Print precautions made in a solution

[harryk]

I'm in need of some advice.

About to launch a solution with a lot of printing involved.

1) Page setup

quote from online help:

Note The Restore option for these script steps tells FileMaker Pro to use the settings that you set up before you defined the script. The Restore option is selected by default. If you deselect this option, FileMaker Pro uses whatever setting happens to be in effect before the script runs. If you want your script to always use a particular setting, make sure that Restore is selected.

unquote

From this text I make up that Page setup[no dialog] with the restore option NOT set, is a useless script step, doing absolutely nothing. I'm right about that, or missing something ?

2) Leaving out all page setups?

All my printing is on the same paper (a4) and portrait. I'm thinking of leaving out all page setups and let it to the user to adjust once his page setup himself, giving him the freedom of trying other options if he feels the need to that. What do you think of that?

3) Windows and page setups

I develop on mac. Page setups made on mac or not in effect on windows. But can they interfere, or are they ignored on Win?

As I don't have Windows except for Virtual PC, and all page setups for my lots of print lay-outs should be set for windows, it is an argument to leave them out completely.

(By the way, when only one record needs to be printed, I change the found set in the print script to just the one record. I do not use any [page setup] for that)

Then some questions on lay-out precautions considering printing.

4) There have been questions/answers on this some months ago, but to be on the safe side with the lay-outs ment to be printed, ALWAYS check the Fixed Page checkbox and set margins on all sides (top bottom left right) of half an inch?, or less?

5) Or may we assume that if the prints are all OK on an EPSON 740 inktjet from the mac, it will be okay on Windows too? (I did not set any margins, nor the Fixed Page checkbox).

I'd love to hear the TRIAL AND ERROR stories on this matter...having made a solution to discover that your clients encounter problems on printing.

(..What a mistaike to maike..)

And thanks for you answers. (My solution would probably only be halfway if this FMForum and the skills and knowledge on it, was not there. I thereby symbolically rate you all with 5 stars each!!

Harryk

[kenneth2k1]

Hi Harry:

1)I have found that you are essentially right when you say that Print Setup without restore is not useful.

2) I think letting the user control print options is generally a good idea if the printing is random and manual. When you want the process automated as much as possible, page setups will be useful.

3) Setups on Mac are different than Win, but Win seems to ignore them. I use to develop on MacOS 9 then moved over to Windows. OS10 has a whole slew of different printing issues and I don't know too much about them. As a general rule, I develop on Windows, then run it on Mac and make sure it works on them, too (in your case I would do vise versa). You may find out that a version for Mac and Windows may be necessary.

4) It is a good idea to fix widths, but I find that they may change slightly from printer to printer (I haven't seen this as too much of a problem, though).

My first FM project was an automated direct mail marketing app. The first db it used I printed about 4,000 letters. I use a pretty basic page setup for a letter and I ran into no problems from any of these machines:

Win2000, FM5.5 to an IBM InforPrint 21 PCL, PS

Win2000, FM5.5 to a Canon ImageRunner3000 PS

iMac OS 9.1 FM5 to Canon ImageRunner

PowerMac G3 to Techtronix Phaser

Ken