[GIS] Which API should we use for printing a PageLayout

arcgis-10.0arcgis-enginearcobjectsdevelopmentprinting

We are building an standalone ArcGIS Engine application and we are going to add support for printing.

There are several APIs for printing a PageLayout in ArcObjects, in ArcGIS 10 there are at least three different ways to do this:

The new PrintAndExport class, in
the documentation they seem to
promote this API Conceptual help –
Printing maps.
It's also possible to print a
layout using the PrintPageLayout method PageLayoutControl Sample: Printing with the PageLayoutControl
But also Output method on IActiveView can be used.

Can someone give recommendations on which API we should choose? Is there any known pitfalls in these APIs?

Update:
Found one pitfall during my research:

When working with ArcGIS Server layers, only PrintAndExport draw the patches/swatches on the legend when printing the layout.

Best Answer

PrintAndExport is the recommended approach at ArcGIS 10. This class was not just added for data driven pages support. It was added as a wrapper method to simplify print and export for developers. In addition to wrapping many COM calls, it also handles many of the GDI/Win32 calls that are needed for correct printing and exporting.

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ArcGIS Progress – Showing Progress in ArcGIS Engine Application

The code below works for me. If you load a new map, you'll need to re-wire your events. Maybe try start animating when IDisplayEvents.Start fires (and IViewRefresh.Drawing is true). Then stop animating when IActiveViewEvents.AfterDraw fires with drawPhase == esriViewDrawPhase.esriViewForeground.

private IDisplayEvents_Event m_dispevt;
private IActiveViewEvents_Event m_avEvt;
private int m_lastTick;
private void WireEvents(IMap map)
{
    Debug.Print("wiring");
    m_dispevt = ((IActiveView)map).ScreenDisplay as IDisplayEvents_Event;
    m_dispevt.DisplayStarted += new IDisplayEvents_DisplayStartedEventHandler(MainForm_DisplayStarted);
    m_dispevt.DisplayFinished += new IDisplayEvents_DisplayFinishedEventHandler(MainForm_DisplayFinished);
    m_dispevt.DisplayInvalidated += new IDisplayEvents_DisplayInvalidatedEventHandler(MainForm_DisplayInvalidated);
    m_dispevt.DisplayScrolled += new IDisplayEvents_DisplayScrolledEventHandler(MainForm_DisplayScrolled);
    m_avEvt = (IActiveViewEvents_Event)map;
    m_avEvt.AfterDraw += new IActiveViewEvents_AfterDrawEventHandler(m_avEvt_AfterDraw);
    m_avEvt.AfterItemDraw += new IActiveViewEvents_AfterItemDrawEventHandler(m_avEvt_AfterItemDraw);
}

void m_avEvt_AfterItemDraw(short Index, IDisplay Display, esriDrawPhase phase)
{
    Debug.Print("afteritemdraw {0} {1}", Index, phase);
}

void m_avEvt_AfterDraw(IDisplay Display, esriViewDrawPhase phase)
{
    if(phase == esriViewDrawPhase.esriViewForeground)
        Debug.Print("foreground finished afterdraw {0} {1} msecs", phase, Environment.TickCount - m_lastTick);
    if (phase == esriViewDrawPhase.esriViewBackground)
        m_lastTick = Environment.TickCount;
}

void MainForm_DisplayScrolled(IDisplay Display, int deltaX, int deltaY)
{
    Debug.Print("scrolled");
}

void MainForm_DisplayInvalidated(IDisplay Display, ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.IEnvelope rect, bool erase, short cacheID)
{
    Debug.Print("invalidated");
}

void MainForm_DisplayFinished(IDisplay Display)
{
    Debug.Print("finished");
}

void MainForm_DisplayStarted(IDisplay Display)
{
    Debug.Print("started {0}", ((IViewRefresh)axMapControl1.Map).Drawing);
}

ArcObjects – Using Custom Map Tiles via ArcObjects in ArcGIS 10 Desktop AddIn

I think that you're looking at implementing a custom layer. I don't know how else you'd render data inside ArcMap. Outside of a purely academic exercise, I haven't done it. There's a starter page of info available here, with a list of minimal interfaces you'd need to implement. On the plus side, there is a developer sample. The down-side is that you're treading into seriously non-trivial development territory. Fun, but non-trivial.

Or you could look at what the guys on the ArcBruTile codeplex project have done, which looks an awful lot like what you're attempting.

Best Answer

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ArcGIS Progress – Showing Progress in ArcGIS Engine Application

ArcObjects – Using Custom Map Tiles via ArcObjects in ArcGIS 10 Desktop AddIn

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