printer from file [modified] ... resolved

Daniel Engelkes

When the following code is executed.

 Dim strPrint As New StringBuilder
        For Me.counter = 0 To 19
            strPrint.Append(writeline(Me.counter) & vbCrLf)
        Next Me.counter

        'e.Graphics.DrawString(strPrint.ToString, printFont, System.Drawing.Brushes.Black, 10, 10)

        If System.IO.File.Exists(SaveFileDialog1.FileName) Then

            printfile = File.OpenText(SaveFileDialog1.FileName)
            printfile = System.IO.File.OpenText(SaveFileDialog1.FileName)
            Do Until printfile.Peek = -1
                menuitem(printcounter) = printfile.ReadLine
                e.Graphics.DrawString(printfile.ReadToEnd, printFont, _
                System.Drawing.Brushes.Black, 10, 10)
                printcounter = printcounter + 1
            Loop

            printfile.Close()


        End If

It does not print the in the same way on how it looks in notepad. Any Ideas. You can get writeline code on the forum discussion title "writing to text file" Any ideas how to resolve issues. issues as has been resolved by changing the font name..

modified on Friday, March 12, 2010 9:16 PM

Luc Pattyn · modified on Friday, March 12, 2010 9:16 PM

Hi, 1.

Daniel Engelkes wrote:

It does not print the in the same way on how it looks in notepad

is not a symptom we can work on. What does it do, and how is that different from what you want/expect? 2. A do-loop containing printfile.ReadToEnd will iterate only once. Your first line goes to "menuitem", everything else goes to "DrawString", there isn't a second iteration. 3. Most often, the correct way to print a number of lines is by having a loop, where each iteration prints one line of text, at a different location; so you need to have coordinates (x,y) which change as you iterate your loop. 4. Very likely, I haven't checked that part of your code: in order to write a number of strings to a text file, there is no need to concatenate the text and write all in one go. One can: - either use a FileStream and the WriteLine method; - or fill a string array and use File.WriteAllLines(). :)

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles]

I only read code that is properly formatted, adding PRE tags is the easiest way to obtain that.

Andy_L_J · modified on Friday, March 12, 2010 9:16 PM

I would load the file into a List or similar collection (coll) off String Array objects and then iterate through the collection, setting the x,y coordinates as appropriate:

'Read each line into an array and then put each array into a Generic.List(Of Array)
' Then do something like this in the PrintPage Event...

Dim l As Single = e.MarginBounds.Left ' Left margin
Dim y as Single = e.MarginBounds.Top ' Top margin
Dim h as Integer = 18 ' Row Height
Dim ws() As Single = {100, 50, 50, 50) ' Column widths
Dim sfs() As StringFormat = {StringFomat.Alignment.Far, StrngFormat.Alignment.Centre, _
StringFormat.Alignment.Near, StringFormat.Far}
Dim cuRow As Integer = 0
Dim linesReq As Integer = coll.Count - 1

Dim fnt as New Font("Courier New", 10, FontStype.Regular)
Dim pageline as Integer = 1
Dim linesPerPage as Integer = Math.Floor((e.MarginBounds.Bottom-y)/h)

For i as Integer = curRow to coll.Count -1
Do While (pageLine <= linesPerPage) And (curRow <= linesReq)
PrintText(e, coll.Item(curRow), l, y, ws, h, fnt, Brushes.Black, sfs())
y += h
pageLine += 1
curRow += 1
Loop

If (cuRow > linesReq)
Exit For
End If
Next i
...

Private Sub PrintText(ByVal e as PrintPageEventArgs, txtArray As Array, _
ByVal l as Single, ByVal y as Single, ByVal ws As Array, _
ByVal h As Single, ByVal fnt As Font, ByVal br as Brush, _
ByVal sfs As Array)

For i as Integer = 0 To txtArray.Count - 1
e.Graphics.DrawString(txtArray(i), l, y, ws(i), h, fnt, br, sfs(i))
l += ws(i)
Next

End Sub

I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly 'This space for rent' Driven to the arms of Heineken by the wife

modified on Friday, March 12, 2010 3:28 AM

The Man from U N C L E · modified on Friday, March 12, 2010 9:16 PM

How you read or write the file has nothing to do with how it prints. Are you using the same font? How are you handling the PrintDocument events for new Pages etc.? Do you have the margins set up the same as notepad does? The questions are endless.

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it. Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850) [My Articles] [My Website]

Daniel Engelkes

when I write to the file this is the format

   Menu Items	Qty	Unit Cost	Total Cost
   ----------	---	---------	----------

cheeseburger 0 $5.00 $0.00
onion rings 0 $6.00 $0.00
chicken sdwch 0 $5.00 $0.00
milk shake 0 $2.00 $0.00
mexican rice 0 $5.00 $0.00
quasidella 0 $2.00 $0.00
shrimp cocktail 0 $5.00 $0.00
lasagne 0 $3.00 $0.00
spagehtti 0 $5.00 $0.00
cake 1 $2.00 $2.00
cookies 1 $6.00 $6.00

			 OrderTotal:$8.00
			 DrinkTotal:$0.00
			 ---------------

			   SubTotal:$8.00
			 Tax Amount:$0.60
			 ---------------

			Grand Total:$8.60

but when I print the document from the program it end up like this

   MenuItemsQty	Unit Cost	Total Cost
   ----------   ---	--------- ----------

cheeseburger 0 $5.00 $0.00
onion rings 0 $6.00 $0.00
chicken sdwch 0 $5.00 $0.00
milk shake 0 $2.00 $0.00
mexican rice 0 $5.00 $0.00
quasidella 0 $2.00 $0.00
shrimp cocktail 0 $5.00 $0.00
lasagne 0 $3.00 $0.00
spagehtti 0 $5.00 $0.00
cake 1 $2.00 $2.00
cookies 1 $6.00 $6.00

it needs the same format. any ideas.

Luc Pattyn

Ha, we finally got a symptom. Seems you want columnar results without using one DrawString for each cell. So you are relying on tabs (very difficult) or on spaces to get data formatted in columns. Unless you print individual cells, you need to choose a non-proportional or monospaced font, such as Courier New, and NOT a proportional font such as Arial. (If you choose Arial in Notepad, the data will look bad too!) :)

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles]

I only read code that is properly formatted, adding PRE tags is the easiest way to obtain that.

Wayne Gaylard

This is how I do my report printing. I have adapted one of my reports to sort of get what you are looking for. I used a set of arrays to input the data, whereas you would obviously get it from the app.

Private items() As String = {"Cheeseburger", "Onion Rings", "Chicken Sandwich", "Milk Shake"}
Private costs() As Integer = {5, 6, 5, 2}
Private quantities() As Integer = {1, 2, 2, 2}
Private intLinesPerPage As Integer = 25
Private intLinesPrinted As Integer

Private Sub PrintDocument1\_PrintPage(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs) Handles PrintDocument1.PrintPage

    PrintHeadings(e)
    PrintDetails(e)

End Sub

Private Sub PrintHeadings(ByVal e As System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs)

    Dim recMenu As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(40, 20, 100, 40)
    Dim recQuantity As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(120, 20, 60, 40)
    Dim recCost As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(180, 20, 60, 40)
    Dim recTotal As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(260, 20, 80, 40)
    Dim fntDefault As New System.Drawing.Font("Arial", 8, FontStyle.Underline)
    Dim fmtCentre As New StringFormat
    fmtCentre.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center
    e.Graphics.DrawString("Menu Items", fntDefault, Brushes.Black, recMenu, fmtCentre)
    e.Graphics.DrawString("Quantity", fntDefault, Brushes.Black, recQuantity, fmtCentre)
    e.Graphics.DrawString("Cost Price", fntDefault, Brushes.Black, recCost, fmtCentre)
    e.Graphics.DrawString("Total", fntDefault, Brushes.Black, recTotal, fmtCentre)

End Sub

Private Sub PrintDetails(ByVal e As System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs)

    Dim strMenu As New StringBuilder("")
    Dim strQuantity As New StringBuilder("")
    Dim strCost As New StringBuilder("")
    Dim strTotal As New StringBuilder("")
    Dim recMenu As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(20, 80, 100, 600)
    Dim recQuantity As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(120, 80, 60, 600)
    Dim recCost As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(180, 80, 60, 600)
    Dim recTotal As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(240, 80, 80, 600)
    Dim intLastLine As Integer = intLinesPrinted + intLinesPerPage
    If intLastLine >= items.Length - 1 Then
        intLastLine = items.Length - 1
        e.HasMorePages = False
    Else
        e.HasMorePages = True
    End If
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = intL

Luc Pattyn

Aha, filling columns each with a string inside a rectangle. Interesting. :)

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles]

I only read code that is properly formatted, adding PRE tags is the easiest way to obtain that.