need to send escape sequesces before RB can kick in

rbuser

so,
what i need to do is position the paper correctly (its a slip printer)
i can do this by sending Esc sequences to the printer using the Escape()
function
but i would like to do the layout in RB
so i need to be able to push the escape codes to the printer of the report
before the report itself is printed,
is this possible with RB?
tia,
marc

nicocizik

Hi Marc,

ReportBuilder renders to the printer using the Delphi TCanvas class and via
calls to Windows GDI functions.

We do not have any direct experience with sending escape codes directly to
the printer driver. According to the Windows API documentation, the
ExtEscape function allows applications to access capabilities of a
particular device that are not available through GDI. Try searching the
Windows API docs and Google for more information.

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rbuser

Nico,
sending the escape codes itself is a piece of cake
what i want to know is that if it is possible to get to the printer directly
to use this Escape() win api
so i can push out the esc codes and then let RB do its job...
tia,
marc

nicocizik

Hi Marc,

Sorry for the delay in this response. You will need to wait until the
PrinterDevice is created before you can get ahold of the printer handle. I
would suggest trying in the Report.BeforePrint event. From there you can
access the TppPrinterDevice.Printer.Canvas.Handle property. From here, you
are probably going to want to use the TppPrinterDevice.OnReceivePage event
to move forward with pushing out the escape codes. Hope this helps.

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