Microsoft KB Archive/319317

= How to automate the process of selecting the printer for a report in Microsoft Access =

Article ID: 319317

Article Last Modified on 8/17/2007

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Access 2007
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q319317



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

This article applies to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb) file or to a Microsoft Access database (.accdb) file.



SUMMARY
If you want to print a report to a particular printer, you can manually select the printer and all of the print options, or you can automate the process so that with a click of a button, you can switch printers and then print your report with the options that you predefine. This article explains how to automate the process of printer selection.



MORE INFORMATION
This procedure uses two examples: printing to a laser printer and printing to a dot-matrix printer. You can substitute the particular printers that you want to use. To automate the process of printer selection for a particular report, follow these steps:  Create the following three reports:  rptLaserPrinter rptDotMatrix rptMyReport

NOTE: rptMyReport represents the actual report that you want to print. To set the printer options, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Open rptLaserPrinter in Design view.</li> On the File menu, click Print.

Note In Access 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Print.</li> In the Print dialog box, click the laser printer that you want to use in the Name box, and then click OK.</li> Click Properties, set any print options that you want, such as the orientation and paper size, and then click OK.</li> Repeat steps a through d for rptDotMatrix. Click the dot-matrix printer in step c.</li></ol> </li>  In the Database window, click Modules, click New, and then type the following function:

Note In Access 2007, click Module in the Other group on the Create tab.

Function ChangePrinter(rptToChange As String, rptPrinter As String)

Dim rpt1 As Report, rpt2 As Report DoCmd.OpenReport rptToChange, acViewDesign DoCmd.OpenReport rptPrinter, acViewDesign Set rpt1 = Reports(rptToChange) Set rpt2 = Reports(rptPrinter) rpt1.PrtDevNames = rpt2.PrtDevNames DoCmd.Close acReport, rptPrinter, acSaveNo DoCmd.OpenReport rptToChange, acViewPreview End Function NOTE: The ChangePrinter function copies the PrtDevNames property from one report to another. You can then copy the print options that you set for the rptLaserPrinter and rptDotMatrix reports to a specific report that you want to print.

NOTE: The &quot;acSaveNo&quot; property is used in the &quot;DoCmd.Close acReport, rptPrinter, acSaveNo&quot; line of the code that is shown earlier in this section. If you do not use this option and you save the PrtDevName of a nondefault printer to the report design, the report will not be able to find the printer when it runs the next time. You will receive the following error message:

This document was previously formatted for the printer <PrinterName> on <Port>; but that printer isn't available. Do you want to use the default printer <DefaultPrinterName> on <Port>?

</li> Save the module as Module1, and then exit the Visual Basic Editor.</li>  Create the following form: <pre class="fixed_text">  Form: frmForm1 --     RecordSource: Unbound

Control Type: Command Button Name: cmdLaser Caption: Laser Control Type: Command Button Name: cmdDotMatrix Caption: Dot Matrix </li> On the View menu, click Code.

Note In Access 2007, click View Code in the Tools group on the Design tab.</li>  In the Visual Basic Editor, type the following procedures: Private Sub cmdLaser_Click

Call ChangePrinter(&quot;rptMyReport&quot;, &quot;rptLaserPrinter&quot;) DoCmd.PrintOut

End Sub

Private Sub cmdDotMatrix_Click

Call ChangePrinter(&quot;rptMyReport&quot;, &quot;rptDotMatrix&quot;) DoCmd.PrintOut

End Sub </li> Exit the Visual Basic Editor, and then change the On Click property of both command buttons to [Event Procedure]. To do so, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> In Design view, click the command button, and then click Properties on the View menu.

Note In Access 2007, click the command button in the design view, and then click Property Sheet in the Tools group on the Design tab.</li> Click the Event tab, click the On Click property, click the down arrow, and then click [Event Procedure].</li></ol> </li> To print rptMyReport to a specific printer, open frmForm1 in Form view, and then click the appropriate button.</li></ol>

<div class="references_section">