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IE/VBScript printing

This snippet of VBScript forces Internet Explorer to print the current page using the default printer, without displaying the usual "print" dialog.

First, create a web browser control somewhere on the page:

Then, to print:

For more information on what this actually does, check out the WebBrowser control documentation here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/browser/webbrowser/reflist_vb.asp

The parameters, in short:

• 6 = IDM_PRINT (i.e. print the current page)
• 2 = OLECMDEXECOPT_DONTPROMPTUSER (i.e. don't prompt)
• 3 = PRINT_DONTBOTHERUSER | PRINT_WAITFORCOMPLETION (self-explanatory)

Notes

• Calling ExecWB from Javascript always produces the dialog - anyone know why?
• As far as I know there's no way of changing the printer used. The MSDN link above refers to "custom print templates" but these aren't accessible from VBScript - you'll need to embed a browser control into a custom C++ app.
• This technique won't work if IE's security settings stop the control from being created.