Printing: A4 vs. Letter

[Scott24x7]

All,
I'm currently developing an application that will be used in multiple countries. They have both A4 and US Letter size as common sizes for paper. If I create the reports for one type or the other, they look wierd, or get cut off. Does anyone have any experiences dealing with this type of thing? The only way I've come up with so far is to create the same report twice, once in A4, and once in letter. Is there a better way to do this, or is this what I'm pretty much stuck with? I'm seeking a clever solution, if one exists.

Best Regards,
Scott

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[Mike Gagnon]

TheManiac

Two suggestions (number 1 is untested).
[ol][li]1. Remove the information in the report in the fields Expr,Tag, and Tag1 fields, the holds the printer information and use :
report form myReport.frx to printer prompt. And get the user to select the correct paper size.[/li]
[li]Or Distribute your report seperately and hack you report on-the-fly and change the information in the Expr field to reflect the appropiate "country" correct papersize.[/li]
[li]Or do as you suggest, supply two reports with the correct papersize saved in the Expr field.[/li][/ol]
P.S. If you which to persue version 2, let me know I'll post the code for the function.
Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first or check this link

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

[Scott24x7]

Mike,
I've used option 2 for many things, it's become a part of my "Standard practice" for distributing reports... I think you've really just confirmed what I fear. See, the biggest problem is, that several of the reports are "Fixed" in their layout, due to very specific nature of the reports. I fear I'm going to have to create 2 version. The problem is Letter is shorter, and wider, while A4 is taller, and narrower.. so I can't win. In either case, they look wrong if I make them to fit on either type of paper.
Thanks anyway though. The big killer is a fixed border that is required, which rings the outside edge of the paper, and I can't figure out how to "Size to fit" it on a single report form. (Using Fox report writer anyway...) and I'd prefer not to go to the "Hack by hand" method when creating reports...

Best Regards,
Scott

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[Peping]

Scott,

On Mike's option 2, you can also copy the FRX file to a new file, manipulate the new file (on the fly), and then run the report from the new file - thus, you never manipulate the original report.

Peping

 

[Mike Gagnon]

TheManiac

Then that would leave you with your own original option, which is creating a report per papersize. Which is a quite suitable option, which means you don't have to worry about "which version of the report the client has". You could go as far as on first install create a textfile that would indicate the country to use and on startup check for the presence of the textfile and that would determine the choice of reports for that installation. Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first or check this link

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

[Scott24x7]

Mike,
Cool. I've already got a &quot;Prefernces&quot; table that drives a lot of stuff, so I'll whack paper size into that, and then select using macro-sub (just name every report with <reportname>A4 or <reportname>LTR). Then, macro-sub at run-time. Ah well, I was hoping for elegant, but I'll take simple... hehe

Best Regards,
Scott

&quot;Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler.&quot;

 

[ramani]

Hi Scott,

A4 size is 8.268&quot;x11.69&quot;
Ltr is 8.5&quot; x 11&quot;

The length is not a problem, since the reports take care of that.

Regarding width, if your reports in general reside within 7.25&quot;, should not cause you any problem. I am trading off a .5&quot; margin in the left for any punch holes/clips etc. and then the probable default margins held by several different printers. So.. so long your report is designed to have a surface of 7.25&quot; (where demanding.. a maximum of 7.35&quot; which I have experienced), all paper sizes will not loose the report.

Incidenatly, I have started another thread related to reports, yesterday, with no luck till now. If I achieve that or you think of such terms, you can solve these problems on the fly, with no more multiple reports ramani
(Subramanian.G),FoxAcc, ramani_g@yahoo.com

 

[Scott24x7]

Ramani,
Thanks for your reply. I had created the reports in the dimensions you mentioned above, but the look so funny in A4, the biggest problem being this is a very tense report, and I have a very tight margin from left to right, in order to get it to work in A4, I have to shift the formatting of one line down, which makes the report longer, which is fine, since I have the extra paper length. So, unless I come up with some magical &quot;Stretch&quot; command, it's looking like the 2 report option will be the best solution.
Thanks for taking the time to respond! I'll be interested in seeing if you come up with anything else on this front. I've pretty much resigned myself to a &quot;Preferences&quot; type option, that allows for setting what report types you want. It's not too bad to reformat them, but is annoying, and adds time, and of course, complicates testing.

Cheers, mate.

Best Regards,
Scott

&quot;Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler.&quot;

 

[GriffMG]

Hi Scott,

I have had the same problem, not a technical issue with printer details in the report files - but rejigging the
layout for US/A4 formats. I found the best way was to have
two layouts and test the printer before running the report
to decide which one to use.

It does increase the overhead, but that's life - there is ALWAYS some duplication!

Good luck


Regards

Griff
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