ACC2000: Using the PrtDevMode Property to Verify Custom Page Size

You can use the PrtDevMode property to set or return printing device mode information specified for a form or report in the Print dialog box. When you use the PrtDevMode property, you need to keep certain printer driver characteristics in mind. This article identifies some points that you should consider.

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PrtDevMode Issues

• Set only those members that the printer driver supports. For example, if you set a custom page size for a driver that does not support a custom page size, you may encounter unexpected results.
  
  To find out whether you are using a driver that supports the Custom page size option, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
  2. In the Printers window, right-click the name of the appropriate printer, and then click Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Paper tab, and then view the Paper Size list.
     
     If Custom does not appear in the list, you are not able to use the information in this article.
• Set the PrtDevMode property's Fields member if you change any other member to let the printer driver know which members you are changing.
• Change only the first 68 bytes of the PrtDevMode property. Printer drivers are able to store driver-specific information after the first 68 bytes; therefore, it is important not to overwrite this information.

Verify Report Page Size

To verify that a report has the correct page size, check the setting in the PrtDevMode property. The PrtDevMode property is available only in Visual Basic for Applications.

To create a Sub procedure that reports the page size from PrtDevMode, follow these steps:

CAUTION: If you follow the steps in this example, you modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and follow these steps on a copy of the database.

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database Northwind.mdb or the sample project NorthwindCS.adp.
2. Create a new module and, if it is not already there, type the following line in the Declarations section:

   Option Explicit
   					

3. Type or paste the following lines to declare user-defined data types:

   Type zwtDevModeStr
       RGB As String * 94
   End Type
   
   Type zwtDeviceMode
       dmDeviceName As String * 16
       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
       dmResolution As Integer
       dmTTOption As Integer
       dmCollate As Integer
       dmFormName As String * 16
       dmPad As Long
       dmBits As Long
       dmPW As Long
       dmDFI As Long
       dmDRr as Long
   End Type
   					

4. Type or paste the following procedure:

   Sub CheckCustomPage (rptName As String)
      ' The zwtDevModeStr and zwtDeviceMode types are defined in the
      ' zwAllGlobals module in the WZFRMRPT.MDA file.
      Dim DevString As zwtDevModeStr
      Dim DM As zwtDeviceMode
      'Constants for the Fields member.
      Const DM_PAPERSIZE = &H2
      Const DM_PAPERLENGTH = &H4
      Const DM_PAPERWIDTH = &H8
      Dim DevModeExtra As String
      Dim rpt As Report
      Dim response
      Dim msg As String
      'Open the report in Design view.
      DoCmd.OpenReport rptName, A_DESIGN
      'DoCmd OpenReport rptName, A_DESIGN (in Microsoft Access 2.0)
      Set rpt = Reports(rptName)
      If Not IsNull(rpt.PrtDevMode) Then
         'Copy the PrtDevMode property to a string.
         DevModeExtra = rpt.PrtDevMode
         DevString.rgb = DevModeExtra
         LSet DM = DevString
         'Check for the custom page size.
         If DM.dmPaperSize = 256 Then
            'Display the custom page size.
            msg = "The Custom Page Size is " & DM.dmPaperWidth / 254
            msg = msg & " inches wide by " & DM.dmPaperLength / 254
            msg = msg & " inches long. Change the size?"
            response = MsgBox(msg, 4)
         Else
            msg = "The report does not have a custom page. "
            msg = msg & " Do you want to define one?"
            response = MsgBox(msg, 4)
         End If
         If response = 6 Then
            'User chose Yes; change the size.
            'Initialize the Fields member.
            DM.dmFields = DM.dmFields Or DM_PAPERSIZE Or DM_PAPERLENGTH Or DM_PAPERWIDTH
            'Set the page size.
            DM.dmPaperSize = 256
            msg = "Please enter Page Length in inches"
            DM.dmPaperLength = InputBox(msg) * 254
            msg = "Please enter Page Width in inches"
            DM.dmPaperWidth = InputBox(msg) * 254
            'Update the first 68 bytes of the PrtDevMode property.
            LSet DevString = DM
            Mid$(DevModeExtra, 1, 68) = DevString.rgb
            rpt.PrtDevMode = DevModeExtra
         End If
      End If
   End Sub
   					

5. On the View menu, click Immediate Window.
6. Type the following line in the Immediate window
   CheckCustomPage "Products by Category"
   and press ENTER.
   
   Notice that the report opens in Design view, the custom page size (if it exists) is displayed, and you are prompted to change it if you want.

For more information about PrtDevMode, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type prtdevmode in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For additional information about using code to select printers, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about PrtDevMode settings in earlier versions of Microsoft Access, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: