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With PxPLUS for Windows, there are two print devices :
*WINPRT* and *WINDEV*
Both devices use the Windows' spooling system.

With *WINPRT*, the job will be interpreted by the Windows' print API, and then passed on to the printer driver, building the final file which is queued up and sent to the printer.

*WINDEV* is a special interface to the Windows Print spooler which implements a 'PASSTHROUGH' mode allowing you to send escape sequences directly to a printer.
This provides an interface similar to opening 'LPT1' directly.

Note:
*WINPRT* is your only choice to print 'fonted scalable text', images, boxes, lines, etc. along with plain text.
*WINDEV* is your only choice to send printer specific 'escape-sequences' along with a text to the printer but will not support any GUI Mnemonics.

Example 1

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*
....<snip>....
PRINT (1) 'FONT'(FONT$,int(C*.8)),
PRINT (1) 'TEXT'(@x(X+66.5),@y(Y+.5),@x(X+75),@y(Y+2),FC$),
PRINT (1) 'PEN'(1,4,0),
PRINT (1) 'RECTANGLE'(@x(MX),@y(MY+5),@x(MX+20),@y(MY+7)),

Example 2

OPEN (1) "*WINDEV*"
PRINT (1) 'BO',ESC+"(s12H",'EO', ! HP Laser 12 cpi mode. Do not use 'BO'+ESC....+'EO'
PRINT (1) TXT$
 

When you open the Windows' spooler with either *WINPRT* or *WINDEV* you can specify a series of options separated by semi-colons following *WINxxx* in the path name.

By default, as if you just issue an

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*"

PxPLUS will pop-up the standard Windows' printer selection box and let you choose which printer you want to use along with various properties such as orientation, copies, print to file, etc.. The printer and properties selected will remain current throughout the rest of the PxPLUS session.

To force the assignment of a specific printer, place such printer name following the *WINPRT*, separated by a semi-colon:

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*;Epson FX-80 on \\server1\queue1"

This will open an Epson FX-80 printer (as per the Windows control panel) on \\server1\queue1.

There are also a couple of special queue names: "ASIS" and "DEFAULT".
"ASIS" will open the printer with exactly the same settings from the prior print job, and "DEFAULT" opens the printer queue which is currently "set as default". Neither of these will display the printer selection dialogue.

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*;ASIS"

To find out the names of all the configured printers in the system use the directive:

WINPRT_SETUP LIST X$

This will place a list of all configured printers into X$ (comma separated).

To find the current selected printer:

WINPRT_SETUP READ X$

To change the current selected printer:

WINPRT_SETUP WRITE "Epson FX80 on \\server1\queue1"

To set printer properties, add the properties following the printer name, separated by semi-colons such as:

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*;Epson FX80 on \\server1\queue1;ORIENTATION=LANDSCAPE;COPIES=3"
or
OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*;;ORIENTATION=LANDSCAPE"

• Note the double semi-colons with the second statement.

To determine the current selected printer properties:

WINPRT_SETUP READ PROPERTIES P$

To set the current printer properties:

WINPRT_SETUP WRITE PROPERTIES P$

One of the printer properties is OFFSET.
The OFFSET, if returned, will be in 1/1000" of an inch. However, the margin size is not something PxPLUS can retrieve. Therefore there may be some variation to the margins between different printers.

The following command will set a 1/2 inch left margin and a 3/4 inch top margin:

WINPRT_SETUP WRITE PROPERTIES "OFFSET=500:750"

This provides pretty accurate x and y coordinates for the page. In the event that margins shift around in your report, add some code for different printers in order to move the OFFSET around. Adjusting the OFFSET can compensate for different margin sizes. OFFSET can be specified with positive and negative values.
 

To get the list of available fonts:

OPEN (1) "*WINPRT*" (Printer must be opened first)
F$= 'FONT' ( LIST *, channel )
PRINT F$ (Prints list of fonts, comma separated)

Find out about the font sizes of a certain font and check whether this font can be printed by:

S$='FONT' (LIST "Arial" ,channel)

From this list of font sizes, set the default font with:

PRINT (channel) 'FONT'(<font name>,<font size>),'DF',
PRINT (channel) 'FONT'("Arial",-10),'DF',

Be aware of the negative size value.
A negative size means: use that point size
A positive size means: use this factor relative to the default size.

PRINT (channel) 'FONT'("Arial",0.75),'DF',

With this option, the font size can be increased or decreased and increases or decreases the number of print positions.

PRINT (channel) 'FONT'("Arial",mxc(channel)/<positions_required>),'DF',

Be careful with the point sizes of the fonts. Rounding to the nearest "supported" point size will occur. For example: If you specify a point size of 1.5, Windows will round this to a size it supports. The print driver will also influence the point size rounding.

MXC() and MXL() return different values when a default font size from different printers has been forced.

The values will vary from one printer to the next. It will vary based upon the supported fonts or font sizes for the printer driver, as well as the margins and offsets currently set for the driver. It will also vary based upon the paper size and orientation (landscape vs portrait) for that printer. We have never seen the exact same col/row values yet when switching between different printers/printer drivers. This is why we recommend that the logic should dynamically adjust the size, until you get the minimum number of cols/rows, required for the report. However your report may vary slightly in size during output.

A lot of such instructions are implemented in our sample program "fontpick".

Windows will add a form feed to the end of a job, whether you send it through *WINPRT* or through *WINDEV*. Therefore, whenever you close the printer, the job will end, and a form feed is produced.

To print directly to the printer, open 'LPT1' directly. However, we advise to use an UNC (Universal Naming Convention):

OPEN (1)"\\server_name\printer_name"

If PRINT causes an error 13, add a LOCK(1) to your code right after the OPEN.

To make your report look the same on every printer, the two mnemonics 'CPI'() and 'LPI'() can be of help.
Add a number (per inch) to force the @X() @Y() locations to be more exact and independent from the selected default font.

For example:

OPEN(1)"*WINPRT*"
PRINT (1)'FONT'("Courier New",-10),'df',
PRINT (1)'CPI'(10),'LPI'(6),

The first print statement forces the printer to a specific font, and recalculates the number of columns and rows the print driver will support per page for this printer.

The second print line forces 10 characters to the inch, and 6 lines to the inch. This does NOT change the default font, but it changes PxPLUS internal calculations of the column and row to real pixel coordinates. In this example, a print @x(0) would be up against the left margin of the page, while @x(10) would be exactly 1 inch from the left margin, @x(20) would be 2 inches from the left margin and so on. The same applies to @y() in relation to the 'LPI'().

However, the coordinates determine the printable area of the page. Therefore the differences from one print driver to the next can have an impact on margins and offsets.

Questions & Answers

Q: When printing with "*winprt*" is there a way to abort the printing by an instruction and remove the current print job from the print spooler?

A: Adding an 'AB' mnemonic to the *WINPRT* channel will abort the current document while

Q: In Windows, how do I determine which printer is set as the current printer?

A: You could do something like:

WINPRT_SETUP READ A$
 

and A$ will contain the name of the open current printer.

Q: In Windows, how do I determine which printer is set as the default printer?

A: Windows stores the Default Printer in the WIN.INI file. To find out what it is, you can use the *INIFILE Utility to read this value:

CALL "*INIFILE;READ","WIN.INI","Windows","Device","",default_prt$,80
PRINT default_prt$

Q: How can I access local printers from a WindX Workstation?

A: To access a Printer on the local WindX PC, insert "[WDX]" in front of the Print Name.

For example:

OPEN (1)"[WDX]*WINPRT*"
or OPEN (1)"[WDX]*WINDEV*"
or OPEN (1)"[WDX]LPT1"

Q: How do I know when I am in WindX so I can print to local printers ?

A: We recommend that you set a global variable if WindX is running. Add a line like this to your startup program:

IF MID(MSE,22,1)>$00$ AND MID(MSE,22,1)<$FF$ THEN %WDX$="[WDX]"

Then, where you open the printer, add:

OPEN(CHAN)%WDX$+"*WINPRT*"

The %WDX$ variable will get a value only when running WindX, if not the variable will be empty.

Q: How can I open and close the printer without printing a 'Form Feed' ?

A: OPEN INPUT (chn) "*WINPRT*"

This will allow you to open the printer but not start any document. In fact, it simply tests whether the printer is present and determines which fonts are available using the 'FONT'(LIST *,chn) function.
The INPUT clause indicates that the printer is in 'Query' mode only. After all, it is hard to print to an input only device.

Q: How can I 'right justify' columns ?

A: The 'JR' and 'JD' mnemonics work with fixed length outputs. Which means, when sending numeric data, the output is formatted using a consistent format mask.

'JR' takes the length of the following string and determines whether the end-point is based upon fixed length printed output. Just like printing 10 characters at 10 CPI, the printed width must be right justified within one inch. Once the length of the field is determined and the end point is computed, PxPLUS subtracts the true length of the printed text based upon the proportional font chosen to determine the start point for the text. The result is right justified output assuming all the fields are the same length.

'JD' is a variation thereof and is based upon numeric output. Instead of computing the end-point it computes the location of either the last digit or the decimal point. For example if you print 1234.56 with the format mask (###,##0.00), PxPLUS computes the location of the decimal point. PxPLUS takes the number of characters in front of that point (8 in the above example) and multiplies the logical CPI resulting in 8/10ths of an inch. PxPLUS , then subtracts the actual size of the first eight characters from the output as per the proportional font selected and uses this as the start point for printing the complete output. The net result is that the final digit and/or decimal point will always be aligned in the same position assuming a consistent format mask. A trailing sign, ')', 'CR', or 'DB' will not effect the alignment.

It is important to remember that with both the 'JR' and 'JD' mnemonics, the output must always be the same length, that is, numeric data MUST be printed using a format specification.

Please note that a standard PRINT (channel) <num_value>:"##,##0.00", without any justification, will always be formatted with the 'JL' mnemonic.

Also remember .....

PxPLUS prints with two different printing planes. One for Text and one for Graphics. Fonted text is printed on the graphics plane. The graphic plane lays on top of the text plane.

The one exception to this is the 'FONT'() followed by a 'DF', which sets the font height and width of the characters printed on the text plane. All plain print commands will then use this text font and size on the text plane until you issue another 'FONT'() followed by a 'DF'. This of course, re-adjusts the character size of the text plane.

Remember also that the X and Y coordinates for each column and row are based upon the cell size of the text plane.

All other 'FONT' () commands affect the graphics plane. To place text on the page in the graphics plane, you need to use a 'TEXT'() mnemonic. A regular print command with no 'TEXT'() mnemonic places text on the text plane.

A common way to print is to open the printer. Print a 'FONT'() which has a specific point size (negative size value) and a 'DF'. Then you can print around the page on the graphics plane, printing 'FONT'() and 'TEXT'() mnemonics to get your differe