Printing on a card printer and encoding the magnetic stripe in one go?

rbuser

Hi,

1. I can print the front side of a card with ReportBuilder without
problems.

procedure PrintCard;
begin
ppViewer1.Report := ppReport1;
ppRichText1.MailMerge := true;

{ ....load text / image ...}

// set printer name
ppReport1.PrinterSetup.PrinterName := MembershipCardPrinterName;
ppReport1.PrinterSetup.PaperName := 'Custom';
ppViewer1.Print; // Print front card
end;


2. I can also encode the magnetic track of the card by using Delphi
printer object:

procedure EncodeCard;
var
myPrinter : TPrinter;
begin
myPrinter := Printer;
myprinter.Orientation := poLandscape;
myPrinter.BeginDoc;
myPrinter.Canvas.TextOut(0, 0, '~1;445778811?#'); // encode track1
myPrinter.Canvas.TextOut(0, 0, '~2;456789123?#'); // encode track2
myPrinter.EndDoc;
end;

What I would like to achieve is to print the front side and encode the
track in one go.

I have seen a similar post and downloaded PrinterEscapeCommands.zip file
but this solution is not supported by the printer we are using (CP40
Plus DataCard printer).

There must be a way that I could combine the 2 procedures PrintCard and
EncodeCard with Report Builder in one print job?

Your advice is very much appreciated.

Regards,
Victor



--- posted by geoForum on http://delphi.newswhat.com

nicocizik

Hi Victor,

Sorry for the delayed response, I somehow lost your post within another
thread.

If your printer does not have the ability to accept escape codes, you may
consider researching its custom API commands.

-------------------------------------------------
Tech Tip: Configuring Printer Specific Options
-------------------------------------------------

The Report.PrinterSetup properties can be used to set the properties that
are common to all printers. Internally RB applies these to the Windows
DevMode structure.


Report.PrinterSetup <----> Windows DevMode <-----> Printer Driver <--->
Printer


Printers often contains additional features, such as output bins, media
types, etc. The Windows DevMode structure can contain a private area that is
used the printer driver to store printer specific options. These can be
configured by using the Printer Driver's built-in properties dialog. These
options can theoritically be set programmatically, the trick is that you
have to know where in the structure to store the option and what values are
valid.

The following example shows how to display the printer properties dialog and
save the devmode for use within RB...

http://www.digital-metaphors.com/tips/SavePrinterDevMode.zip

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com