Unexpected changing of the printername in the template

rbuser

Hello,

I have a problem with an unexpected changing of the printername in the
template which results in changing the layout of the report.

I have a template that contains a general printername 'Medicator' where the
data is placed in the centre of the paper. If the default Windows printer
has also the name 'Medicator' the report is printed correctly. But when the
default Windows printername is something else (this can physically the same
printer with another name) the printername in the template is changed to the
printername of the default Windows printer. And the data will be printed
from the left margin of the paper, no longer in the centre of the paper.

How can I change the name of the default Windows printer without these
unexpected and unwanted changes in the template of my report.

regards,

Hanjo Willems
iSOFT Nederland B.V.

nardmoseley

Correct. If the PrinterSetup.PrinterName does not match any of the installed
printer names on the machine, then the PrinterName is set to 'Default'. When
the report is generatated, the Windows default printer is used.

One simple solution is to use a standard printer name for all of the
installed printers. (However, might not be an option for your environment).

Another solution is to write some code to iterate over the installed
PrinterNames for the machine and find the printer with the similar name.

example: {this is incomplet code - just to give you an idea}

uses
ppPrintr;

for liIndex := 0 to myReport.PrinterSetup.PrinterNames.Count-1 do
begin
lsPrinterName := myReport.PrinterSetup.PrinterNames[liIndex];

if {lsPrinterName is similar to the Medicator} then
myReport.PrinterSetup.PrinterName := lsPrinterName;

end;




--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors
www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hello,

In the original posting I asked also something about the position of the
report on the paper. (And the data will be printed
from the left margin of the paper, no longer in the centre of the paper.)
Because the report must be printed on A5-format paper. The items in the
report are moved to the left side of the paper when the name of the printer
is changed to the default printer. Is it possible that the items have still
the same position (on the centre of the paper) after the printer is changed?

When the lay out will be the same on every printer it is maybe not
nescessary that the printer have always the same name.

regards,
Hanjo Willems
iSOFT Nederland b.v.

nicocizik

Hi Hanjo,

Using Anchors you may be able to get the effect you are after. This will
keep certain objects the same distance away from two adjacent sides of the
report regardless how the margins/page size is changed.

Another option would be to create a report object loop that adjusts each
component based on the size of the paper when it is changed.

http://www.digital-metaphors.com/rbWiki/Delphi_Code/Layouts/Report_Object_Loop

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hello,

I'm still working on this problem. I will try to explain the situation a
little bit more. When the template is designed a printername 'Medicator' is
saved in the template. On the PC where the template is designed is this a
valid printername. The property SavePrinterSetup have still the default
value: false. The label will be printed on A6 paper.
In the application the user can select one of the printers installed on that
PC to print a label. When the selected printer doesn't have the name
'Medicator' the template switched to the default Windows printer and not to
the specified printer that the user has selected in the application.

In the template the printername is: 'Medicator'.
The selected printer is: 'HP Laserjet 1010', this is not the default Windows
printer. This printer have the same paperformats as the printer 'Medicator'.
The printername 'Medicator' is an alias for this HP Laserjet 1010 printer.
It's not an option for us to install on each PC where the application is
running an alias for a printer with the name 'Medicator'.

The label will be printed on the default Windows printer instead of on the
HP Laserjet 1010.
Why is the label printed on the default Windows printer instead of on the HP
Laserjet 1010?

regards,
Hanjo Willems
iSOFT Nederland B.V.

nardmoseley

From your description it sounds like everything is working as designed.

The Report.PrinterSetup information is use always saved as part of the
report definition.

When Report.PrinterSetup.PrinterName cannot be found, then the 'Default'
printer is used. Default refers to the Windows default printer.

In your description you state 'In the application the user can select one of
the printers installed on that
PC to print a label."

Can you clarify how you do that? And how you do apply that information to
the Report.PrinterSetup.PrinterName?



--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors
www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hello Nard,

In the application a list of Windows printers is presented in a combobox,
the user can select one of the printers from this list. The list with
printers is filled with the statement: for Index := 0 to
(Printer.Printers.Count - 1) do
AfwijkendMediComboBox.Items.Add(Printer.Printers[Index]).
Each time the list with printers will be presented to the user is this list
refreshed with the current Windows printers. The selected printer is also
stored as an option in the registry. Each time the printer is selected there
is an check of this printer is still present on the PC, when the printer is
not found the user must select another printer. So the printer that will be
used for printing the labels is always one of the printers available on the
PC. The name of this printer is send to ReportBuilder by setting the
property lPrinterDevice.Printer.PrinterSetup.PrinterName.
lPrinterDevice.Printer.PrinterSetup is filled with FReport.PrinterSetup.

So we find it strange that this printer is not be used when the name of the
printer is not equal to the name of printer in the template. And that the
default Windows printer is used in this case. We want to use the specified
printer and not the default Windows printer. The printername in the template
should not be used, but the specified printername must be used!

regards,
Hanjo Willems
iSOFT Nederland B.V.

nardmoseley

1. To get a list of installed printers you can simply use
Report.PrinterSetup.PrinterNames or access the global TppPrinterList object
by using ppPrinters.

uses
ppPrintr;

myCompbox.Items.Assign(myReport.PrinterSetup.PrinterNames);

or

myComboBox.Items.Assign(ppPrinters.PrinterNames);


2. To rebuild the list of printers available on the machine call

ppPrinters.Refresh;


3. Make sure you first load the report definition and then set the printer
name;

// load the report definition
myReport.LoadFromFile (or LoadFromDatabase);

// refresh the printer list, if needed
ppPrinters.Refresh;

// check whether the selected printer is installed
if (ppPrinters.PrinterNames.IndexOf(myPrinterName) < 0 then
// name not found, need to use Default printer or ask the user
else
begin
// update the report
myReport.PrinterSetup.PrinterName := myPrinterName;

// update the printer device
myPrinterDevice.PrinterSetup := myReport.PrinterSetup;

end;








--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors
www.digital-metaphors.com