PRB: MS-DOS COPY Not Printing Entire Report Written to File

ID: Q120185

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, version 2.5x, 2.6, 2.6a

SYMPTOMS

When the output of a FoxPro for Windows report that contains graphic characters, such as simple lines or boxes, is directed to a file, and an attempt is made to print the report by issuing the MS-DOS COPY command from the command line, the report does not print in its entirety.

CAUSE

When the MS-DOS COPY command is issued, usually no more than two pages of output is generated, regardless of the original number of pages. It appears that using line-drawing characters in the report adds a logical end of file (EOF) marker, or CTRL+Z, to the output file that MS-DOS intercepts and therefore shortens the printout.

RESOLUTION

There are two workarounds for this problem:

Method 1

To copy the file to the LPT1 port, type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

   copy <filename> lpt1 /b

The /b switch indicates that the file is a binary file, which forces the COPY command to copy the exact number of bytes that are in the original file without regard to CTRL+Z or other control characters.

Method 2

In FoxPro for Windows, issue the following command to copy the file to LPT1:

   copy file <filename> to lpt1

Additional reference words: FoxWin 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 2.60a incomplete partial pages missing KBCategory: kbprint kbprb KBSubcategory: FxprintGeneral

Last Reviewed: August 28, 1995