Printing

I have an asp application that needs to print to a
specific network printer. I am currently making it work
by using the FSO and setting the path to the printer
port, then writing out a string. The problem with that
is that all the formatting I can do is with line feeds
and tabs. Ideally, I'd like to pop open an html page on
the client machine, print it, then close it. Is there
any way to simulate calling window.print without pulling
up the printer dialog box? Either in asp or in client
side script? Any other suggestions on how to handle this?

Thanks,
Rebecca

Ray
Wed Oct 15 11:06:54 CDT 2003


"Rebecca" <rdietrich1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0bd701c39334$fa18d620$a001280a@phx.gbl...
> I have an asp application that needs to print to a
> specific network printer. I am currently making it work
> by using the FSO and setting the path to the printer
> port, then writing out a string. The problem with that
> is that all the formatting I can do is with line feeds
> and tabs. Ideally, I'd like to pop open an html page on
> the client machine, print it, then close it. Is there
> any way to simulate calling window.print without pulling
> up the printer dialog box?

NO. This would be abused if it were possible.

Either in asp or in client
> side script?


> Any other suggestions on how to handle this?

The best thing is to have your users print the page. Trying to print to a
printer over the lan from ASP is a bit more complicated than just telling a
user to print something.

Ray at work

anonymous
Wed Oct 15 11:26:14 CDT 2003

>> Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
>
>The best thing is to have your users print the page.
Trying to print to a
>printer over the lan from ASP is a bit more complicated
than just telling a
>user to print something.

Thanks for the response. I wish that were an option, but
there are so many users of this application that we can't
rely on them to print the document. Plus that would
cause added work and confusion for them. This
application sends orders to a central store room for
everything from contract labor to chemicals. The
storeroom wishes to receive these orders on a printer. I
have tried and tried and tried to talk them into
receiving the orders in a group mailbox, but they will
have nothing to do with that. They have the "we've
always done it this way, why should we change"
mentality. It doesn't help that our SAP applications can
print across the network with no problem!

Dan
Wed Oct 15 11:37:02 CDT 2003

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:26:14 -0700,
<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>>> Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
>>
>>The best thing is to have your users print the page.
>Trying to print to a
>>printer over the lan from ASP is a bit more complicated
>than just telling a
>>user to print something.
>
>Thanks for the response. I wish that were an option, but
>there are so many users of this application that we can't
>rely on them to print the document. Plus that would
>cause added work and confusion for them. This
>application sends orders to a central store room for
>everything from contract labor to chemicals. The
>storeroom wishes to receive these orders on a printer. I
>have tried and tried and tried to talk them into
>receiving the orders in a group mailbox, but they will
>have nothing to do with that. They have the "we've
>always done it this way, why should we change"
>mentality. It doesn't help that our SAP applications can
>print across the network with no problem!

What about having the ASP server do the printing and just "confirm"
the print request by the user?

Richard
Wed Oct 15 11:42:02 CDT 2003

<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03a301c39339$0d6d1f20$a101280a@phx.gbl...
> >> Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
> >
> >The best thing is to have your users print the page.
> Trying to print to a
> >printer over the lan from ASP is a bit more complicated
> than just telling a
> >user to print something.
>
> Thanks for the response. I wish that were an option, but
> there are so many users of this application that we can't
> rely on them to print the document. Plus that would
> cause added work and confusion for them.

You need a solution that is more advanced than copying a stream to the FSO -
the only way I can see anything even remotely like this working is if by
good fortune you have PostScript printers in all the locations you are doing
this to, in which theoretically you could send PostScript commands to the
printer in question as the string, and produce a formatted document that
way.

Failing that, you probably need a solution with a rendering engine and a
network spooler - like ActivePDF Spooler and ActivePDF Server
(http://www.activepdf.com/)

R.

Rebecca
Wed Oct 15 12:49:57 CDT 2003


>What about having the ASP server do the printing and
just "confirm"
>the print request by the user?

The requirement is that the printout needs to be sent
without any interaction from the user. In addition to
that, something I forgot to mention in my previous post,
some orders have to be approved before they print to the
storeroom. In that case they do not need to print at the
time that the user submits the order.

anonymous
Wed Oct 15 12:52:27 CDT 2003

I like the idea of sending PostScript commands to the
printer. There are only two printers that receive orders
and they are both new top of the line HPs, so I'm
thinking they could handle that. Where can I find out
more about the PS commands?


>You need a solution that is more advanced than copying a
stream to the FSO -
>the only way I can see anything even remotely like this
working is if by
>good fortune you have PostScript printers in all the
locations you are doing
>this to, in which theoretically you could send
PostScript commands to the
>printer in question as the string, and produce a
formatted document that
>way.
>
>Failing that, you probably need a solution with a
rendering engine and a
>network spooler - like ActivePDF Spooler and ActivePDF
Server
>(http://www.activepdf.com/)
>
>R.
>
>
>.
>

William
Wed Oct 15 13:16:10 CDT 2003

anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com wrote:
> I like the idea of sending PostScript commands to the
> printer.

strewth - I never thought I'd see that again.

> There are only two printers that receive orders
> and they are both new top of the line HPs, so I'm
> thinking they could handle that. Where can I find out
> more about the PS commands?
>

you need the red book and the blue book, one is a language ref, the other a
cook-book of samples/examples. maybe amazon - I'm guessing. I got mine a
long, long time ago.

--
William Tasso - http://WilliamTasso.com

anonymous
Wed Oct 15 13:28:37 CDT 2003


>strewth - I never thought I'd see that again.

Hey, whatever works!!

>you need the red book and the blue book, one is a
language ref, the other a
>cook-book of samples/examples. maybe amazon - I'm
guessing. I got mine a
>long, long time ago.

Do you know of any online references. I found a language
reference, but I can't seem to find anything to tell me
know to make the printer execute the script instead of
just printing it.

WIlliam
Wed Oct 15 13:45:44 CDT 2003

Take a look at Meadroid.com. The advanced (read: not free) version of their
control ScriptX may just do what you're after. We use the free version to
control margins, headers, footers, etc...the advanced version lets you queue
to known printers, and has a "silent" mode.

Regards,

--
William Morris
Product Development, Seritas LLC


"Rebecca" <rdietrich1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0bd701c39334$fa18d620$a001280a@phx.gbl...
> I have an asp application that needs to print to a
> specific network printer. I am currently making it work
> by using the FSO and setting the path to the printer
> port, then writing out a string. The problem with that
> is that all the formatting I can do is with line feeds
> and tabs. Ideally, I'd like to pop open an html page on
> the client machine, print it, then close it. Is there
> any way to simulate calling window.print without pulling
> up the printer dialog box? Either in asp or in client
> side script? Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
>
> Thanks,
> Rebecca

William
Wed Oct 15 14:05:44 CDT 2003

anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com wrote:
>> strewth - I never thought I'd see that again.
>
> Hey, whatever works!!

ok - go for it ;o)

>
> Do you know of any online references. I found a language
> reference, but I can't seem to find anything to tell me
> know to make the printer execute the script instead of
> just printing it.

This looks like it's the whole blue book (the tutorial/cook-book): <
http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/offline/PostScript/BLUEBOOK.PDF >
It was the1st result here: <
http://www.google.com/search?q=postscript+blue+book >

do you have local access to one of the printers? ISTR that I cut my teeth
sending PS commands over the serial port. Also I think the printer
responded to an init string to set PCL mode - otherwise it defaulted to
PostScript anyway. As I said, a long time ago - maybe it's a printer config
thing - consult the printer docs.

Remember your housekeeping - you can get stack overflows on large print runs
if you're not careful. Does your printer have a HD installed - you can
store frequently used stuff - page layouts, logos, signatures etc - locally
on the printer to save bandwidth.

The world was monochrome in those days - I think colour PS versions/printers
were just starting to be available when I moved on.

In any event, have fun.
--
William Tasso - http://WilliamTasso.com