Change printer

[Jaser247]

Hello,

I am trying to create a webpage that calls a print script that I guess uses the change printer plugin. I want a user to be able to choose what network printer they want to print from. I tried to configure the change printer plugin and played around with the scripts but I have had no luck. I am really new to FM and trying to learn it. Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Version: v5.x

Platform: Windows 2000

[Vaughan]

You want a web user to be able to issue a print job from the server that's hosting the databases?

[Jaser247]

Yup thats it. So they would have a drop down box to choose a printer and then there would be a print button that prints it to the chosen printer as well as adding the record to the database. Is the print thing possible?

I know that sometime last year the database admin here had it working for a while but there were too many problems with it so he dump the idea. Now since he no longer works here, I'm on my own trying to figure this out.

Thanks,

Jaser

[Vaughan]

It may be possible but I wouldn't implement any system that lets users send print jobs to a web server (or any other server).

What happens if there is an error, even a simple one like the printer runs out of paper? The whole thing could be held up while the system waits for somebody to click OK to an alert. Print jobs could queue until the disk fills up, bringing down the whole system.

A disgruntled employee could work their way through reams of paper and toner in a few hours with a few clicks of their mouse, bringing the system to its knees in the process.

There are some serious issues regarding running scripts through the web interface, due mostly to FMP 6 being single-threaded. It has been discussed here ad-infinitum without any definitive conclusions being made. Some believe there is a serious problems, others that it's not serious; but most agree that scripts over the web is a last-resort process, not a first choice. Use them only if there is no other way to do it.

All this has changed with FMP 7 anyway. Leave what's already there and start rewriting for the new version to take advantage of the new features.

I hope others provide a different opinion than mine, and some better suggestions. There are times when I welcome being incorrect.

[Steve T.]

Ha! I have yet to see a moment when Vaughan has been incorrect.

Hi, Jaser! I've never heard of doing that and am not familiar with that plug-in, but it sounds like you're on the right track but even if a remote user executes a script in FM client, it executes as them -- not the server. In the situation where it is the web user executing the script, you may want to double-check that it is, in fact, the server doing the printing as the database host.

Scripts over the web... In your case, I think the script issue depends on how important the print job is and if it's okay if it sometimes doesn't work. If you have 2 folks submitting and printing at roughtly the same time, odds are that 1 will work properly for both added record and print and the other will only create the record and not print.

--ST

[Jaser247]

Thanks for the replies!

This will be a once or twice a weekd deal. A users will fill out a web form and when he or she hits the submit button it will print out a copy to a printer of there choice and also add an entry so the accountant can view it in FileMaker.

I've tested out the scripts and they work but how to apply them to a web page button to execute that script is unknown to me.

I do know the risk now, by using Scripts over the web, but this is our internal page and this is what they want unless you can offer another alternative.

The print out is really just for verification that the user submitted it in case it is somehow, someway not added to the DB.

Thanks again,

[Vaughan]

"... it will print out a copy to a printer of there choice and also add an entry so the accountant can view it in FileMaker"

So why not just present the user with the report as an hmtl page and let them print it through their browser, like any other page?

Alternatively, just have the transaction recorded in another database, and the accountant can log in and print the report themselves (through their web browser) any time they want.