Posted by Robert G Laurin on July 25, 2007 at 06:35:49:
In Reply to: Re: Windows Printer Properties posted by Gerrry B on July 24, 2007 at 13:53:14:
My understanding is that the Spooler does not retain nor re-send any printer mnemonics that are Windows based. The solution if your reports are not Windows reports and if all your printers are PCL compatible printers is to send the PCL Escape Sequence to set orientation, select paper (size and/or trays) and even change fonts. It is a lot easier than using the Windows stuff but it is requires all printers to be PCL compatible. All the printing is done in RAW mode.
I've been using PCL codes for over 25 years now and I am now slowly changing everything to Windows printing. This allow reports to print the same on ALL windows printers (PCL Laser, MAC Lasers, Inkjet, Deskjet, MFP and all...) Since the selected font comes from Windows we don't have to worry about the printer having the font installed. This is true for the innexpensive laser printers that have just a few fonts and not much in fixed-spacing. We chose the LetterGothic font because it has a good width to height ratio and is fixed-pitch. It does not come with Windows but can be found on all HP printers installation CDs. Windows printing also allows the printing to be "adjusted" to the actual printer's printable area (good for site using either Letter, legal or A4).
I've been thinking of writing a routine to spool Windows mnemonics and an Un-spooler that would do the magic. Think of it, you print your report headers and the send continuous data and the spooler will break it up for you depending of paper size and printable area... This is a fun project to do on a boring day... I already have libraries that will initialize everything based on my required width (# of characters in column headers) and will take control of all printing. hum... this would be great for the reporter... Oh well !