ACC2000: Hints for Using the Generic Print Driver with Forms and Reports

One way to get Microsoft Access output from forms and/or reports into a text file is to use the Windows Generic print driver to print to a file. However, using the Generic print driver (TTY.DRV) can present its own challenges. Listed below are some hints on how to set up your forms and reports for the Generic print driver.

The Windows Generic print driver simulates a line-oriented printer with a fixed pitch font, like a TTY device or a line printer. Therefore, it can only print text, and it can only position the text on a grid of 10 characters per inch in the horizontal direction and 6 lines per inch in the vertical direction. (By contrast, most Windows print drivers can position text on any pixel position.)

These limitations mean that any form or report using the Generic print driver to create a text file should be laid out so that everything lines up with this character grid.

The following are some considerations for your form or report layout:

• Ensure that each section of your report has a height that is an integral multiple of 1/6".
• Lay out the text items in your report so that each falls on 1/6" boundaries.
• Because the default hardware font for most printers is Courier 10cpi, you should set the font for all of your text items to Courier 10.
• Do not use bold fonts because they will appear three times in your output. (The Generic driver simulates bold text by overstriking.)

The following are some issues that frequently occur when using the Generic print driver to perform text output:

• Blank lines appear in the output -- text items or sections are slightly farther apart than 1/6".
• Overlapped lines appear in the output -- text items or sections are slightly closer together than 1/6".
• Text appears three times in the output -- text is formatted as bold.