The Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q175535 has information on using the Win32 API from Visual Basic. The Win32 API can be used when the Printer object does not provide the necessary functionality.
| 1. | Create a Standard EXE project in Visual Basic 6.0. Form1 is created by default. |
2. Add 2 CommandButtons to Form1.
3. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:
Option Explicit
Private Const LF_FACESIZE = 32
Private Type LOGFONT
lfHeight As Long
lfWidth As Long
lfEscapement As Long
lfOrientation As Long
lfWeight As Long
lfItalic As Byte
lfUnderline As Byte
lfStrikeOut As Byte
lfCharSet As Byte
lfOutPrecision As Byte
lfClipPrecision As Byte
lfQuality As Byte
lfPitchAndFamily As Byte
lfFaceName As String * LF_FACESIZE
End Type
Private Type DOCINFO
cbSize As Long
lpszDocName As String
lpszOutput As String
lpszDatatype As String
fwType As Long
End Type
Private Declare Function CreateFontIndirect Lib "gdi32" Alias _
"CreateFontIndirectA" (lpLogFont As LOGFONT) As Long
Private Declare Function SelectObject Lib "gdi32" _
(ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal hObject As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function DeleteObject Lib "gdi32" _
(ByVal hObject As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function CreateDC Lib "gdi32" Alias "CreateDCA" _
(ByVal lpDriverName As String, ByVal lpDeviceName As String, _
ByVal lpOutput As Long, ByVal lpInitData As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function DeleteDC Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
As Long
Private Declare Function TextOut Lib "gdi32" Alias "TextOutA" _
(ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, _
ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nCount As Long) As Long ' or Boolean
Private Declare Function StartDoc Lib "gdi32" Alias "StartDocA" _
(ByVal hdc As Long, lpdi As DOCINFO) As Long
Private Declare Function EndDoc Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
As Long
Private Declare Function StartPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
As Long
Private Declare Function EndPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
As Long
Const DESIREDFONTSIZE = 12 ' Could use variable, TextBox, etc.
Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Combine API Calls with the Printer object
Dim OutString As String
Dim lf As LOGFONT
Dim result As Long
Dim hOldfont As Long
Dim hPrintDc As Long
Dim hFont As Long
Printer.Print "Printer Object"
hPrintDc = Printer.hdc
OutString = "Hello World"
lf.lfEscapement = 1800
lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY
hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf)
hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont)
result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))
result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont)
result = DeleteObject(hFont)
Printer.Print "xyz"
Printer.EndDoc
End Sub
Private Sub Command2_Click()
' Print using API calls only
Dim OutString As String 'String to be rotated
Dim lf As LOGFONT 'Structure for setting up rotated font
Dim temp As String 'Temp string var
Dim result As Long 'Return value for calling API functions
Dim hOldfont As Long 'Hold old font information
Dim hPrintDc As Long 'Handle to printer dc
Dim hFont As Long 'Handle to new Font
Dim di As DOCINFO 'Structure for Print Document info
OutString = "Hello World" 'Set string to be rotated
' Set rotation in tenths of a degree, i.e., 1800 = 180 degrees
lf.lfEscapement = 1800
lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY
hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf) 'Create the rotated font
di.cbSize = 20 ' Size of DOCINFO structure
di.lpszDocName = "My Document" ' Set name of print job (Optional)
' Create a printer device context
hPrintDc = CreateDC(Printer.DriverName, Printer.DeviceName, 0, 0)
result = StartDoc(hPrintDc, di) 'Start a new print document
result = StartPage(hPrintDc) 'Start a new page
' Select our rotated font structure and save previous font info
hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont)
' Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))
' Reset font back to original, non-rotated
result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont)
' Send non-rotated text to printer at same page location
result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))
result = EndPage(hPrintDc) 'End the page
result = EndDoc(hPrintDc) 'End the print job
result = DeleteDC(hPrintDc) 'Delete the printer device context
result = DeleteObject(hFont) 'Delete the font object
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Load()
Command1.Caption = "API with Printer object"
Command2.Caption = "Pure API"
End Sub
4. Run the Project and click API with Printer object . This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Printer Object" and "xyz" printed normally and "Hello World" printed rotated 180 degrees.
5. Click Pure API . This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Hello World" printed normally and rotated 180 degrees.
