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Creating Report Print Tasks

A ReportPrintTask represents a single print job — a PDF queued for delivery to a physical printer. JasperWho? does not communicate with printers directly. Instead, it creates the task record, optionally notifies a separate print service via WebSocket, and waits for the service to report back. This page covers how tasks are created, how the status lifecycle works, and how to handle retries.

[SCREENSHOT: JasperWho? — the Report Print Task list, showing entries with status badges, printer names, and linked history records.]

Three Ways to Create a Print Task

1. As Part of a Render Request

The most common path: set createPrintTask: true in the render request body, provide a printerName, and JasperWho? renders the report and dispatches it to the printer in a single call. No second request needed.

POST /api/v1/report-config/A5_KanBan/render

{
  "outputType": "base64",
  "parameters": { "P_ARTICLE_NUMBER": "4561287-154" },
  "data": [ { ... } ],
  "createHistoryRecord": true,
  "createPrintTask": true,
  "printerName": "WarehousePrinter01",
  "numberOfCopies": 1,
  "broadcastId": "Standard"
}

2. From a History Record

A task can be dispatched from any existing ReportHistoryRecord — without re-rendering the report. JasperWho? uses the PDF stored in the history record and creates a new print task from it:

POST /api/v1/report-history-record/{id}/print

{
  "printerName": "WarehousePrinter01",
  "numberOfCopies": 2
}

This is the standard reprint path. See The concept of Report History Records for details.

3. Standalone via the Print Task API

Print tasks can also be created directly — independently of any render or history record. The POST /api/v1/report-print-task endpoint accepts any PDF as a Base64 string, making it possible to use the JasperWho? print infrastructure for documents that were not produced by JasperWho? at all.

POST /api/v1/report-print-task

{
  "fileName":       "delivery_note_5521.pdf",
  "fileBase64":     "JVBERi0xLjQ...",
  "printerName":    "WarehousePrinter01",
  "numberOfCopies": 1,
  "broadcastId":    "Standard"
}

reportConfig and reportHistoryRecord are both optional on this endpoint — the task is created without either relation if they are not provided.

The Data Model

Field Description traceId Unique identifier. Shared with the linked history record when the task was created via a render request. For reprints, a derived trace ID is generated (original + short random suffix). reportConfig The ReportConfig the printed PDF was generated from. Optional — not present for standalone tasks. reportHistoryRecord The linked ReportHistoryRecord. Optional — not present for standalone tasks. printerName The name of the target printer, as the print service expects it. numberOfCopies Number of copies passed to the print service. JasperWho? always renders once — the print service is responsible for duplication. Defaults to 1. broadcastId WebSocket channel ID. If set at creation time, JasperWho? broadcasts a ReportPrintTaskCreated event via Laravel Reverb. Omit to use polling instead. outputFileName The filename of the PDF queued for printing. status Current state of the task. See below. errorMessage Failure detail reported by the print service. null unless status is error.

Status Lifecycle

Every print task starts as pending. The print service picks it up, executes the job, and reports the result back to JasperWho? via the API:

Status Set by Meaning pending JasperWho? Task created, waiting for the print service to pick it up. printed Print service Print job executed and confirmed. error Print service Print job failed. errorMessage contains the failure detail. unknown — Status could not be determined.

The print service reports back using the dedicated status endpoint:

PATCH /api/v1/report-print-task/{id}/set-status

{
  "status": "error",
  "errorMessage": "Printer offline"
}

Resetting to Pending

A task can be reset to pending using the set-printed shortcut endpoint — setting the status flag to false:

PATCH /api/v1/report-print-task/{id}/set-printed/false

This re-queues the task. If the task has a broadcastId, JasperWho? re-broadcasts the ReportPrintTaskCreated event immediately — notifying the print service to pick the task up again without polling. This is the standard retry mechanism for failed or stalled print jobs.

WebSocket vs. Polling

How the print service learns about a new task depends on whether a broadcastId is set.

With broadcastId — JasperWho? broadcasts a ReportPrintTaskCreated event via WebSocket (Laravel Reverb) the moment the task is created. The print service subscribes to the channel identified by broadcastId and reacts immediately. This is the recommended mode for real-time printing — the task reaches the printer within milliseconds of the render completing.

Without broadcastId — No broadcast is sent. The print service must poll GET /api/v1/report-print-task?status=pending at a regular interval and process any tasks it finds. This works fine for workflows where sub-second delivery is not required.

ℹ️ WebSocket delivery requires Laravel Reverb to be running. If Reverb is down, task creation will fail with an error rather than falling back silently to polling. Make sure Reverb is included in your process supervision setup.

Retention and Deletion

Print tasks are automatically purged after a configurable number of days, set via the PURGE_PRINTTASKS_DAYS environment variable (default: 30 days). Purging runs as a scheduled background job — no manual action required.

Individual tasks can also be deleted directly via the API at any time:

DELETE /api/v1/report-print-task/{id}

There are no deletion constraints on print tasks themselves — they can always be removed. However, deleting a print task is a prerequisite for deleting the linked ReportHistoryRecord, which in turn must be cleared before a ReportConfig can be deleted. Automatic purging handles this chain in the background once retention periods expire.

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