PRB: ??? Command Issued Before Running Report Is Ignored

• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, and 2.6
• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, and 2.6

SYMPTOMS

Printer control codes sent directly to the printer prior to running a report created with the Report Writer are overwritten if a printer driver is in effect.

CAUSE

Although the triple question mark command (???) can be used to issue commands directly to a printer when you are hard-coding a report, the printer settings will have no effect when they are used in conjunction with a FoxPro report created with the Report Writer, which uses a printer driver. FoxPro for MS-DOS printer drivers and the Windows printer drivers issue their own commands to reset the printer before printing a report created with the Report Writer.

RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, do one of the following:

• Specify that no printer driver be used for the report:

      - For FoxPro for MS-DOS, issue the following command before running the
        report:
  

           SET PDSETUP TO ""
  
      - For FoxPro for Windows, select the Generic/Text Only driver, and make
        sure that PDSETUP does not appear in the REPORT FORM command.
  
     -or-
  
  

• Modify the P_CODES database, adding a new record containing the codes you want to have issued before the report is run.

  For information about how to modify the P_CODES database, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

        ARTICLE-ID: Q89000
        TITLE     : How to Edit the FoxPro P_CODES Database
  
     -or-
  
  

• Create a user procedure for PDDOCSTART.