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VB Forum / General 2 / October 2004Different Printing Results: XP vs. Me
We have a VB6 application that prints a custom form, including horizontal and vertical line characters via OEM Charset character codes, via the Printer Object using a fixed-space font (Lucida Console). This form printed completely and correctly on various HP laser printers under Windows Me. Under XP the printed material is very slightly "spread out" with the result that the last two columns (character spaces) of the form do not get printed (apparently the right margin is reached). We have tested with various HP Drivers (PCL 6, PCL 5e, 4+) with the same result. We contacted HP Support and were told that VB is "overwriting" the HP driver and thus substituting a XP driver. I'm not sure I believe this but clearly we are getting different results under XP with the same (unchanged) application and the same HP 1200 printer. The only difference is XP versus Me. Can anyone explain and provide a solution?  SignatureTom Buggy Hi, Tom I find HP's explanation interesting. There is no way I know of that a standard VB6 application could overwrite a driver. I could use APIs to work around the driver in Raw mode, but that just sidesteps the driver rather than overwriting it. My own experience with printing is that any difference in driver version has the strong potential to show different results. This isn't just a VB app that this affects. You should be able to demonstrate the same effect by writing to a file and printing the same file on both machines. WinME and WinXP are based off of a different kernel. A lot of the ME graphics APIs are 16 bit under the hood. Fonts are another possible issue. If the glyph spacing has changed, that could be part of the problem. I would experiment with different fonts to see it you get more compatible results. Try Courier vs Courier Net and see what that does for you. I'd like to show the same effect from other than a VB app using an in the box Windows application. The trouble is that any of them that give you control of fonts are significantly different between Windows versions. Hope this helps, John Eikanger Microsoft Developer Support This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. -------------------- | From: "=?Utf-8?B?VG9tQg==?=" <TomB@discussions.microsoft.com> | Subject: Different Printing Results: XP vs. Me [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] | application and the same HP 1200 printer. The only difference is XP versus | Me. Can anyone explain and provide a solution? John wrote: In addition to John's points, are you using downloaded or native HP fonts? If downloaded, that could be a spacing difference. As a workaround, could you specify a percentage reduction on the present page size to make it fit again while pursuing a better fix? In addition to what Duane and I wrote: I talked to a GDI guy. There may indeed be differences between a Win9X kernel driver and a WinNT kernel driver. He suggested changing the scalemode to pixels and see if that has an effect. Another thing to try is to draw a diagonal line across a page and compare the results from both printers. Hope this helps, John Eikanger Microsoft Developer Support This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. -------------------- | Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 18:20:38 -0500 | From: Duane Bozarth <dp_bozarth@swko.dot.net> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] | As a workaround, could you specify a percentage reduction on the present | page size to make it fit again while pursuing a better fix? John, Thanks for the additional input. The change of ScaleMode to vbPixels did result in a workable "shrinkage" of the printed form horizontally. However, it also resulted in a significant and unworkable expansion of the form vertically, likely as a result of our use of Printer.CurrentY to manage vertical spacing. I could adjust for that with code modifications but, in the meantime, I've foumd another solution. I've avoided the problem by making slight adjustments with Printer.CurrentX in the coding for part of the form, with the result that the last two columns of the printed form are "recovered" without affecting usability of the form. By the way, a previous reply I posted to this topic is not showing - ? It included my "solution" as above, and also the fact that using an earlier version of the Lucida Console font from Win98 did not resolve the problem (so much for glyph spacing as a factor). If this reply doesn't take I'll send you an email. > In addition to what Duane and I wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > | As a workaround, could you specify a percentage reduction on the present > | page size to make it fit again while pursuing a better fix? John wrote: > Hi, Tom > > I find HP's explanation interesting. I wouldn't be anywhere near that polite. It's bullshit, and it should be called as such. Bob Thanks to all who have responded. I agree with the "HP BS" and will pursue it further as part of my paid incident (cost me $39 - not much, but not worth the response they gave). I've tested with an earlier version of the Lucida Console font from W98. Got the same results so it seems that fonts and glyph spacing don't apply. I've also tested with numerous drivers, including the latest from HP. Same bad results, so it seems that the printer driver isn't applicable to the problem. That leaves the OS itself (i.e. XP versus Me) as a possibility - any thoughts/possibilities there? Lastly, good news! I've resolved the situation my making slight adjustments with Printer.CurrentX in the coding for part of the printed form. This got the last two columns to print without affecting the usability of the form. Call it an "engineering solution" or workaround - i.e. basic problem not resolved but effects of it eliminated. > John wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Bob John wrote: > Hi, Tom > > I find HP's explanation interesting. hahahaaaaaa Apparently, the newsserver cancelled my first reply, probably because I spelled out "BS" Anyway, I would not be nearly as generous with my opinion of what HP claimed. Bob Bob, Your original reply has reappeared. Something goofy is going on with the posting of replies. One of mine from yesterday never made it to the topic - perhaps, like yours, it will appear at some point. > John wrote: > > Hi, Tom [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Bob Hi, Tom This is, after all, the season of ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night. Must have gotten into the NNTP servers <g> Glad to hear you've got something that will work for you. John Eikanger Microsoft Developer Support This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. -------------------- | From: "=?Utf-8?B?VG9tQg==?=" <TomB@discussions.microsoft.com> | Subject: Re: Different Printing Results: XP vs. Me [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] | > | > Bob John, Thanks for your support on this situation. Your knowledgeable support is in positive contrast to HP's blind, worthless, "see no evil" stabs. However, to whatever extent "Developer Support" has an influence on Microsoft "Development" (which is usually little), you may wish to suggest to them that, ideally in a zero-defects world, nothing that Microsoft develops should "go bump in the night." > Hi, Tom > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > | > > | > Bob |
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