Microsoft KB Archive/173074

= PRB: Multiple Visual Basic Printouts Are Not the Same =

Article ID: 173074

Article Last Modified on 5/13/2003

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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

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This article was previously published under Q173074



SYMPTOMS
When you print what should be identical copies of the same print job, the pages do not print the same. Different fonts, text in the wrong place, and multiple blank pages are typical.



CAUSE
The primary cause of differences between print jobs is that the Visual Basic Printer Object is not fully reset by the EndDoc method. The values of the ScaleMode and a few other properties are inherited by subsequent documents unless the application is restarted. The most common source of problems is that new values are assigned to the Scale properties: (ScaleMode, ScaleHeight, ScaleLeft, ScaleTop, and ScaleWidth). These properties are not reset by the NewPage or EndDoc method and should be reset by the programmer to ensure correct behavior.

Another cause is that changing some printer properties changes other printer properties in ways that are not necessarily intuitive. Changing the ScaleMode property affects the other Scale properties and CurrentX/Y, which need to be converted to the new coordinate system. Similarly, changing the ScaleLeft/Top properties affects the values of CurrentX/CurrentY, respectively.



RESOLUTION
To work around this behavior, reset the ScaleMode and other properties to their original values. The code below enumerates all of the properties of the printer object and displays their values on the Immediate pane. During your debug cycle, call the code before each print job and compare the results. You can then modify your code to correctly reset the appropriate property values:

Sub PrntProp Debug.Print "ColorMode  ", Printer.ColorMode Debug.Print "Copies  ", Printer.Copies Debug.Print "CurrentX  ", Printer.CurrentX Debug.Print "CurrentY  ", Printer.CurrentY Debug.Print "DeviceName  ", Printer.DeviceName Debug.Print "DrawMode  ", Printer.DrawMode Debug.Print "DrawStyle  ", Printer.DrawStyle Debug.Print "DrawWidth  ", Printer.DrawWidth Debug.Print "DriverName  ", Printer.DriverName Debug.Print "Duplex  ", Printer.Duplex Debug.Print "FillColor  ", Printer.FillColor Debug.Print "FillStyle  ", Printer.FillStyle Debug.Print "Font.Bold", Printer.Font.Bold Debug.Print "Font.Charset", Printer.Font.Charset Debug.Print "Font.Italic", Printer.Font.Italic Debug.Print "Font.Name", Printer.Font.Name Debug.Print "Font.Size", Printer.Font.Size Debug.Print "Font.Strikethr "; Printer.Font.Strikethrough Debug.Print "Font.Underline "; Printer.Font.Underline Debug.Print "Font.Weight", Printer.Font.Weight Debug.Print "hDC  ", Printer.hDC Debug.Print "Height  ", Printer.Height Debug.Print "Orientation", Printer.Orientation Debug.Print "Page  ", Printer.Page Debug.Print "PaperBin  ", Printer.PaperBin Debug.Print "PaperSize  ", Printer.PaperSize Debug.Print "Port  ", Printer.Port Debug.Print "PrintQuality", Printer.PrintQuality Debug.Print "RightToLeft", Printer.RightToLeft Debug.Print "ScaleHeight", Printer.ScaleHeight Debug.Print "ScaleLeft  ", Printer.ScaleLeft Debug.Print "ScaleTop  ", Printer.ScaleTop Debug.Print "ScaleWidth  ", Printer.ScaleWidth Debug.Print "ScaleMode  ", Printer.ScaleMode Debug.Print "TrackDefault", Printer.TrackDefault Debug.Print "TwipsPerPixelX"; Printer.TwipsPerPixelX Debug.Print "TwipsPerPixelY"; Printer.TwipsPerPixelY Debug.Print "Width  ", Printer.Width Debug.Print "Zoom  ", Printer.Zoom End Sub



Steps to Reproduce Behavior
The following code is based on the example in the Visual Basic Help file. Note that after the Printer.EndDoc, the Printer Object Properties are not reset:

Debug.Print Printer.ScaleTop Debug.Print Printer.ScaleLeft Debug.Print Printer.ScaleWidth Debug.Print Printer.ScaleHeight

Printer.ScaleTop = -1 ' Set scale for top of grid. Printer.ScaleLeft = -1 ' Set scale for left of grid. Printer.ScaleWidth = 2 ' Set scale (-1 to 1). Printer.ScaleHeight = 2 Printer.Line (-1, 0)-(1, 0)   ' Draw horizontal line. Printer.Line (0, -1)-(0, 1)   ' Draw vertical line. For I = -1 To 1 Step 0.05 Printer.PSet (I * Rnd, I * Rnd)   ' Draw a point. Next I   Printer.EndDoc

Debug.Print Printer.ScaleTop Debug.Print Printer.ScaleLeft Debug.Print Printer.ScaleWidth Debug.Print Printer.ScaleHeight

Additional query words: kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbVBp kbdsd kbDSupport kbPrinting KBWIN32SDK KBAPI

Keywords: kbprb KB173074

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