Programming with dBASE - printing with remote desktop

Author

printing with remote desktop

ALINA RUSU

2006-02-08, 11:23 am

I have several customers, and probably more on the way that wish to access
the application from remote desktop. It actually works quite well and
trouble-free except for one issue. They are unable to print using remote
printers. Sometimes it just hangs... other applications seem to print
without issue. Also, within dBase, some features will print and others
won't. For example, open up the text box, type some text, go to the file
menu and choose print, and that will work properly. The problem seems to be
when using streaming output. I would be grateful for any recommendations or
experiences someone can share
thank you
Alina

ALINA RUSU

2006-02-10, 9:23 am

Here is what I told the customer, I wonder if anyone has any opinions if
this would work .......

I'm still collecting research information on this situation, but here's an
idea you could have your computer person try if you wish. The reason that
the system can be more difficult for remote printing than a word processor
for example is because it is trying to have a two-way conversation with the
printer. This allows it to precisely lineup positions where as a word
processor for example simply just sends a dump to the printer. We have many
customers who use a third party printing capture program such as WinFax Pro.
This allows them to print to the screen reports and visually inspect them
and then choose to e-mail, fax or print them. Perhaps the remote users
could be set to print to the WinFax Pro printer. And then have WinFax Pro
print across the remote connection. I have not tried this yet, but it makes
sense that it could work

"ALINA RUSU" <SUPPORT@EZ-SOFT.NET> wrote in message
news:VtC$qWMLGHA.1104@news-server...
>I have several customers, and probably more on the way that wish to access
>the application from remote desktop. It actually works quite well and
>trouble-free except for one issue. They are unable to print using remote
>printers. Sometimes it just hangs... other applications seem to print
>without issue. Also, within dBase, some features will print and others
>won't. For example, open up the text box, type some text, go to the file
>menu and choose print, and that will work properly. The problem seems to
>be when using streaming output. I would be grateful for any
>recommendations or experiences someone can share
> thank you
> Alina
>

Christian K

2006-02-10, 8:23 pm

Terminal Server is notorious for printing problems. I've been told that
a correct functioning printer driver costs upwards of $1000 from 3rd
parties. Printing thru remote desktop can sometimes be tricky, because
it's my understanding that the printers are actually identified by
their printer name, which can vary from one OS to another. Likewise, it
may use the wrong driver. The links I'm posting provide much more
detail, and depending on which end you need to print, the steps are a
little different. There are several ways to set up the printer drivers
here, so perhaps one will work more consistently.

http://www.resortdata.com/Customers...DOS/K000116.htm

http://thin.msterminalservices.org/...ry=2%2C3&sortby
=date

I have yet to need to do terminal server printing thru a dBase app, so
I can't verify any of these methods. You might consider using a generic
driver, like HP Laserjet 4 Plus, on both ends, as this has frequently
worked for us for general terminal server printing issues, since the
driver is native to all versions of windows, & probably very similar,
if not the same, across all windows os.

Let us know what you find.

Cheers,
Christian K.

ALINA RUSU wrote:

> I have several customers, and probably more on the way that wish to
> access the application from remote desktop. It actually works quite
> well and trouble-free except for one issue. They are unable to print
> using remote printers. Sometimes it just hangs... other
> applications seem to print without issue. Also, within dBase, some
> features will print and others won't. For example, open up the text
> box, type some text, go to the file menu and choose print, and that
> will work properly. The problem seems to be when using streaming
> output. I would be grateful for any recommendations or experiences
> someone can share thank you Alina

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