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Q257688: FIX: Printer Object Fails to Track Default Printer

Article: Q257688
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbprint kbAPI kbCmnDlgPrint kbPrinting kbSDKWin32 kbVBp600bug kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport
Last Modified: 11-SEP-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you try to select a printer in the Printer dialog box and then change a
property of the Printer object, such as orientation, the Printer object does not
retain the selected default printer setting.

RESOLUTION
==========

You can work around this problem by following either one of the two methods
outlined here:

Workaround #1 (for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me systems only)

Use the GetProfileString function to obtain the default printer information.

On Windows 9x and Windows Me systems, the default printer setting is stored in
the Registry and in the [Windows] section of the win.ini file in the windows
folder. The code line starting with "Device=" shows information about the
default printer. The [Devices] section has information about all installed
printers in the system.

On Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft Windows 2000, this information is stored in
the Registry. The GetPrifileString function retrieves the default printer
information on any of these systems because the win.ini file entries are
remapped to the Registry. However, selecting a printer from the Common dialog
box under Windows NT and Windows 2000 does not make it the default printer. See
the "References" section of this article for more information.

Workaround #2

Set Printer.TrackDefault=True after changing the printer in the Printer dialog
box as follows:

  Private Sub Command1_Click()
      CommonDialog1.ShowPrinter
      Printer.TrackDefault=True 
      MsgBox Printer.DeviceName
  End Sub

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in the latest
service pack for Visual Studio 6.0.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in the latest
service pack for Visual Studio 6.0.

For additional information about Visual Studio service packs, click the following
article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q194022 INFO: Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs, What, Where, Why

  Q194295 HOWTO: Tell That a Visual Studio Service Pack Is Installed

To download the latest Visual Studio service pack, visit the following Microsoft
Web site:

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/updates.asp

MORE INFORMATION
================

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
---------------------------

1. Create a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by
  default.

2. From the Project menu, select Components, check Microsoft Common Dialog
  Control 6.0, and then click OK.

3. Add four Command buttons and a Common Dialog control to Form1.

4. Paste the following code into Form1's code window:

  Option Explicit
      
  Private Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "kernel32" Alias _
    "GetProfileStringA" (ByVal lpAppName As String, _
    ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String, _
    ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long
      
      Private Sub Command1_Click()
          CommonDialog1.ShowPrinter
          MsgBox Printer.DeviceName
      End Sub
      
      Private Sub Command2_Click()
          Dim DeviceName As String
          Dim s As String
          Dim size As Long
          Dim p As Printer
          
          CommonDialog1.ShowPrinter
          
          size = 255
          s = Space(255)
          size = GetProfileString("Windows", "Device", vbNullString, s, size)
          DeviceName = Left(s, InStr(1, s, ",") - 1)
          For Each p In Printers
              If p.DeviceName = DeviceName Then
                  Set Printer = p
                  Exit For
              End If
          Next p
          
          MsgBox Printer.DeviceName
      End Sub
      
      Private Sub Command3_Click()
          Printer.Orientation = vbPRORLandscape
          Printer.Print "x"
          Printer.EndDoc
      End Sub
      
      Private Sub Command4_Click()
          CommonDialog1.ShowPrinter
          Printer.TrackDefault = True
          MsgBox Printer.DeviceName
      End Sub

      Private Sub Form_Load()
          Command1.Caption = "Broken"
          Command2.Caption = "Fixed (Win 9x)"
          Command3.Caption = "Orientation"
          Command4.Caption = "Fixed"
      End Sub

5. Run the project and use the buttons named Fixed and Broken to display the
  Printer dialog box. Change the printer selection each time. Note that the
  message box displays the name of the printer that was selected.

6. Click the button named Orientation.

  Try using the Fixed and Broken buttons again. Notice that the message box
  displayed by the Broken button does not reflect the printer selected in the
  Printer dialog box. The message box displayed by Fixed reflects the printer
  selected in the Printer dialog box. On Windows 9x and Windows Me systems you
  can also see that the Fixed (Win 9x/Me) button works.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q198712 PRB: CommonDialog Changes System Wide Printer Properties

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbprint kbAPI kbCmnDlgPrint kbPrinting kbSDKWin32 kbVBp600bug kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB600Search kbVB600
Version           : :6.0
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

=============================================================================

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