Access Cookbook, 2nd Edition [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Recipe 5.4 Programmatically Change Printer Options

5.4.1 Problem

You've tried using

SendKeys to change printing options in the File
Setup Page dialog, but this really isn't
satisfactory. Sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn't, depending on the circumstances and the
printer driver that's loaded. Is there some way to
modify printer options without using

SendKeys ?

5.4.2 Solution

Windows makes many of the
printer driver settings available to applications, including the
number of copies, page orientation, and page size. Starting with
Access 2002, it's easy to retrieve and modify these
values, using the Printer property of forms and reports. This
solution focuses on the print settings features of the Printer object
and demonstrates how to read and write values in the Printer object.

To be able to modify printer settings for reports or forms in your
own applications, follow these steps:

1. Open the report in either preview or design view. (If you want to
   make your changes persistent, open the report in design view. If you
   want to apply changes for just this particular instance, open it in
   preview mode.)

2. Modify some of the properties of the Printer object provided by your
   form or report. For example, the sample form works with a small
   subset of the available printer-specific properties, using code like
   this:

   DoCmd.OpenReport strReport, View:=acViewPreview
   With Reports(strReport).Printer
   Me.txtCopies = .Copies
   Me.grpOrientation = .Orientation
   Me.grpPaperSize = .PaperSize
   End With

3. When you're done working with the properties, write
   them back to the report's Printer object, using code
   like this (from the sample form):

   strReport = Me.cboReportList
   With Reports(strReport).Printer
   .Copies = Me.txtCopies
   .Orientation = Me.grpOrientation
   .PaperSize = Me.grpPaperSize
   End With

For an example, load and run the form frmPrintSettings in

05-04.MDB . Figure 5-4 shows
the sample form in action. This form allows you to choose a report
from a combo box. Once you've made your choice, the
form loads the report in preview mode and retrieves the number of
copies, page size, and page orientation from the
report's Printer property. You can change any of
these values; once you click Save Settings, the form will write the
values back to the report's Printer property and the
changes will display immediately in the preview window.

Figure 5-4. frmPrintSettings shows print information for rptReport1

5.4.3 Discussion

Each form and report
has a Printer property that holds a reference to a Printer object for
that form or report. By setting the properties of a
form/report's Printer object, you can control how
the form/report will print. Table 5-2 lists the
object's properties, along with their possible
values. None of these properties is read-only. Table 5-3 shows a list of all the defined paper sizes.
You can use one of these constants in the PaperSize property to set a
new paper size. Table 5-4 shows possible values
for the PaperBin property of the Printer object.

 acPRPS10X14

 acPRPS11X17

 acPRPSA3

 acPRPSA4

 acPRPSA4SMALL

 acPRPSA5

 acPRPSB4

 acPRPSB5

 acPRPSCSHEET

 acPRPSDSHEET

 acPRPSEnv10

 acPRPSEnv11

 acPRPSEnv12

 acPRPSEnv14

 acPRPSEnv9

 acPRPSEnvB4

 acPRPSEnvB5

 acPRPSEnvB6

 acPRPSEnvC3

 acPRPSEnvC4

 acPRPSEnvC5

 acPRPSEnvC6

 acPRPSEnvC65

 acPRPSEnvDL

 acPRPSEnvItaly

 acPRPSEnvMonarch

 acPRPSEnvPersonal

 acPRPSESheet

 acPRPSExecutive

 acPRPSFanfoldLglGerman

 acPRPSFanfoldStdGerman

 acPRPSFanfoldUS

 acPRPSFolio

 acPRPSLedger

 acPRPSLegal

 acPRPSLetter

 acPRPSLetterSmall

 acPRPSNote

 acPRPSQuarto

 acPRPSStatement

 acPRPSTabloid

 acPRPSUser

 acPRBNAuto

 acPRBNCassette

 acPRBNEnvelope

 acPRBNEnvManual

 acPRBNLargeCapacity

 acPRBNLargeFmt

 acPRBNLower

 acPRBNManual

 acPRBNMiddle

 acPRBNSmallFmt

 acPRBNTractor

 acPRBNUpper

 acPRBNFormSource

The sample form opens reports
in preview mode and allows you to modify and view printer-specific
properties, then print the report. If you want to modify the design
properties for a report, you'll need to open it in
design view, modifying the call to the DoCmd.OpenReport method in the
code, like this:

DoCmd.OpenReport strReport, View:=acViewPreview

When you're done, save the report using code like
this:

DoCmd.Close acReport, "YourReportName", acSaveYes

Although Access makes it easy to work with printer settings, the
Printer object is missing some important features. For example,
although you can select acPRPSUser for the
PaperSize property, you cannot define your own sizes (making this
option effectively useless).