DOCUMENT:Q173981 18-SEP-1997 [vbwin] TITLE :PRB: Working with Print Dialog and Printer Object under NT 4.0 PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows PROD/VER:WINDOWS:4.0,5.0 OPER/SYS:NT WINDOWS KEYWORDS:VB4ALL VB4WIN vb5all VBKBPrinting kbprint ====================================================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0 on the following platform: NT - Microsoft Visual Basic Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 on the following platform: NT --------------------------------------------------------------------- SYMPTOMS ======== With Microsoft Visual Basic versions 4.0 and 5.0 on Windows NT version 4.0, when you use the ShowPrinter method of the Common Dialog Control to allow the user to set properties of the Printer object, such as the Copies and Orientation properties, these properties are not affected by the selection in the Print dialog box. RESOLUTION ========== To work around this problem, use the Windows API to display the Printer dialog and then set the Printer object's properties to those selected by the user. The following steps illustrate this solution: 1. Start a new project with the default Form1. 2. Add two Command buttons to Form1. Set the following properties for the controls: Name Property Caption Property ------------- ---------------- First Command button : cmdPrint Print Dialog Second Command button: cmdPrintSetup Print Setup Dialog 3. Add a module to the project. 4. Add the following code to the module: ' Global constants for Win32 API Public Const CCHDEVICENAME = 32 Public Const CCHFORMNAME = 32 Public Const GMEM_FIXED = &H0 Public Const GMEM_MOVEABLE = &H2 Public Const GMEM_ZEROINIT = &H40 Public Const DM_DUPLEX = &H1000& Public Const DM_ORIENTATION = &H1& Public Const PD_ALLPAGES = &H0 Public Const PD_COLLATE = &H10 Public Const PD_DISABLEPRINTTOFILE = &H80000 Public Const PD_ENABLEPRINTHOOK = &H1000 Public Const PD_ENABLEPRINTTEMPLATE = &H4000 Public Const PD_ENABLEPRINTTEMPLATEHANDLE = &H10000 Public Const PD_ENABLESETUPHOOK = &H2000 Public Const PD_ENABLESETUPTEMPLATE = &H8000 Public Const PD_ENABLESETUPTEMPLATEHANDLE = &H20000 Public Const PD_HIDEPRINTTOFILE = &H100000 Public Const PD_NONETWORKBUTTON = &H200000 Public Const PD_NOPAGENUMS = &H8 Public Const PD_NOSELECTION = &H4 Public Const PD_NOWARNING = &H80 Public Const PD_PAGENUMS = &H2 Public Const PD_PRINTSETUP = &H40 Public Const PD_PRINTTOFILE = &H20 Public Const PD_RETURNDC = &H100 Public Const PD_RETURNDEFAULT = &H400 Public Const PD_RETURNIC = &H200 Public Const PD_SELECTION = &H1 Public Const PD_SHOWHELP = &H800 Public Const PD_USEDEVMODECOPIES = &H40000 Public Const PD_USEDEVMODECOPIESANDCOLLATE = &H40000 'Custom Global Constants Public Const DLG_PRINT = 0 Public Const DLG_PRINTSETUP = 1 'type definitions: Type PRINTDLG_TYPE lStructSize As Long hwndOwner As Long hDevMode As Long hDevNames As Long hdc As Long flags As Long nFromPage As Integer nToPage As Integer nMinPage As Integer nMaxPage As Integer nCopies As Integer hInstance As Long lCustData As Long lpfnPrintHook As Long lpfnSetupHook As Long lpPrintTemplateName As String lpSetupTemplateName As String hPrintTemplate As Long hSetupTemplate As Long End Type Type DEVNAMES_TYPE wDriverOffset As Integer wDeviceOffset As Integer wOutputOffset As Integer wDefault As Integer extra As String * 100 End Type Type DEVMODE_TYPE dmDeviceName As String * CCHDEVICENAME dmSpecVersion As Integer dmDriverVersion As Integer dmSize As Integer dmDriverExtra As Integer dmFields As Long dmOrientation As Integer dmPaperSize As Integer dmPaperLength As Integer dmPaperWidth As Integer dmScale As Integer dmCopies As Integer dmDefaultSource As Integer dmPrintQuality As Integer dmColor As Integer dmDuplex As Integer dmYResolution As Integer dmTTOption As Integer dmCollate As Integer dmFormName As String * CCHFORMNAME dmUnusedPadding As Integer dmBitsPerPel As Integer dmPelsWidth As Long dmPelsHeight As Long dmDisplayFlags As Long dmDisplayFrequency As Long End Type 'API declarations: Public Declare Function PrintDialog Lib "comdlg32.dll" _ Alias "PrintDlgA" (pPrintdlg As PRINTDLG_TYPE) As Long Public Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" _ Alias "RtlMoveMemory" _ (hpvDest As Any, hpvSource As Any, ByVal cbCopy As Long) Public Declare Function GlobalLock Lib "kernel32" _ (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long Public Declare Function GlobalUnlock Lib "kernel32" _ (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long Public Declare Function GlobalAlloc Lib "kernel32" _ (ByVal wFlags As Long, ByVal dwBytes As Long) As Long Public Declare Function GlobalFree Lib "kernel32" _ (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long Public Sub ShowPrinter(frmOwner as Form, _ Optional PrintFlags As Integer) Dim PrintDlg As PRINTDLG_TYPE Dim DevMode As DEVMODE_TYPE Dim DevName As DEVNAMES_TYPE Dim lpDevMode As Long, lpDevName As Long Dim bReturn As Integer Dim objPrinter As Printer, NewPrinterName As String Dim strSetting as String ' Use PrintDialog to get the handle to a memory ' block with a DevMode and DevName structures PrintDlg.lStructSize = Len(PrintDlg) PrintDlg.hwndOwner = frmOwner.hWnd PrintDlg.flags = PrintFlags 'Set the current orientation and duplex setting DevMode.dmDeviceName = Printer.DeviceName DevMode.dmSize = Len(DevMode) DevMode.dmFields = DM_ORIENTATION Or DM_DUPLEX DevMode.dmOrientation = Printer.Orientation On Error Resume Next DevMode.dmDuplex = Printer.Duplex On Error GoTo 0 'Allocate memory for the initialization hDevMode structure 'and copy the settings gathered above into this memory PrintDlg.hDevMode = GlobalAlloc(GMEM_MOVEABLE Or _ GMEM_ZEROINIT, Len(DevMode)) lpDevMode = GlobalLock(PrintDlg.hDevMode) If lpDevMode > 0 Then CopyMemory ByVal lpDevMode, DevMode, Len(DevMode) bReturn = GlobalUnlock(lpDevMode) End If 'Set the current driver, device, and port name strings With DevName .wDriverOffset = 8 .wDeviceOffset = .wDriverOffset + 1 + Len(Printer.DriverName) .wOutputOffset = .wDeviceOffset + 1 + Len(Printer.Port) .wDefault = 0 End With With Printer DevName.extra = .DriverName & Chr(0) & _ .DeviceName & Chr(0) & .Port & Chr(0) End With 'Allocate memory for the initial hDevName structure 'and copy the settings gathered above into this memory PrintDlg.hDevNames = GlobalAlloc(GMEM_MOVEABLE Or _ GMEM_ZEROINIT, Len(DevName)) lpDevName = GlobalLock(PrintDlg.hDevNames) If lpDevName > 0 Then CopyMemory ByVal lpDevName, DevName, Len(DevName) bReturn = GlobalUnlock(lpDevName) End If 'Call the print dialog up and let the user make changes If PrintDialog(PrintDlg) Then 'First get the DevName structure. lpDevName = GlobalLock(PrintDlg.hDevNames) CopyMemory DevName, ByVal lpDevName, 45 bReturn = GlobalUnlock(lpDevName) GlobalFree PrintDlg.hDevNames 'Next get the DevMode structure and set the printer 'properties appropriately lpDevMode = GlobalLock(PrintDlg.hDevMode) CopyMemory DevMode, ByVal lpDevMode, Len(DevMode) bReturn = GlobalUnlock(PrintDlg.hDevMode) GlobalFree PrintDlg.hDevMode NewPrinterName = UCase$(Left(DevMode.dmDeviceName, _ InStr(DevMode.dmDeviceName, Chr$(0)) - 1)) If Printer.DeviceName <> NewPrinterName Then For Each objPrinter In Printers If UCase$(objPrinter.DeviceName) = NewPrinterName Then Set Printer = objPrinter End If Next End If On Error Resume Next 'Set printer object properties according to selections made 'by user With Printer .Copies = DevMode.dmCopies .Duplex = DevMode.dmDuplex .Orientation = DevMode.dmOrientation End With On Error GoTo 0 End If 'Display the results in the immediate (debug) window With Printer If .Orientation = 1 Then strSetting = "Portrait. " Else strSetting = "Landscape. " End If Debug.Print "Copies = " & .Copies, "Orientation = " & _ strSetting End With End Sub 5. Add the following code to Form1: Private Sub cmdPrint_Click() ShowPrinter Me End Sub Private Sub cmdPrintSetup_Click() ShowPrinter Me, PD_PRINTSETUP End Sub 6. Press the F5 key to run the application. 7. Click the Command buttons. Note that the correct settings for Copies and Orientation are displayed in the Immediate Window (or Debug Window). STATUS ====== This behavior is by design. MORE INFORMATION ================ Steps to Reproduce Behavior --------------------------- 1. Start a new project on an NT 4.0 machine with default Form1. 2. Add a Command button and a Common Dialog control to Form1. 3. Add the following code to the Click event of Command1: CommonDialog1.ShowPrinter Debug.Print "Copies = " & Printer.Copies; " & Orientation = " & _ Printer.Orientation 4. Press the F5 key to run the application. 5. Click Command1. Change the Number of Copies and Orientation settings in the Print Dialog Box and click OK. Result: The line "Copies = 1 & Orientation = 1" is printed in the Debug (Immediate window) regardless of the settings you selected in the Printer Dialog box. NOTE: This same project would produce the expected results on Windows 95. Copies would equal the Number of Copies you selected and the Orientation would be 1 if you selected Portrait and 2 if you selected Landscape. ====================================================================== Keywords : VB4ALL VB4WIN vb5all VBKBPrinting kbprint Version : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0 Platform : NT WINDOWS Issue type : kbprb ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1997.