For JDK 1.3, the JobAttributes and
PageAttributes classes were introduced to AWT printing
so that client applications could specify the properties of a print
job and the attributes of a page.
The two APIs primarily support page imaging, which is the
rendering and formatting of a page and is one component of a
printing subsystem. Although a client can choose a printer from a
print dialog and can specify printing attributes using
JobAttributes and PageAttributes, neither the AWT nor Java 2D
printing APIs support discovery of printers based on their
capabilities, which is another key component of any printing
subsystem. For more details on the history of printing on the Java
platform refer to Printing
Help for Java Developers.
JDK 1.2 introduced advanced printing on the Java platform with the
java.awt.print package, which enables applications to
print all Java 2D graphics, which includes 2D graphics, text, and
images.
Basic printing support for the Java platform was first
introduced in the Java Development Kit, version 1.1. The JDK 1.1
printing API provided developers with a basic framework for
printing the user-interface content from client applications. JDK
1.1 printing, also called the AWT Printing API, was designed around
the java.awt.PrintJob class, which encapsulates a
printing request. The PrintJob class creates a
subclass of Graphics, which implements the rendering
calls to image the page.
