dotnet/wpf · error · PrintJobException

PrintSystemException.PrintSystemJobInfo.Generic

Error message

PrintSystemException.PrintSystemJobInfo.Generic

What it means

A generic print-job exception raised when PrintQueueStream.AbortOrCancel encounters an InternalPrintSystemException while attempting to abort or cancel the underlying spooler job. The original HRESULT is preserved in a PrintSystemException with message key PrintSystemException.PrintSystemJobInfo.Generic, so the real Win32/spooler error code must be read from the exception's HResult.

Solutions

Read the HResult on the caught PrintSystemException to identify the underlying Win32 print error
Guard against double-abort: only call Abort/Cancel once per stream and only while the job is still active
Verify the Print Spooler service is running (services.msc) when aborts fail spuriously
Catch PrintSystemException around Abort/Cancel and treat 'job not found' style HRESULTs as already-aborted

Example fix

// before
stream.Abort();
// after
try { stream.Abort(); }
catch (PrintSystemException ex) when (ex.InnerException is Win32Exception w && w.NativeErrorCode == 87) { /* job gone; ignore */ }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (stream == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(stream));
if (stream.JobIdentifier <= 0) throw new InvalidOperationException("Stream has no active job");

Type guard

static bool CanAbort(PrintQueueStream s) => s != null && s.JobIdentifier > 0;

Try / catch

try { stream.Abort(); }
catch (PrintSystemException ex) { Log(ex.HResult); /* job likely already gone */ }

Prevention

Only Abort jobs that are still active (check JobStatus)
Never call Abort/Cancel more than once per stream
Verify the Print Spooler service is running before job manipulation
Map the preserved HResult to the Win32 error to diagnose the abort failure

When it happens

Trigger: Calling PrintQueueStream.Abort or Cancel (which route to AbortOrCancel) when the internal thunk calls into the print spooler fail - e.g. the job handle is invalid, the job already completed or was deleted, or the spooler returns an error.

Common situations: Aborting a stream after the job already finished printing; double-Abort on the same stream; spooler service (Spooler SVC) stopped or restarted mid-operation; job deleted by another process.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/wpf@81131a70a4 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2c185c0aefbb4db1. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Microsoft.DotNet.Wpf/src/System.Printing/CPP/src/PremiumPrintStream.cpp:415

                        // last commit operation and get reset to 0 as the data is commited.
                        // If interleaving is not enabled we write the data when the stream is closed,
                        // in which case bytesToCommit should be the total length of the stream.
                        //
                        CommitDataToPrinter();

                        printerThunkHandler->ThunkEndDocPrinter();

                        delete printerThunkHandler;
                        printerThunkHandler = nullptr;
                        jobIdentifier = 0;
                        bytesToCommit = 0;
                        bytesPreviouslyCommited = 0;
                        printerThunkHandler = nullptr;
                    }
                }
                catch (InternalPrintSystemException^ internalException)
                {
                    throw PrintSystemJobInfo::CreatePrintJobException(internalException->HResult,
                                                  "PrintSystemException.PrintSystemJobInfo.Generic");
                }
            }
        }
        __finally
        {
            this->streamClosed = true;
            System::Threading::Monitor::Exit(accessVerifier);
        }
    }
}

Int32
PrintQueueStream::JobIdentifier::
get(
    void
    )
{

View on GitHub (pinned to 81131a70a4)