ACC2: Using the PrtDevMode Property to Change Page Orientation

ID: Q129722

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Access 2.0

SUMMARY

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article demonstrates a sample user-defined Access Basic Sub procedure you can use to set a report's PrtDevMode property to change the page orientation before you print the report.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Access Basic and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Building Applications" manual.

MORE INFORMATION

When you change a report's page orientation by setting the PrtDevMode property, keep the following printer driver characteristics in mind:

Set only those members that the printer driver supports. For example, if you set a custom page size for a driver that does not support a custom page size, you may encounter unexpected results.

Set the PrtDevMode property's Fields member if you change any other member to let the printer driver know which members you are changing.

Change only the first 68 bytes of the PrtDevMode property. Printer drivers are able to store driver-specific information after the first 68 bytes; therefore, it is important not to overwrite this information.

How to Change the Page Orientation

Create a module and enter the following statement in the Declarations section:
```
      Option Explicit 
```

Enter the following procedure:


      Sub ChgRptOrient (ReportName As String)
         ' The zwtDevModeStr and zwtDeviceMode types are defined in the
         ' zwAllGlobals module in the WZFRMRPT.MDA file.
         Dim DevString As zwtDevModeStr
         Dim dm As zwtDeviceMode
         'Constant for the Fields member.
         Const DM_ORIENTATION = &H1
         Dim stDevModeExtra As String
         Dim rpt As Report
         Dim msg As String
         'Open the report in Design view.
         DoCmd OpenReport ReportName, A_DESIGN
         Set rpt = Reports(ReportName)
         If Not IsNull(rpt.PrtDevMode) Then
            'Copy the PrtDevMode property to a string.
            stDevModeExtra = rpt.PrtDevMode
            DevString.rgb = stDevModeExtra
            LSet dm = DevString
            'Display the current orientation.
            msg = "The Orientation is currently"
            If dm.dmOrientation = 1 Then
               msg = msg & " Portrait. Change to Landscape?"
            Else
               msg = msg & " Landscape. Change to Portrait?"
            End If
            response = MsgBox(msg, 4)
            If response = 6 Then
               'User chose Yes.
               'Initialize the Fields member.
               dm.dmFields = dm.dmFields Or DM_ORIENTATION
               'Set the orientation.
               If dm.dmOrientation = 1 Then
                  'Set the orientation to Landscape.
                  dm.dmOrientation = 2
               Else
                  'Set the orientation to Portrait.
                  dm.dmOrientation = 1
               End If
               'Update the first 68 bytes of the PrtDevMode property.
               LSet DevString = dm
               Mid$(stDevModeExtra, 1, 68) = DevString.rgb
               rpt.PrtDevMode = stDevModeExtra
            End If
         End If
      End Sub

Choose Immediate Window from the View menu. Type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER

ChgRptOrient "<Report1>"

where <Report1> is the name of your report.

The report opens in Design view, the current orientation is displayed, and you are prompted to change the orientation.

REFERENCES

Microsoft Access "Language Reference," version 2.0, "PrtDevMode property," pages 484-490


Keywords          : kbprint PtrSetup 
Version           : 2.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: April 9, 1999