Print is not as Previewed

rbuser

I have version 6.03 standard. On most printers the reports preview and
print exactly as previewed. But I have a client with an HP Laser (not
inkjet) in which the report previews perfectly but occasionally lines are
dropped on the printout. Usually the first line of a memo field.


Rick Neubrander

digitalmetaphors

There was a problem in RB 6.03 in which reports may not regenerate when sent
to a non default printer. Try testing with RB 7 as the first step. You can
download the demo version of RB 7 to test the first 5 pages before buying
the full upgrade. www.digital-metaphors.com


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

rbuser

We have a similar problem using 4.5. We always see loaded graphics in the
preview, but only an unpredictable half of the graphics actually print. I
tried the demo of 7 and got the same results. Also tried toggling
transparency and direct draw. The printers are HP 1000 or 1200s. Same
effect from XP or 98 boxes. I'm looking for ideas. BTW, this appears to
happen only in a subreport and is unrelated to the number of graphics on the
page.

digitalmetaphors

The first step is to download the latest printer drivers. Then let's take
your application out of the equation. Create a new application which only
prints this one report. How does this print? If it prints ok, then check
for resource leaks in your main application using a memory watch tool such
as AutomatedQA or TurboPower Sleuth QA. Can you test on any other printers?


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

rbuser

I decided to eliminate the print driver issue. I used the MS Publisher
Imagesetter print driver and output a postscript file. The results were the
same random disappearance of graphics. I also trimmed the application down
to the minimum I needed to run the report--No change. The image that
randomly disappears is in a detail section. The rest of the detail section
always prints. Sometimes it will print 10 good detail records then quit for
2 or 3 then resume printing the images. Other times it will skip a whole
page. I'll look into the memory leak issue as soon as I learn how. Any
other ideas are welcome.

digitalmetaphors

Can you generate the report to an archive file and then print the archive
file using the TppArchiveReader? If you can preview the images in the
archive reader, then that means that you can build a test application that
simply is a form, button and an archive reader component the prints the
report archive file. If you still get the error on the printer using the
test archive app, then you can send the simple archive reader project and
archive file to us at support@digital-metaphors.com and we can try to print
the report archive here on our printers.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

rbuser

Ok, I generated the report to archive and then read/printed it with
tppArchiveReader and it printed perfectly (this is good!). So I changed my
application code to first output the archive file and then print it with
tppArchiveReader. Everything seems to be OK. I'm not sure what to think.
This gets me past my current issue, but still seems like voodoo programming.
Do you want to follow up on this any more?

digitalmetaphors

Your main application is either using most of the resources on the machine
or it is leaking resources, to the point where the images can't be printed
form the main app. When printing from archive, the images are still the same
size and they are printing using the same printer device class in RB.
Printing from archive simply takes your app out of the equation. Now you can
run a memory watching tool over your app to see if you are indeed leaking
memory/resources which could be affecting the amount of resources available.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors