FIX: Cannot Change Page Settings During Print Job (180645)

MORE INFORMATION

When printing via the Visual Basic Printer object, replacing NewPage with EndDoc is the only workaround to this problem. While this works as expected in many circumstances, this is not always an acceptable solution in multi- user environments. This article provides an API solution to this problem. Because this code creates a Device Context (DC) for your printer and you can only print to one DC at a time, it has the limitation that you cannot use the Printer object at the same time. So, you must end this document before returning to using the Printer object.

Please note that when using duplex printing, the call to ResetDC can cause duplexing to start over on some printer drivers. This can produce blank pages giving the appearance that the duplexing is skipping pages or not working at all. Because this is happening in the driver, the way to resolve this is to use a driver that does not exhibit this behavior.

You can use Printer.hDC instead of getting a new DC with CreateDC, but Printer.hDC might have some problems that can be encountered if you expand on this code. Article 175535, listed in the "References" section below, describes one such problem.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Create a Standard EXE Project. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event:

         Printer.PaperBin = vbPRBNLower ' 2
         Printer.Print "Testing Lower Bin"
         Printer.NewPage
         Printer.PaperBin = vbPRBNUpper ' 1
         Printer.Print "Testing Upper Bin"
         Printer.EndDoc
   
   					

3. Run the project. This produces the message "Run-time error '396': 'Paperbin' property cannot be set within a page". Clicking on "Debug" will highlight the line following the NewPage.

Example to Change Page Settings During a Print Job

1. Create a Standard EXE Project. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a CommandButton to Form1, and paste the following code into the form's Declaration section:

         Option Explicit
   
         ' Constants for DEVMODE.
         Private Const CCHDEVICENAME = 32
         Private Const CCHFORMNAME = 32
   
         ' Constants for DocumentProperties() call.
         Private Const DM_MODIFY = 8
         Private Const DM_IN_BUFFER = DM_MODIFY
         Private Const DM_COPY = 2
         Private Const DM_OUT_BUFFER = DM_COPY
   
         ' Constants for Orientation.
         Private Const DMORIENT_PORTRAIT = 1
         Private Const DMORIENT_LANDSCAPE = 2
   
         ' Constants for printer bin.
         Private Const DMBIN_UPPER = 1
         Private Const DMBIN_LOWER = 2
   
         ' Constants for DMFIELDS (which fields did you change?).
         Private Const DM_ORIENTATION = &H1
         Private Const DM_DEFAULTSOURCE = &H200
   
         Private Type DOCINFO
             cbSize As Long
             lpszDocName As String
             lpszOutput As String
         End Type
   
         Private Type DEVMODE
             dmDeviceName(1 To CCHDEVICENAME) As Byte
             dmSpecVersion As Integer
             dmDriverVersion As Integer
             dmSize As Integer
             dmDriverExtra As Integer
             dmFields As Long
             dmOrientation As Integer
             dmPaperSize As Integer
             dmPaperLength As Integer
             dmPaperWidth As Integer
             dmScale As Integer
             dmCopies As Integer
             dmDefaultSource As Integer
             dmPrintQuality As Integer
             dmColor As Integer
             dmDuplex As Integer
             dmYResolution As Integer
             dmTTOption As Integer
             dmCollate As Integer
             dmFormName(1 To CCHFORMNAME) As Byte
             dmUnusedPadding As Integer
             dmBitsPerPel As Integer
             dmPelsWidth As Long
             dmPelsHeight As Long
             dmDisplayFlags As Long
             dmDisplayFrequency As Long
         End Type
   
         Private Declare Function OpenPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _
             "OpenPrinterA" (ByVal pPrinterName As String, phPrinter As _
             Long, ByVal pDefault As Long) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function ClosePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" _
             (ByVal hPrinter As Long) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function DocumentProperties Lib "winspool.drv" _
             Alias "DocumentPropertiesA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, _
             ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal pDeviceName As String, _
             pDevModeOutput As Any, pDevModeInput As Any, _
             ByVal fMode As Long) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function ResetDC Lib "gdi32" Alias "ResetDCA" _
             (ByVal hdc As Long, lpInitData As Any) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function CreateDC Lib "gdi32" Alias "CreateDCA" _
             (ByVal lpDriverName As String, ByVal lpDeviceName As String, _
             ByVal lpOutput As Long, ByVal lpInitData As Long) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function DeleteDC Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
             As Long
   
         Private Declare Function TextOut Lib "gdi32" Alias "TextOutA" _
             (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long, _
             ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nCount As Long) As Boolean
   
         Private Declare Function StartDoc Lib "gdi32" Alias "StartDocA" _
             (ByVal hdc As Long, lpdi As DOCINFO) As Long
   
         Private Declare Function StartPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
             As Long
   
         Private Declare Function EndDoc Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
             As Long
   
         Private Declare Function EndPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
             As Long
   
         Private Declare Function GetLastError Lib "KERNEL32" () As Long
   
         Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "KERNEL32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" _
             (hpvDest As Any, hpvSource As Any, ByVal cbCopy As Long)
   
         Function ResetPrinterDC(PrinterName As String, hPrtDc As Long, _
             PaperSource As Long, PaperOrient As Long) As Boolean
             Dim nSize As Long           ' Size of DEVMODE
             Dim pDevMode As DEVMODE
             Dim PrinterHandle As Long   ' handle to printer
             Dim LastError As Long       ' return value for GetLastError
             Dim aDevMode() As Byte      ' working DEVMODE
   
             ' Get a handle to the printer.
             If OpenPrinter(PrinterName, PrinterHandle, 0&) Then
                 nSize = DocumentProperties(Me.hwnd, PrinterHandle, _
                 PrinterName, 0&, 0&, 0)
                 ' Reserve memory for the actual size of the DEVMODE
                 ReDim aDevMode(1 To nSize)
   
                 ' Fill the DEVMODE from the printer.
                 nSize = DocumentProperties(Me.hwnd, PrinterHandle, _
                 PrinterName, aDevMode(1), 0&, DM_OUT_BUFFER)
                 ' Copy the predefined portion of the DEVMODE.
                 Call CopyMemory(pDevMode, aDevMode(1), Len(pDevMode))
   
                 ' Change the appropriate member in the DevMode.
                 ' In this case, you want to change the paper bin and
                 ' orientation.
                 pDevMode.dmDefaultSource = PaperSource
                 pDevMode.dmOrientation = PaperOrient
                 ' Set the dmFields bit flag to indicate what you're changing.
                 pDevMode.dmFields = pDevMode.dmFields Or DM_DEFAULTSOURCE _
                 Or DM_ORIENTATION
   
                 ' Copy your changes back, then update DEVMODE.
                 Call CopyMemory(aDevMode(1), pDevMode, Len(pDevMode))
                 nSize = DocumentProperties(Me.hwnd, PrinterHandle, _
                 PrinterName, aDevMode(1), aDevMode(1), _
                 DM_IN_BUFFER Or DM_OUT_BUFFER)
   
                 nSize = ResetDC(hPrtDc, aDevMode(1))   ' Reset the DEVMODE
   
                 ' Close the handle when you're done with it.
                 ClosePrinter (PrinterHandle)
                 ResetPrinterDC = True   ' Reset succeeded!
             Else
                 ResetPrinterDC = False  ' Reset failed!
                 LastError = GetLastError()
                 MsgBox "Error changing Page settings. Error Code: " _
                 & LastError, vbExclamation, "Print Error"
             End If
         End Function
   
         Private Sub Command1_Click()
             Dim di As DOCINFO
             Dim hPrintDc As Long
             Dim Ret As Long
             Dim LastError As Long
             Dim tx$
   
             tx$ = "Hello World!"
             hPrintDc = CreateDC(Printer.DriverName, Printer.DeviceName, 0, 0)
             di.cbSize = Len(di)   ' 20
             di.lpszDocName = "VB Test Document"    ' Optional
   
             ' Initialize page settings.
             Ret = ResetPrinterDC(Printer.DeviceName, hPrintDc, _
             DMBIN_UPPER, DMORIENT_PORTRAIT)
   
             Ret = StartDoc(hPrintDc, di)
             Ret = StartPage(hPrintDc)
             Ret = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, tx$, Len(tx$))
             Ret = EndPage(hPrintDc)
   
             ' Change page settings.
             Ret = ResetPrinterDC(Printer.DeviceName, hPrintDc, _
             DMBIN_LOWER, DMORIENT_LANDSCAPE)
   
             Ret = StartPage(hPrintDc)
             Ret = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, tx$, Len(tx$))
             Ret = EndPage(hPrintDc)
             Ret = EndDoc(hPrintDc)
             Ret = DeleteDC(hPrintDc)
         End Sub
   					

3. Make sure that the printer orientation is set to Portrait and the paper source is set to Upper Tray or AutoSelect. Then run the Project and click on Command1. If your printer has both an upper and a lower paper tray and supports both orientations, this will print the first page to the upper tray in Portrait and then a second page from the lower tray in Landscape.