HybridMail Technical - Printer Driver

The Printer Driver

The Printer Driver is installed by executing the SetupHybridMailPrinterDriver.exe installer program.

This can be downloaded from the downloads page of the website and must be run with Administrator privileges. It installs the HybridMail virtual printer which will appear in the list of Devices and Printers. Once installed:

The printer may be renamed by the user by selecting Printer Properties.
The printer may be shared by the user by selecting Printer Properties | Sharing.
Additional printers may be created by the user by selecting Printing Preferences | Tools | Manage Printers.
The printer operation can be customised by selecting Printing Preferences | Tools | Manage Profiles.

When a document is printed to the HybridMail printer it is first converted to a PDF file and then the MkzClientlauncher app is run. This app copies the PDf file to the specified folder and then launches the specified App. Normally this would be either the Print Client or the PostBox Client, but other Apps are possible.

The MkzClientlauncher app is located in the following folder along with its configuration file. This location and filenames are fixed and cannot be changed.

C:\Program Files\TAone\HybridMail\MkzClientLauncher.exe

C:\Program Files\TAone\HybridMail\MkzClientLauncher.exe.config

The configuration file Schema

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
    <startup> 
        <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.7.2" />
    </startup>
	<appSettings>
		<add key="ClientFolder" value="folder-path-where-PDF-file-will-be-copied"/>
		<add key="ClientExe" value="path-to-app-that-will-be-executed"/>
	</appSettings>
</configuration>

A typical value for the ClientFolder might be:

<add key="ClientFolder" value="C:\HybridMailOutput\PrintFiles"/>

The ClientFolder supports environment variables and the optional substitution variables {PrinterName} and {UserName}. If present, these will be replaced by the name of the printer and the username of the account that printed the file.

E.g. Another typical value for the ClientFolder might be:

<add key="ClientFolder" value="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\HybridMailOutput\PrintFiles\{PrinterName}"/>

In this case, if a document was printed to the HybridMail printer, the PDF file would be copied to the folder

C:\ProgramData\HybridMailOutput\PrintFiles\HybridMail

Whereas, if a document was printed to the HybridMail-FirstClass printer, the PDF file would be copied to the folder

C:\ProgramData\HybridMailOutput\PrintFiles\HybridMail-FirstClass

A typical value for the ClientExe might be:

<add key="ClientExe" value="%ProgramFiles%\TAone\HybridMail\PostBox\mkzPostClient.exe"/>

The ClientExe element supports environment variables

In this case, if a document was printed to the HybridMail printer, the PDF file would be copied to the folder and the PostBox Client App would be launched.

If the ClientExe element is not present, then no App is launched. This situation is highly suitable for a DropFolder Client installation.

Client Apps

Normally the MkzClientlauncher app and the pre-populated configuration file is installed by either the Print Client or the PostBox Client. The user does not need to concern themselves with it. Manual configuration is only required for custom situations.