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Quickstart Headless

Use this flow when you want PDF generation, preview creation, or adapter smoke tests without presenting interactive UI.

1. Add the packages you need

dotnet add package PrintingTools.Core
dotnet add package PrintingTools.Linux

The same pattern applies for PrintingTools.Windows or PrintingTools.MacOS.

2. Configure the registry directly

using PrintingTools.Core;
using PrintingTools.Linux;

PrintServiceRegistry.Configure(new PrintingToolsOptions
{
    AdapterFactory = () => new LinuxPrintAdapter(),
    EnablePreview = true,
    DiagnosticSink = evt =>
        Console.WriteLine($"[{evt.Category}] {evt.Message}")
});

3. Request a non-interactive session

var manager = PrintServiceRegistry.EnsureManager();

var request = new PrintRequest(PrintDocument.FromVisual(printRoot))
{
    Description = "CI validation run",
    Options = new PrintOptions
    {
        ShowPrintDialog = false,
        PdfOutputPath = "artifacts/output.pdf",
        UseVectorRenderer = true
    },
    Ticket = PrintTicketModel.CreateDefault()
};

var session = await manager.RequestSessionAsync(request);
var preview = await manager.CreatePreviewAsync(session);
await manager.PrintAsync(session);

4. Validate the output

  • Inspect PdfOutputPath output.
  • Serialize preview or harness metrics when you need regression checks.
  • Route diagnostics to STDOUT or a structured log sink so CI failures carry enough context.

Existing harness examples

Harness Command
Windows dotnet run -c Release --project samples/WindowsPrintHarness/WindowsPrintHarness.csproj -- --output=artifacts/windows/output.pdf --metrics=artifacts/windows/metrics.json --stress=3
macOS dotnet run -c Release --project samples/MacSandboxHarness/MacSandboxHarness.csproj -- --headless --output=artifacts/macos/output.pdf --metrics=artifacts/macos/metrics.json --stress=3
Linux GTK_USE_PORTAL=1 GIO_USE_PORTALS=1 dotnet run -c Release --project samples/LinuxSandboxHarness/LinuxSandboxHarness.csproj -- --print --output=artifacts/linux/output.pdf --metrics=artifacts/linux/metrics.json --stress=3