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Important: This document is part of the Legacy section of the ADC Reference Library. This information should not be used for new development.

Current information on this Reference Library topic can be found here:

QuickDraw GX 'ptyp' resources

Important for all Apple Printing and Graphics Developers:

The information in this Technical Q & A is still relevant up to and including Mac OS 7.6 with QuickDraw GX 1.1.5. Beginning with the release of Mac OS 8.0, however, Apple plans to deliver a system which incorporates QuickDraw GX graphics and typography only. QuickDraw GX printer drivers and GX printing extensions will not be supported in Mac OS 8.0 or in future Mac OS releases. Apple's goal is to simplify the user experience of printing by unifying the Macintosh graphic and printing architectures and standardizing on the classic Printing Manager.

For details on Apple's official announcement, refer to </dev/technotes/gxchange.html>

Q: I need to fetch 'ptyp' resources using the FetchTaggedData routine, so I can disallow paper sizes which are too big for the current configuration of my printer. How can I do this?

A: To fetch 'ptyp' resources with FetchTaggedData, override the gxDoesPaperFit message. In QuickDraw GX 1.0.x, we only send this message when it is time to configure the input-trays dialog. Version 1.1.1 of GX sends this message whenever a tray reload can occur for a mismatch dialog and for the input-trays dialog. This technique should suffice, since the only thing you need to restrict is the paper that's actually in your printer. For example, users should still be allowed to format for larger sizes and scale down to your printer's actual paper size during a paper mismatch.

[May 01 1995]