onbeforeprint() and onafterprint() equivalent for non IE browsers

Question

I want to send some info back to my database when a user prints a certain web page. I can do this in IE with onbeforeprint() and onafterprint() bu

Answer 1

Many browsers now support window.matchMedia. This API allows you to detect when CSS media queries go into effect (e.g., rotating the screen or printing the document). For a cross-browser approach, combine window.matchMedia with window.onbeforeprint/window.onafterprint.

The following may result in multiple calls to beforePrint() and afterPrint() (for example, Chrome fires the listener every time the print preview is regenerated). This may or may not be desirable depending on the particular processing you're doing in response to the print.

if ('matchMedia' in window) {
    // Chrome, Firefox, and IE 10 support mediaMatch listeners
    window.matchMedia('print').addListener(function(media) {
        if (media.matches) {
            beforePrint();
        } else {
            // Fires immediately, so wait for the first mouse movement
            $(document).one('mouseover', afterPrint);
        }
    });
} else {
    // IE and Firefox fire before/after events
    $(window).on('beforeprint', beforePrint);
    $(window).on('afterprint', afterPrint);
}

More: http://tjvantoll.com/2012/06/15/detecting-print-requests-with-javascript/

Answer 2

I m not sure other browsers will allow you to. You could of course specify an image somewhere in a print stylesheet, which probably only will be called on a print, for the onbeforeprint

Answer 3

I think that it's simply not possible to this properly. Or at least - not with any technology I know nor with any of the answers given previously.

Both using onafterprint and using serverside dynamic-image-generating script would tell you that the page was printed even when the visitor merely went to print preview mode and then canceled out.

However, I would like to learn how to get the proper information, so that I can be sure that page was actually printed.

Answer 4

Try masking the native window.print() with your own...

// hide our vars from the global scope
(function(){

  // make a copy of the native window.print
  var _print = this.print;

  // create a new window.print
  this.print = function () {
    // if `onbeforeprint` exists, call it.
    if (this.onbeforeprint) onbeforeprint(this); 
    // call the original `window.print`.
    _print(); 
    // if `onafterprint` exists, call it.
    if (this.onafterprint) onafterprint(this);
  }

}())

Updated: comments.