Printing from Preview

rbuser

I know this issue has been discussed before, I've read all the posting on
it, although I am none of the wiser as to the solution.

When previewing a report and selecting the Print button from within the
preview, the report either doesn't print, prints just some of the bands or
in one case, just accumulates thousands of blank pages when the report is
only one page.

Previous suggestions have been setting CachedPages to True and PassSetting
to psTwoPass; neither of these worked. We have found that if you don't load
from a template, it prints OK, but this isn't an option because we allow the
users to change the report file being loaded. We also found that if there is
no OnBeforePrint event for the Report, it prints OK after a preview.

For the record, we're using D5, RB Ent 5.56

Thanks,

Jason Sweby,
Carval Computing Ltd,
Plymouth, UK.

rbuser

Further to this, I can now state that loading from a template has nothing to
do with it; whether or not the report is loaded from a template or not, the
error occurs, so we can eliminate that from our enquiries.

Jason.

digitalmetaphors

Do you have variables for the report in your form unit which are used in the
event handlers? Be sure to reinitalize all of the variables in the
Report.BeforePrint event. When the report previews, all of the pages are
generated. When the report is told to print from the preview, all of the
pages are regenerated.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

rbuser

OK, you say "Be sure to reinitalize all of the variables in the
Report.BeforePrint event" because "When the report previews, all of the
pages are generated. When the report is told to print from the preview, all
of the pages are regenerated".

Attached is the ASCII of a tiny RTM file which emulates what one of my
reports does. There is a global integer variable, MyVar, which is
initialised to zero both in the OnBeforePrint and the OnStartPass events of
the report (through RAP, although the same occurs when using the Delphi
TppReport events).

On the DetailBand is a ppVariable (Integer) which has its value set to 1 in
its OnCalc event. Also, MyVar has its value increased to the new value of
the ppVariable.

On the Summary band is another ppVariable, Integer, whose OnCalc event
simply states: Value := MyVar;

If the report is previewed, both Variables come out as 1. If the report is
printed directly, both Variables come out as 1. If the report is previewed
then printed from within the preview, Variable1 comes out as 1 but Variable2
comes out as 2. Why is this, bearing in mind the quote from the top?

beforeprintdemo.rtm:

object ppReport1: TppReport
PrinterSetup.BinName = 'Default'
PrinterSetup.DocumentName = 'Report'
PrinterSetup.PaperName = 'Letter 8 ? x 11 in'
PrinterSetup.PrinterName = 'Default'
PrinterSetup.mmMarginBottom = 6350
PrinterSetup.mmMarginLeft = 6350
PrinterSetup.mmMarginRight = 6350
PrinterSetup.mmMarginTop = 6350
PrinterSetup.mmPaperHeight = 279401
PrinterSetup.mmPaperWidth = 215900
PrinterSetup.PaperSize = 1
Template.FileName = 'c:\temp\beforeprintdemo.rtm'
Template.Format = ftASCII
DeviceType = 'Screen'
Left = 160
Top = 32
Version = '6.02'
mmColumnWidth = 0
object ppDetailBand1: TppDetailBand
mmBottomOffset = 0
mmHeight = 13229
mmPrintPosition = 0
object ppVariable1: TppVariable
UserName = 'Variable1'
CalcOrder = 0
DataType = dtInteger
Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
Font.Color = clBlack
Font.Name = 'Arial'
Font.Size = 10
Font.Style = []
Transparent = True
mmHeight = 3969
mmLeft = 5292
mmTop = 1852
mmWidth = 14817
BandType = 4
end
end
object ppSummaryBand1: TppSummaryBand
mmBottomOffset = 0
mmHeight = 13229
mmPrintPosition = 0
object ppVariable2: TppVariable
UserName = 'Variable2'
CalcOrder = 0
DataType = dtInteger
Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
Font.Color = clBlack
Font.Name = 'Arial'
Font.Size = 10
Font.Style = []
Transparent = True
mmHeight = 3969
mmLeft = 3440
mmTop = 2910
mmWidth = 14817
BandType = 7
end
end
object raCodeModule1: TraCodeModule
ProgramStream = {
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6772616D4E616D6506095661726961626C65730B50726F6772616D5479706507
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616E646C65720B50726F6772616D4E616D65060F5661726961626C65314F6E43
616C630B50726F6772616D54797065070B747450726F63656475726506536F75
726365066970726F636564757265205661726961626C65314F6E43616C632876
61722056616C75653A2056617269616E74293B0D0A626567696E0D0A0956616C
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6C75653B20200D0A656E643B0D0A0D436F6D706F6E656E744E616D6506095661
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3A2056617269616E74293B0D0A626567696E0D0A0D0A202056616C7565203A3D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}
end
end

Many thanks,

Jason Sweby
Carval Computing Limited,
Plymouth, UK.

digitalmetaphors

Ok, in RAP, it looks like the Report.BeforePrint doesn't fire again when you
print from the previewer. The workaround to this is to use a TppVariable in
the report. Set it to Visible= False and set its timing to reset on
ReportEnd. Call this variable MyVar and replace your MyVar references with
MyVar.Value and it should work, as I tried it with your sample report and it
worked.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors