PRB: User Defined Page Size May Cause Report Distortion

ID: Q196102

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

Changing the Width and Length values of the Custom page size using dialogs within the Visual FoxPro Report Writer may cause the report to appear distorted when the report is reopened. Additionally, the report loses the values typed in the Width and Length fields.


RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, use the Windows Control Panel Printers icon and set the Custom paper size as the default.


MORE INFORMATION

This problem does not occur when running on Windows NT since there is no such dialog box. To setup a custom paper size, you must create a custom form in Windows NT.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. In Windows 95 or Windows 98, load a dot matrix printer driver, such as the Epson LX-800. Set the dot matrix driver as your default printer in Windows.


  2. Use the Printers icon in Control Panel to make sure that the dot matrix printer has a paper size set to something other than Custom.


  3. Create a report in Visual FoxPro 3.0, 5.0, or 6.0 and add a few fields. From the File menu, choose Page Setup. In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Print Setup button. In the Print Setup dialog box, click the Properties button and double click the Custom icon. In the User Defined Size dialog box, type in new values for the Width and Length. For example, in the User-Defined Size dialog box, set Unit to 0.01 inches, Width to 850 and Length to 1100 for an 8.5 inch x 11 inch page. Save the changes and close the various dialog boxes.


  4. Preview the report. The report looks normal.

    NOTE: This step may produce the following error and you may not be able to preview the report:
    Page Header band is Too Large to fit on Page.


  5. Save the report.


  6. Reopen the report.


You expect that it should retain the values entered and not cause distortion in the report.

However, the report loses the values you typed into the User-Defined Width and Length fields. Furthermore, the report may shrink to a much smaller size or the header, detail, or footer band may become distorted.

Additional query words: 


Keywords          : kbPrinting kbReportWriter kbVFp300b kbVFp500 kbVFp500a kbVFp600 
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: August 12, 1999