SAIF.Services.Printing operations and processes¶

This page is the operation catalog and cross-operation hub for SAIF.Services.Printing. The library exposes nine operations across two independent transport paths — an xPression SOAP/MSMQ path (clsPrint, consumed directly or through the IReport/ReportBase workflow) and an SSRS SOAP path (clsRSPrint) — plus a standalone XML serialization step used to prepare xPression payloads. Each operation's detailed, step-by-step logic lives in its own page under operations/.

Operation catalog¶

Operation	Intent	Trigger	Inputs	Outputs	Rules
Preview document via xPression	Render xPression output as preview bytes, via design-mode PDF preview or profile-based document preview	Caller invokes `clsPrint.previewPDF` or `previewDocument`	Package name, XML payload, optional output profile	Preview byte array	BR-007
Print rendered PDF	Send an already-rendered PDF byte array to the configured printer	Caller invokes `clsPrint.printPDF` with rendered bytes	PDF bytes, printer settings	Boolean success	—
Distribute document (synchronous or asynchronous)	Send a distribution request directly to xPression or queue it transactionally in MSMQ	Caller invokes `clsPrint.distributeDocument`	Package name, XML payload, printer and delivery settings	Boolean success	BR-001, BR-002, BR-007
Render report	Create or reuse rendered report bytes through the `IReport` workflow	Caller invokes `ReportBase.Render`, or `Print`/`Distribute`/`Save` invoke it internally	Report package, report XML (via `Create`), output profile	Cached rendered bytes	BR-003, BR-004
Print report	Render if needed, then print through `clsPrint`	Caller invokes `ReportBase.Print`	Printer name, optional overwrite flag	Boolean success	BR-004
Distribute report	Create report XML if needed, then distribute it through `clsPrint`	Caller invokes `ReportBase.Distribute`	Optional overwrite flag	Boolean success	BR-001
Save report	Render if needed and persist report bytes to disk	Caller invokes `ReportBase.Save`	Destination file path, optional overwrite flag	Saved file	BR-004
Preview SSRS report	Render a parameterized SSRS report through the SOAP execution service	Caller invokes `clsRSPrint.PreviewDocument`	Report path, optional parameters, selected format	Rendered report bytes	BR-006
Serialize XDesign XML tree	Convert the report XML tree into xPression-compatible markup, propagating keys	Caller invokes `XDesignXDocument.ToXpression` or `XDesignXElement.ToXpression`	`XDesignXDocument` or `XDesignXElement`	Serialized XML text	—

Process flow diagram¶

The following diagram shows how a consumer moves from an IReport-derived report through rendering to print, distribution, or saving, and how the standalone xPression and SSRS entry points relate to it.

flowchart TD
    Start([Consumer holds an IReport<br>or calls clsPrint/clsRSPrint directly]) --> Which{Which workflow?}
    Which -->|IReport workflow| Render[Render report:<br>Create XML, resolve printer,<br>call preview service]
    Render --> Serialize[Serialize XDesign XML tree<br>ToXpression]
    Serialize --> Action{Caller action?}
    Action -->|Print| Print[Print report]
    Action -->|Distribute| Dist[Distribute report]
    Action -->|Save| Save[Save report]
    Print --> PrintPDF[Print rendered PDF]
    Dist --> DistDoc[Distribute document<br>sync or async]
    Which -->|Direct xPression call| PreviewDirect[Preview document via xPression]
    Which -->|Direct xPression call| DistDoc
    Which -->|Direct xPression call| PrintPDF
    Which -->|SSRS| SSRS[Preview SSRS report]

Database interactions¶

SAIF.Services.Printing does not perform any direct database access. All operations communicate with the xPression document-generation SOAP service, an MSMQ queue, or the SSRS ReportExecutionService SOAP endpoint; no database-tables.md or SQL catalog exists for this library.

Failure and edge-case behavior¶

Render report returns False and records an ErrorDetail when exceptions occur during rendering, and also returns False without an error entry when report XML or the report package is missing after Create.
Print report and Save report do not proceed to print or write a file when rendered bytes are unavailable after a render attempt.
clsRSPrint.DistributeDocument always throws NotImplementedException (BR-006); SSRS reports must be distributed through the xPression-based Distribute document (synchronous or asynchronous) operation instead.
Asynchronous Distribute document (synchronous or asynchronous) aborts its MSMQ transaction on exceptions before re-throwing the error (BR-002).
Save report does not guard against a Nothing rendered-bytes array before writing to disk if rendering failed silently.**

Note: Statements marked with * were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts. Statements marked with ** could not be confirmed; treat as unknown until verified.

Sources¶

Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\clsPrint.vb
Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\clsRSPrint.vb
Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\Reporting\ReportBase.vb
Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\Reporting\IReport.vb
Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\Reporting\XDesignXDocument.vb
Services\SAIF.Services.Printing\Reporting\XDesignXElement.vb