Printing slow

[manpaul]

I have a report form that runs very quickly when I run the report to a default windows printer that is attached to the pc running the report.

The report takes a long time when I use
set printer to name //invoice/cobradefault.This printer is attached to another pc in a windows nonserver network

If I run the report on the pc that runs the report fast, when set printer to default. I change set printer to name //newest/invoicing which is the printer attached to this pc it slows to a crawl before it releases the program.

I have set both printer up as shared and given them a shared name is there something in the setup I am missing.
Why would send the report to a network printer slow the program so much.

 

[dbMark]

Likely there are a number of possibilities. A few that come to mind depend on the printers and how they are connected.

Are these different printer models? They may have different maximum printing speeds.

Are printer drivers the problem? Make sure you're using the latest printer drivers. Also, PS drivers create larger output and PCL drivers for the same pages. Larger files mean longer transmission time.

Is the local printer connected using USB 2.0? Then it can pump the data at 400 mbps whereas parallel ports and USB 1.x max out at about 12 mbps.

Most importantly, your local computer may be using Windows to spool the print job, but the remote one may not be spooling. Check those settings.

dbMark (burning the midnight oil)

 

[Mike Lewis]

Manpaul,

This is very unlikely to be a VFP problem. Given that the same report is fast on one printer and slow on the other, the root of the problem is almost certainly in the network, the drivers or the physical printers. Dbmark has given you some ideas to work on. In addition, you could try comparing the performance of other applications, such as Excel, with these two printers.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My sites:
Visual FoxPro (www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk)
Crystal Reports (www.ml-crystal.com)

 

[manpaul]

The printers are brand new and they have the proper drivers. I have added them to each PC what happens if I forget the name in set printer to name. Both are on ubs connections.

My test as I said is on the same pc and printer, when I set the default to windows default it is fast but when I cahnge in to set printer to //sever/printer then in crawls. I'll check the spooling.

Paul

 

[manpaul]

I have done some more testing and it looks like the problem is that the printers are not spooled at the clients end, when I tested on my network printer set to directly to printer it took a lot longer snail pace, when I change to spooling I was close to the speed of the direct connect

Thanks Mark and Mike

Paul