SET PRINT OPTION

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4D v16.3

SET PRINT OPTION


SET PRINT OPTION ( option ; value1 {; value2} )

Parameter	Type	Description
option	Longint	Option number or PDF option code
value1	Longint, Text	Value 1 of the option
value2	Longint, Text	Value 2 of the option

Description

The SET PRINT OPTION command is used to modify, by programming, the value of a print option. Each option defined using this command is applied to the entire database and for the duration of the session as long as no other command that modifies print parameters (PRINT SETTINGS, PRINT SELECTION without the > parameter, etc.) is called. If a print job has been opened, the option is set for the job and cannot be modified as long as the job has not terminated.

The option parameter allows you to indicate the option to be modified. You can pass either one of the predefined constants of the “Print Options” theme, or a PDF option code (usable with the PDFCreator driver under Windows only).

Pass the new value(s) of the specified option in the value1 and (optionally) value2 parameters. The number and nature of the values to be passed depend on the type of option specified.

Using an option number (constant)

The following table lists the options and their possible values:

Constant	Type	Value	Comment
Paper option	Longint	1	If you use only value1, it contains the name of the paper. If you use both parameters, value1 contains the paper width and value2 contains the paper height. The width and height are expressed in screen pixels. Use the PRINT OPTION VALUES command to get the name, height and width of all the paper formats offered by the printer.
Orientation option	Longint	2	value1 only: 1=Portrait, 2=Landscape. If a different orientation option is used, GET PRINT OPTION returns 0 in value1. 64-bit versions: This option can be called within a print job, which means that you can switch from portrait to landscape, or vice versa, during the same print job.
Scale option	Longint	3	value1 only: scale value in percentage. Be careful, some printers do not allow you to modify the scale. If you pass an invalid value, the property is reset to 100% at the time of printing.
Number of copies option	Longint	4	value1 only: number of copies to be printed.
Paper source option	Longint	5	(Windows only) value1 only: number corresponding to the index, in the array of trays returned by the PRINT OPTION VALUES command, of the paper tray to be used. This option can only be used under Windows.
Color option	Longint	8	(Windows only) value1 only: code specifying the mode for handling color: 1=Black and white (monochrome), 2=Color. 64-bit versions: This option is not supported in 4D 64-bit versions (obsolete)
Destination option	Longint	9	value1: code specifying the type of print destination: 1=Printer, 2=(PC)/PS File (Mac), 3=PDF file, 5=Screen (OS X driver option). If value1 is different from 1 or 5, value2 contains pathname for resulting document. This path will be used until another path is specified. If a file with the same name already exists at the destination location, it will be replaced. With GET PRINT OPTION, if the current value is not in the predefined list, value1 contains -1 and the system variable OK is set to 1. If an error occurs, value1 and the system variable OK are set to 0. Note: Under Windows, you can set the printing destination to 3 (PDF File) when the PDF Creator driver has been installed. When the (9;3;path) values are passed, 4D automatically starts a "silent" PDF printing which takes into account any option codes that are passed (note that if you pass an empty string in value2 or omit this parameter, a file saving dialog appears at the time of printing.) After printing, the current settings are restored. This simplifies control of printing PDFs for 4D and lets you write multi-platform code. When the (9;3;path) values are not passed, printing is not controlled by 4D and any PDF Creator option codes that were passed are ignored.
Double sided option	Longint	11	(Windows only) value1: 0=Single-sided or standard, 1=Double-sided. If value1=1, value2 contains the binding: 0=Left binding (default value), 1=Top binding. Note: This option can only be used under Windows.
Spooler document name option	Longint	12	value1 only: name of the current print document, which appears in the list of spooler documents. The name defined by this statement will be used for all the print documents of the session for as long as a new name or an empty string is not passed. To use or restore standard operation (using the method name in the case of a method, the table name for a record, etc.), pass an empty string in value1.
Mac spool file format option	Longint	13	(Mac only) value1 only: 0=print job in PDF mode (default value) 1=print job in PostScript mode. Notes: - This option has no effect under Windows. - Under OS X, printing is done as a PDF by default. However, the PDF print driver does not support PICT pictures with encapsulated PostScript information — these pictures are generated, more particularly, by vectorial drawing software. To avoid this problem, this option lets you modify the print mode to use under OS X for the current session. Keep in mind that printing in PostScript mode can lead to undesired side effects. 64-bit versions: This option is not supported; it is replaced by the Generic PDF driver option of the SET CURRENT PRINTER command.
Hide printing progress option	Longint	14	(Mac only) value1 only: 1=hide progress windows, 0=display progress windows (default). This option is particularly useful in the case of PDF printing under OS X. Note: There is already a Printing progress option found in the Database Settings dialog box (Interface page). However, it is applied globally to the application and does not hide all the windows under OS X.
Page range option	Longint	15	value1=first page to print (default value is 1) and (optional) value2=number of the last page to print (default value -1 = end of document).
Legacy printing layer option	Longint	16	(4D 64-bit versions for Windows only) value1 only: 1=select the GDI-based legacy printing layer for the subsequent printing jobs. 0=select the D2D printing layer (default). 64-bit versions: This selector is only supported on 4D 64-bit single-user applications on Windows; it is ignored on other platforms. It is mainly intended to allow legacy plug-ins to print inside 4D jobs in 4D 64-bit applications.

Once set using this command, a print option is kept throughout the duration of the session for the entire 4D application. It will be used by the PRINT SELECTION, PRINT RECORD, Print form, QR REPORT and WP PRINT commands, as well as for all 4D printing, including that in Design mode.

Notes:

It is indispensable to use the optional > parameter with the PRINT SELECTION, PRINT RECORD and PAGE BREAK commands in order to avoid resetting the print options that were set using the SET PRINT OPTION command.
The SET PRINT OPTION command mainly supports PostScript printers. You can use this command with other types of printers, such as PCL or Ink, but in this case, it is possible that some options may not be available.

Using a PDF option code (Windows)

In order to be able to use a PDF option code in the option parameter, you must have installed the PDFCreator driver in your 4D environment (for more information, refer to the Integration of PDFCreator driver under Windows section). Moreover, in order for option codes to be taken into account, you need to have enabled control of PDF printing for 4D using the following statement:

SET PRINT OPTION(Destination option;3;fileName)

Otherwise, option codes are ignored.

A PDFoption code is a Text type value consisting of two parts, OptionType and OptionName, combined together as "OptionType:OptionName". Here is the description of this code:

OptionType Indicates whether you are specifying a native PDFCreator option or a 4D PDF administration option. Two values are accepted:
- PDFOptions = native option
- PDFInfo = internal option.
OptionName Specifies the option to be set (depending on the OptionType value).
- If OptionType = PDFOptions, you can pass one of several PDFCreator native options in OptionName. For example, the UseAutosave option affects the automatic backup. In order to be able to modify this option, pass "PDFOptions:UseAutosave" in the option parameter and the value to be used in the value1 parameter. For a complete description of the PDFCreator native options, please refer to the documentation provided with the PDFCreator driver.
- If OptionType = PDFInfo, you can pass one of the following specific selectors in OptionName:

Note: After each printing, 4D automatically re-establishes the previous settings of the PDFCreator driver in order to avoid any interference with other programs using PDFCreator.

Example 1

The following method enables the PDF driver so as to print all the records of the table at the C:\Test\Test_PDF_X location where X is the sequence number of the record:

 SET CURRENT PRINTER(PDFCreator Printer Name)

  // Under Windows, select the virtual printer installed by PDFCreator

 If(OK=1) // If PDFCreator is actually installed

 

    ALL RECORDS([Table_1])

    For($i;1;Records in selection([Table_1]))

       SET PRINT OPTION(Destination option;3;"C:\\Test\\Test_PDF_"+String($i))

  // Destination option 3 launches a PDFCreator print job

       PRINT RECORD([Table_1];*)

       NEXT RECORD([Table_1])

    End for

  // Resetting of the PDFCreator driver options

    SET PRINT OPTION("PDFInfo:Reset standard options";0)

 End if

Example 2

In 64-bit versions, the value of Orientation option can be modified within the same print job (special case). Note that the option must have been set before the PAGE BREAK command:

 ALL RECORDS([People])

 PRINT SETTINGS

 If(OK=1)

    OPEN PRINTING JOB

    SET PRINT OPTION(Orientation option;1) //portrait

    Print form([People];"Vertical_Form")

 

    SET PRINT OPTION(Orientation option;2) //landscape

    PAGE BREAK //must be called imperatively AFTER the option

    Print form([People];"Horiz_Form")

    CLOSE PRINTING JOB

 End if

System variables and sets

The system variable OK is set to 1 if the command has been executed correctly; otherwise, it is set to 0.

If you pass an invalid option code (option not recognized by PDFCreator for example), OK is set to 0.

Error management

If the value passed for an option is invalid or if it is not available on the printer, the command returns an error (that you can intercept using an error-handling method installed by the ON ERR CALL command) and the current value of the option remains unchanged.