templecombe
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Windows XP Printer files printing out of sequence
I have a vb application which sends word 2000 documents to an infoprint 1332. There may be as many as 100 documents that print. These documents need to be matched with paperwork produced on another system which supplied the data for the documents.
My problem is that as the documents queue up in print manager some of the newer documents print before they are first in the queue. This is clearly visible by watching the files on print manager as you can see the status of a document lower in the queue, change to printing while those above have a blank status.
I would like to know how I can prevent this from happening (apart from showing the print generation process in the vb program )
My problem is that as the documents queue up in print manager some of the newer documents print before they are first in the queue. This is clearly visible by watching the files on print manager as you can see the status of a document lower in the queue, change to printing while those above have a blank status.
I would like to know how I can prevent this from happening (apart from showing the print generation process in the vb program )
ASKER
Hi Gary
Sorry I meant slowing the print process not showing and I didn't mean the question to be in the IBM i section although that is where the data for the document comes from, via bookmarks. So you seem to be confirming what I thought, that I need to put a delay in.
I will have a look at the master/sub document possibility as there is no point having a fast printer if I have to slow the print process down so that I can print properly.
Thanks
Sorry I meant slowing the print process not showing and I didn't mean the question to be in the IBM i section although that is where the data for the document comes from, via bookmarks. So you seem to be confirming what I thought, that I need to put a delay in.
I will have a look at the master/sub document possibility as there is no point having a fast printer if I have to slow the print process down so that I can print properly.
Thanks
This may be useful:
http://devpinoy.org/blogs/keithrull/archive/2007/06/09/updated-how-to-merge-multiple-microsoft-word-documents.aspx
- Gary Patterson
http://devpinoy.org/blogs/keithrull/archive/2007/06/09/updated-how-to-merge-multiple-microsoft-word-documents.aspx
- Gary Patterson
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I think the trick is going to be to turn off background printing, and then make your VB program pause between each print job at least until the previous print job is on the print queue and started. Another option would be to programatically combine the list of documents into a single document, and then print that master document. Word supports this feature of master documents and sub-documents, so you could write a little program that took the list of documents, created a master document that linked them one after the other, and then printed the master document.
Here's an article related to a similar problem in a Word VBA Macro:
http://word.tips.net/Pages/T000842_Documents_Printing_Out_of_Order.html
This is a related problem when just selecting a bunch of files in Explorer and right-clicking and selecting Print:
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2004/12/03/274312.aspx
BTW, why is this tagged as an AS/400 question? Looks like VB to me.
- Gary Patterson