Printing to a local printer

6 Jan 2006 4:33 PM

carlor

Hi there,

Our client has a requirement to print labels from the web site to a local
printer. i.e. user logs onto web site and click a print button and the
address is printed to a label printer connected to the user's computer.

After much searching I think I've come to the conclusion that these are the
only possible ways of doing this:

1. Javascript Window.print()
2. Using mail merge with MS Word which opens Word and printing from there.
3. Using Crystal Reports to generate a .PDF and printing from there.
4. Using an ActiveX control (?)

Since the user is using a dedicated label printer, #1 won't work. Using
Crystal Reports may not be possible due to licensing issues (looking into it
now) plus it seems like overkill for a simple little label. I don't know
anything about using ActiveX controls so it looks like #2 is the only
feasable option since we will be using it for printing generated documents.

I am currently looking at sharing the label printer but my first attempts
were unsuccessful.

Can anyone confirm that these are the only options to printing to a local
printer from a browser?

Thanks,

Carlo.

6 Jan 2006 4:37 PM

Dan

What about just pressing print in internet explorer once the label has been
shown on the webpage at the client end?

--
Dan

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"carlor" <car***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:874EE036-DBDA-4211-90A3-9292BA2D0EAD@microsoft.com...
> Hi there,
>
> Our client has a requirement to print labels from the web site to a local
> printer. i.e. user logs onto web site and click a print button and the
> address is printed to a label printer connected to the user's computer.
>
> After much searching I think I've come to the conclusion that these are
> the
> only possible ways of doing this:
>
> 1. Javascript Window.print()
> 2. Using mail merge with MS Word which opens Word and printing from there.
> 3. Using Crystal Reports to generate a .PDF and printing from there.
> 4. Using an ActiveX control (?)
>
> Since the user is using a dedicated label printer, #1 won't work. Using
> Crystal Reports may not be possible due to licensing issues (looking into
> it
> now) plus it seems like overkill for a simple little label. I don't know
> anything about using ActiveX controls so it looks like #2 is the only
> feasable option since we will be using it for printing generated
> documents.
>
> I am currently looking at sharing the label printer but my first attempts
> were unsuccessful.
>
> Can anyone confirm that these are the only options to printing to a local
> printer from a browser?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Carlo.

6 Jan 2006 8:18 PM

carlor

Hi Dan,

I tried that. It didn't work. So, I thought I'd try it again to explain what
was going wrong when, lo and behold, it worked! I was having all kinds of
problems yesterday with the borders, but it "magically" worked today.
(Perhaps my computer gremlins decided to take a long weekend?) Unfortunately,
I still have to change the default page borders each time I start up the
browser again

Unfortunately it's still more steps than we'd like for the client. We're
migrating them from a Powerbuilder app (where all they had to do was click a
button to print the label) to a web app. Ideally we'd like to keep it as
simple as possible for the user.

Thanks,

Carlo.

Show quoteHide quote

"Dan" wrote:

> What about just pressing print in internet explorer once the label has been
> shown on the webpage at the client end?
>
> --
> Dan

6 Jan 2006 9:09 PM

Daniel

Hi Carlo,

No i agree it should be a simple print. I have made the same feature in some
work i do for printing invoices with attached labels. I just made the
invoice template match the paper and they then press print once they preview
it on the screen.

You shouldn't have to change the page borders each time though. Set the
margins in the browser to ensure it lines up, i believe can be done
programtically to always default to your needs through the registry
settings.

There are lots of other methods too but you shouldnt need to keep setting
the borders.

Take care

Show quoteHide quote

"carlor" <car***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:915394B4-D5CF-415D-85D1-1DD1F0DAE2EA@microsoft.com...
> Hi Dan,
>
> I tried that. It didn't work. So, I thought I'd try it again to explain
> what
> was going wrong when, lo and behold, it worked! I was having all kinds of
> problems yesterday with the borders, but it "magically" worked today.
> (Perhaps my computer gremlins decided to take a long weekend?)
> Unfortunately,
> I still have to change the default page borders each time I start up the
> browser again
>
> Unfortunately it's still more steps than we'd like for the client. We're
> migrating them from a Powerbuilder app (where all they had to do was click
> a
> button to print the label) to a web app. Ideally we'd like to keep it as
> simple as possible for the user.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Carlo.
>
> "Dan" wrote:
>
>> What about just pressing print in internet explorer once the label has
>> been
>> shown on the webpage at the client end?
>>
>> --
>> Dan
>