[python-win32] problem getting printer status in Windows

[Tim Golden]

Alec Bennett wrote:
> I'm having trouble getting the printer status in Windows. 
> Ideally I'd like to get the info contained in the "Status" column 
> when you open a printer from the Windows control panel --> printers.

Generally, altho' not always, questions like this have an answer
which starts with "WMI". In this case I'm not absolutely convinced,
but it looks quite good. Guessing that the Win32_Printer class is
what you want leads to this:

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394363(VS.85).aspx

and the PrinterStatus or ExtendedPrinterStatus attributes which 
looks handy. So...

<code>
import wmi

c = wmi.WMI ()
for p in c.Win32_Printer ():
  print p.Caption, p.Printerstatus

</code>
  
Frankly I've no idea if it's any more or less reliable than your
other method; maybe someone who's done more printer-related work
can chip in here. But it at least opens an alternative avenue
for you to look at.

TJG