Provides classes for implementing print support in applications and also contains all base classes and abstractions involved in printing. These base classes are also used by other more specialized printing related packages.
The entry point for interacting with the print system is the {@link android.print.PrintManager} which is a system service that can be obtained from the current context. The print manager provides APIs for printing, querying the state of print jobs, etc.
An application that wants to implement printing must extend {@link android.print.PrintDocumentAdapter} which defines the contract between the system and the application.The key idea behind this adapter is that the printed content may change based on the selected print options, such as media size, orientation, which requires the content to be re-laid out. The constraints according to which the content has to be laid out are encapsulated in the {@link android.print.PrintAttributes} class. Once layout is completed the application calls back to the system passing a {@link android.print.PrintDocumentInfo} instance which describes the generated content. After the content has been laid out the application may be asked to render some pages of that content for preview or printing. The range of pages that have to be rendered is abstracted by the {@link android.print.PageRange} class.
A print job is represented by the {@link android.print.PrintJob} class which has behavior methods as well as methods for querying its state. Each print job has a unique id represented by the {@link android.print.PrintJobId} class and exposes APIs for obtaining a {@link android.print.PrintJobInfo} which is a snapshot of its state. The print job state may change over time.
An available printer represented by the {@link android.print.PrinterInfo} class has a unique id which is abstracted by the {@link android.print.PrinterId} class. The {@link android.print.PrinterInfo} contains printer properties such as id, name, description, status, and printer capabilities encapsulated in the {@link android.print.PrinterCapabilitiesInfo} class. Printer capabilities describe how a printer can print content, for example what are the supported media sizes, color modes, resolutions, etc.