WD97: How to Create a Macro to Change Printer or Fax Driver

ID: Q177275

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article contains a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sub procedure (macro) that allows you to send a document to a specific printer or fax device and then resets the printer to the original default.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

   Sub SwitchPrinter()
      Dim strActivePrinter As String
      ' Get active printer.
      strActivePrinter = Application.ActivePrinter
      ' Change to the Microsoft Fax printer driver.
      Application.ActivePrinter = "Microsoft Fax"
      ' Print the active document to Fax.
      ActiveDocument.PrintOut
      ' Change back to the default printer.
      Application.ActivePrinter = strActivePrinter
   End Sub

Note: If you run this macro and specify a printer that is not installed, you will receive the following error message:

   Run-time error '5216': There is a printer error.

REFERENCES

For information about how to do this in earlier versions of Word, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q122709
   TITLE     : How to Create a Macro to Change Printer or Fax Driver

For more information about creating Visual Basic for Applications macros, click the Office Assistant in Microsoft Word, type "how to create a macro," click Search, and then click to view "Create a macro."

For more information about running Visual Basic for Applications macros, click the Office Assistant in Microsoft Word, type "how to run a macro," click Search, and then click to view "Run a macro."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If the Assistant is not able to answer your query, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176476
   TITLE     : OFF: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic Questions

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for
               Applications

Additional query words: wordcon vba

Keywords          : kbcode kbprg OffVBA kbmacroexample word8 kbwordvba word97 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 6, 1999