VeryDOC Knowledge Base

Question: I need to convert an XPS file I create with my application to a PDF file, what is the best way to do so? I prefer this to be done from inside C# using a managed assembly. Open source is preferred upon third party solutions.

Answer: An open source managed assembly might be hard to find, but you can look for a commercial product that might help. You can have a look at VeryDOC.com, where there is software named VeryDOC XPS to PDF Converter. By this software, you can convert large volumes of XPS files in real-time. XPS to PDF Converter is available via an easily integrated COM object (or DLL Library, or Command Line), enabling developers to access the converter via any programming or scripting languages, such as Visual Basic, C/C++, Delphi, ASP, PHP, C#, .NET, etc.  Please check more information of this software on homepage, in the following part, let us check how to use it.

Step 1. Download XPS to PDF Converter Command Line Developer License

• By this developer version, you can integrate the corresponding SOFTWARE into your developed software and redistribute it with royalty-free. If the SOFTWARE contains source codes, you have the right to modify and reuse the codes under the Developer License.
• When downloading finishes, there will be a zip folder. Please extract it to some folder then you can check elements in it.

Step 2. Convert XPS to PDF in C# application.

• When you use this software, please refer to the usage and examples.
• Here are one example of C#, please have a check.

Make use of the PROCESS class available in SYSTEM.DIOGNOSTICS namaspace, use the following piece of code to execute the xps2pdf.exe file,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Process proc = new Process();
proc.StartInfo.FileName = @"C:\\xps2pdf.exe";
string strArguments = "";
strArguments += " D:\\temp\\sample.xps D:\\temp\\out.pdf";
Console.WriteLine(strArguments);
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = @strArguments;
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
}
}
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sample code #2 (C# example),
Please by following steps to call xps2pdf.exe inside a special user account,
1. Please download and install EXEShell COM Library (freeware) from following URL first,
https://www.verydoc.com/exeshell.html
https://www.verydoc.com/download/exeshell.zip
2. Please use following C# code to run the conversion inside a special user account,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
System.Type otype = System.Type.GetTypeFromProgID("exeshell.shell");
Object o = System.Activator.CreateInstance(otype);
otype.InvokeMember("RunCommandLine", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, null, o,
new object[] { "UserName", "Password", @"C:\xps2pdf.exe ""C:\test.xps"" ""C:\out.pdf""" });
otype = null;
}
}
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remark:
You may encounter Error 1314 in some Windows systems when you switch between user accounts, this is caused by permission setting, please by following steps to solve this 1314 Error,
ERROR 1314:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1314 A required privilege is not held by the client. ERROR_PRIVILEGE_NOT_HELD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To resolve this issue:
1. Click Start, click Run, type "secpol.msc", and then press ENTER.
2. Double-click "Local Policies".
3. Double-click "User Rights Assignment".
4. Double-click "Replace a process level token".
5. Click "Add", and then double-click the "Everyone" group
6. Click "OK".
7. You may have to logout or even reboot to have this change take effect.

If you need to check more examples, please visit homepage. During the using, if you have any question, please contact us as soon as possible.