, if you've got a generic driver, try to install a more specific one.
- run your code under alternate JVM implementations for your platform
So, we inevitably found a way to print to different trays and with different settings, but not directly. We found it impossible to send attributes via the printJob.print method, and that much hasn't changed. However, we were able to set the name of the print job, then intercept the print job with a low-level Perl script, parse the name, and set the tray and duplex settings there. It's an extreme hack, but it works. It still remains true that Java Printer Attributes do not work, and you will need to find another way if you want to set them.