print setup

[pmusaev]

is it possible to retain what printer was chosen in the Print Setup script? seems like if i change the printer and run the script, the printer in which i wrote the script for changes to the one i just used. is this at all possible?

[Salesman0Gil]

In the script use Print Setup [Restore, ..]

[pmusaev]

i did i did... but i noticed that it doesn't work... please correct me if i'm wrong...

1) I go to Page Setup and choose my printer and settings

2) I go to Scriptmaker, create my script with the Print Setup [Restore,] function and save the script.

3) I run the script, works great!

4) I go to Page Setup and choose a different printer and print off a random page.

5) I run my script, and uh-oh! The page comes out on the printer specified in step 4) not step 1)

How come?

[Salesman0Gil]

I'm not sure why, but I have run it to that also. One thing that helps is after the script is written. Do a manual print, then go back in to the script and say done, and when it ask if you want to keep or replace your restore, chose replace.

Besides that, you need everything to chose dialog, or hope that someone better then me answers your post!!

[pmusaev]

do you find that when you go back into your script and replace your Print Setup settings that it retains it even after a person chooses another printer in the Page Setup dialog box?

[-Queue-]

Select 'No dialog' for Print Setup. Deselect 'No dialog' for Print. If the printer is changed during Print, it will not affect the stored Print Setup. Changing a printer in Print Setup is the only way to change the default printer for FileMaker on a machine (at least for Windows). So I only make a Setup modifiable from a 'Change Printer' button in a Preferences file.

Notice also (on Windows) that if you manually change the default printer in the Control Panel, it is not updated in FileMaker. I've seen situations where a printer has been removed and another set as the default, and FM is still trying to print to the deleted original!

In a somewhat related category, beware that Print settings are dependent upon the Print Setup being present. If you have the two in separate scripts, Print will seem to act randomly. If you keep the two together, Print will behave much more nicely.

[pmusaev]

this removes the luxury of the script though... i have a printer that needs to be targeted as well as multiple trays on that printer, the script was setup to switch between trays seamlessly... now with the Print dialog box coming up, they have to choose the tray themselves... any ideas?

[Salesman0Gil]

I seems to retain the info, after I restore, the restore.

[-Queue-]

In that case, you may want multiple scripts, each with its own Print Setup/Print steps. I haven't tried this with multiple trays before, but I have used it for different scaling sizes and page orientations. The scripts would be called 'Printer1 - 80 percent - Portrait - Records being browsed', 'Printer1 - 90 percent - Landscape - Single record', etc. The problem with allowing Print Setup to be changed is that it will become the default until it is changed again, which is probably not what you want.

Another thing I forgot to mention, it's better to have the user determine the printer before performing the print, especially if you are using Page X of Y in a header or footer. The same font can print differently enough on two printers that it changes the number of records per page from the preview to the hard copy. Also, default printer margins can be a hassle. This is another reason why I disallow Print Setup modification except for the 'Change Printer' button script. Then both Print Setup and Print steps are set with "No dialog" and there aren't as many "gotchas"!