Hello Spencer

To get the precision you are asking for it would be best to take a look at PrintString on pages 184-188 Of the Programming Manual. The code would look very similar to the following. One way to run it would be to attach the code to a command button. Another way to run the code is to use a Mass Update, which makes it easy if you have to do more than one or two envelopes. Note: The numbers I used for positioning are a rough guess.

Newpage(950,412)
PrintString("Spencer Wulwick (MVR)", 30, 25, 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("210 South Hale Avenue", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("Tampa, FL 33609-3933", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)

PrintString(Mail Name, 375, 175, 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString(Street Address + " " + Apt, 375, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString(City + ", " + State + ", " + Zip, 375, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)

FinishPage()
 

-Ray

Hello Spencer,

1) I see no reason why a free form report could not do the same thing. I just prefer the precision and accuracy that PrintString has to offer.

2) You will want to look at the AlternateDefaultPrinter Command and the RestoreDefaultPrinter command on pages 61 and 62 of the 1.1 documentation supplement.

3) Mass Update can also be used to gather information. Your code would be exactly as you describe. Just be sure that all of the PrintString Code is within the curly braces for the If Statement. ex

If Status = "Paid" Then
{
    //all the PrintCode goes in here
} 

-Ray

Ray et al -

I have been working on this one issue - on and off - for more than a week now and it is driving me crazy.  (What do you mean, "It must have been a short trip.")  lol  Let me give you more detail to see if we can arrive at a solution.  (I'll also be repeating some information I provided earlier, just to have all the info in this one posting).

In my home, I have four networked computers.  Most of the time I work out of the office which is the "main" computer.   I have two printers attached to the computer and, at present, neither is set for sharing (because my other computers have their own printer).

The printer I want to use is an HP 5 which has many options such as (1) manual feed, (2) one-side page printing (3) dual-sided printing which can be either head to head or head to foot, and (4) an automatic envelope feeder.

In Windows, (Control Panel - Printers & Faxes), I have set up a "printer" for EACH of the options I may want to choose so that I don't have to modify the printer settings to get the results I want.

Among these "printers" is an "Auto HP LaserJet 5 - Envelopes."

If I choose this printer from Microsoft Word, it correctly retrieves and prints to an envelope.  If I click on a command button in Access, it correctly retrieves and prints to an envelope.  This satisfies me that my printer definition has been set up correctly.

I read, several times, the AlternateDefaultPrinter(printername) documentation on page 61 of the Supplment 1.1 (as you suggested, Ray).

I have come up with this programming:

---

AlternateDefaultPrinter("Auto HP LaserJet 5 - Envelopes")

Newpage(950,412)
PrintString("Spencer Wulwick (MVR)", 30, 25, 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("210 South Hale Avenue", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("Tampa, FL 33609-3933", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)

PrintString(Mail Name, 450, 200, 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
PrintString(Street Address + " " + Apt, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
PrintString(City + ", " + State + "  " + Zip, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)

FinishPage()

---

The printing itself is perfect in terms of the merge, placement of print, etc. etc. The PROBLEM is that it does not find the  designated  (alternate) printer and prints to the (default) printer which is letter size.

BECAUSE the description of AlternateDefaultPrinter(printername) says that it "prints to the alternate named printer using the printer's "share" name I EVEN modified the printer definition to allow sharing, assigned a share name and modified the code to "point" to the share name.  It made NO difference and still printed on letter paper.

To "verify" that I understood the programming, I changed the alternate named printer to the OTHER (non-sharing) printer (hp officejet 6110 all-in-one) and it CORRECTLY found and printed to that printer (the problem there is that it doesn't have an automatic envelope feeder).

So, I seem to understand the programming which I can modify to "switch" between my two printers ... but I cannot get it to recognize the envelope feeder in my "Auto HP LaserJet - Envelopes" printer.

As stated previously, being able to print an envelope "on-the-fly" is extremely important to me.  Can anyone come up with any ideas that I might be overlooking?

Hi Spencer -

Just to muddy the waters, I would use WordMerge to do this, merging to MS Word.  Or mailing labels. Once you've set up Wordmerge you can choose one or the other, or both. The new enhancements to Wordmerge (see Gordon's recent article in Inside Sesame) make it really easy and versatile. I would however use @SyncShell() rather than @Shell for starting Word - see the 1.1 supplement on this.

Good luck!
Alec

Good Morning Spencer,

When you get a chance try adding the following line to your code after the AlternateDefaultPrinter("Auto HP LaserJet 5 - Envelopes") call.

PrintPagePaper(30) 

-Ray

Hi Ray -

Well I'm a little encouraged.  I was hoping there was a "command" to tell it where to get the paper & tried:

 PrintPagePaper(30)  

The printer obviously recognized it; however, it went to "Manually feed paper." 

Is there another number (in lieu of 30) to try to make it find the envelope feeder?

In case it's any help, here are the tray assignments I used in setting up the printer in Windows:

Auto HP LaserJet - Envelopes

HP LaserJet 5 Device Settings
     Form To Tray Assignment
           Auto Select:  Envelope #10
           Tray 1:  Not Available
           Tray 2:  Not Available
           Envelope Feeder:  Envelope #10
           Tray 3:  Not Available

I believe that tray 1 is the one used for manual feed.

Tray 2 is a 200 sheet feeder

The Envelope Feeder is physically inserted to the computer

Tray 3 is a 500 sheet feeder.

Keeping my fingers crossed and eagerly waiting to hear from you.

Thanks!

Windows XP