Microsoft KB Archive/175535

= PRB: Printing Rotated Text with Visual Basic =

Article ID: 175535

Article Last Modified on 5/13/2003

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Learning Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Learning Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q175535



SYMPTOMS
If you try to print rotated text using the Printer object from Visual Basic with Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 or 3 using the technique described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article, the text fails to rotate:

154515 HOWTO: Print Rotated Text Using Win32 API



CAUSE
Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 and 3 for Visual Basic 5.0 and 6.0 include a fix for the Printer object that prevents any new SelectObject calls from selecting a new Font for the Printer.hDC. So, when referencing the Printer object, new fonts must be selected via the Printer object's properties or they are ignored.



RESOLUTION
To work around this problem, either print using the API only, or do not reference the Printer object while printing with the API functions.



STATUS
This behavior is by design.



MORE INFORMATION
The technique described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

154515 HOWTO: Print Rotated Text Using Win32 API

prints to a PictureBox control but also works using the Printer object. Printing to a PictureBox still works after SP2 but fails using the Printer object. The following code example will work from Visual Basic versions 4.0 (32-bit) and later.

The key elements are using the TextOut API instead of Printer.Print and not referencing the printer object directly while setting up the font and printing with it. If you use TextOut with "Printer.hDC" instead of a local variable, it will fail. Any reference to a printer object property or method is a use of the printer object and will cause the printer object to reset its font/pen/brush. Therefore, the values of all printer object properties that you need to use with the new font/pen/brush must be saved into variables before using SelectObject, and then only use the variables.

Code Example
 Create a Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default. Add 2 CommandButtons to Form1.  Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1: Option Explicit

Private Const LF_FACESIZE = 32

Private Type LOGFONT lfHeight As Long lfWidth As Long lfEscapement As Long lfOrientation As Long lfWeight As Long lfItalic As Byte lfUnderline As Byte lfStrikeOut As Byte lfCharSet As Byte lfOutPrecision As Byte lfClipPrecision As Byte lfQuality As Byte lfPitchAndFamily As Byte lfFaceName As String * LF_FACESIZE End Type

Private Type DOCINFO cbSize As Long lpszDocName As String lpszOutput As String lpszDatatype As String fwType As Long End Type

Private Declare Function CreateFontIndirect Lib "gdi32" Alias _ "CreateFontIndirectA" (lpLogFont As LOGFONT) As Long

Private Declare Function SelectObject Lib "gdi32" _ (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function DeleteObject Lib "gdi32" _ (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function CreateDC Lib "gdi32" Alias "CreateDCA" _ (ByVal lpDriverName As String, ByVal lpDeviceName As String, _  ByVal lpOutput As Long, ByVal lpInitData As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function DeleteDC Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _ As Long

Private Declare Function TextOut Lib "gdi32" Alias "TextOutA" _ (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, _  ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nCount As Long) As Long ' or Boolean

Private Declare Function StartDoc Lib "gdi32" Alias "StartDocA" _ (ByVal hdc As Long, lpdi As DOCINFO) As Long

Private Declare Function EndDoc Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _ As Long

Private Declare Function StartPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _ As Long

Private Declare Function EndPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _ As Long

Const DESIREDFONTSIZE = 12    ' Could use variable, TextBox, etc.

Private Sub Command1_Click ' Combine API Calls with the Printer object Dim OutString As String Dim lf As LOGFONT Dim result As Long Dim hOldfont As Long Dim hPrintDc As Long Dim hFont As Long

Printer.Print "Printer Object" hPrintDc = Printer.hdc OutString = "Hello World"

lf.lfEscapement = 1800 lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf) hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont) result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString)) result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont) result = DeleteObject(hFont)

Printer.Print "xyz" Printer.EndDoc End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click ' Print using API calls only Dim OutString As String 'String to be rotated Dim lf As LOGFONT       'Structure for setting up rotated font Dim temp As String      'Temp string var Dim result As Long      'Return value for calling API functions Dim hOldfont As Long    'Hold old font information Dim hPrintDc As Long    'Handle to printer dc      Dim hFont As Long        'Handle to new Font Dim di As DOCINFO       'Structure for Print Document info

OutString = "Hello World"  'Set string to be rotated

' Set rotation in tenths of a degree, i.e., 1800 = 180 degrees lf.lfEscapement = 1800 lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf) 'Create the rotated font di.cbSize = 20                 ' Size of DOCINFO structure di.lpszDocName = "My Document" ' Set name of print job (Optional)

' Create a printer device context hPrintDc = CreateDC(Printer.DriverName, Printer.DeviceName, 0, 0)

result = StartDoc(hPrintDc, di) 'Start a new print document result = StartPage(hPrintDc)   'Start a new page

' Select our rotated font structure and save previous font info hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont)

' Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000 result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))

' Reset font back to original, non-rotated result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont)

' Send non-rotated text to printer at same page location result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))

result = EndPage(hPrintDc)     'End the page result = EndDoc(hPrintDc)      'End the print job result = DeleteDC(hPrintDc)    'Delete the printer device context result = DeleteObject(hFont)   'Delete the font object End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load Command1.Caption = "API with Printer object" Command2.Caption = "Pure API" End Sub

 Run the Project and click API with Printer object. This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Printer Object" and "xyz" printed normally and "Hello World" printed rotated 180 degrees. Click Pure API. This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Hello World" printed normally and rotated 180 degrees.</li></ol>

Additional query words: sideways angle sp2

Keywords: kbprint kbapi kbgdi kbprb KB175535

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.