PRB: Problems Printing Rotated Text on Visual Basic 5.0 SP2

ID: Q175535

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Visual Studio, Enterprise Edition versions 97, 97sp2, 97sp3

SYMPTOMS

If you try to print rotated text using the Printer object from Visual Basic with Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 or 3 using the technique described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article, the text fails to rotate:

Q154515 : HOWTO: Print Rotated Text Using Win32 API

CAUSE

Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 and 3 for Visual Basic 5.0 include a fix for the Printer object that prevents any new SelectObject calls from selecting a new Font for the Printer.hDC. So, when referencing the Printer object, new fonts must be selected via the Printer object's properties or they are ignored.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, either print using the API only, or do not reference the Printer object while printing with the API functions.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The technique described in Knowledge Base article Q154515 prints to a PictureBox control but will also work using the Printer object. Printing to a PictureBox still works in SP2 but fails using the Printer object. The following code example will work from Visual Basic versions 4.0 (32-bit) and later.

The key elements are using the TextOut API instead of Printer.Print and not referencing the printer object directly while setting up the font and printing with it. If you use TextOut with "Printer.hDC" instead of a local variable, it will fail. Any reference to a printer object property or method is a use of the printer object and will cause the printer object to reset its font/pen/brush. Therefore, the values of all printer object properties that you need to use with the new font/pen/brush must be saved into variables before using SelectObject, and then only use the variables.

Code Example

Create a Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

Add 2 CommandButtons to Form1.

Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:


      Option Explicit

      Private Const LF_FACESIZE = 32

      Private Type LOGFONT
         lfHeight As Long
         lfWidth As Long
         lfEscapement As Long
         lfOrientation As Long
         lfWeight As Long
         lfItalic As Byte
         lfUnderline As Byte
         lfStrikeOut As Byte
         lfCharSet As Byte
         lfOutPrecision As Byte
         lfClipPrecision As Byte
         lfQuality As Byte
         lfPitchAndFamily As Byte
         lfFaceName As String * LF_FACESIZE
      End Type

      Private Type DOCINFO
         cbSize As Long
         lpszDocName As String
         lpszOutput As String
         lpszDatatype As String
         fwType As Long
      End Type

      Private Declare Function CreateFontIndirect Lib "gdi32" Alias _
      "CreateFontIndirectA" (lpLogFont As LOGFONT) As Long

      Private Declare Function SelectObject Lib "gdi32" _
      (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

      Private Declare Function DeleteObject Lib "gdi32" _
      (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

      Private Declare Function CreateDC Lib "gdi32" Alias "CreateDCA" _
      (ByVal lpDriverName As String, ByVal lpDeviceName As String, _
      ByVal lpOutput As Long, ByVal lpInitData As Long) As Long

      Private Declare Function DeleteDC Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
      As Long

      Private Declare Function TextOut Lib "gdi32" Alias "TextOutA" _
      (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, _
      ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nCount As Long) As Long ' or Boolean

      Private Declare Function StartDoc Lib "gdi32" Alias "StartDocA" _
      (ByVal hdc As Long, lpdi As DOCINFO) As Long

      Private Declare Function EndDoc Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
      As Long

      Private Declare Function StartPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
      As Long

      Private Declare Function EndPage Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hdc As Long) _
      As Long

      Const DESIREDFONTSIZE = 12     ' Could use variable, TextBox, etc.

      Private Sub Command1_Click()
      ' Combine API Calls with the Printer object
         Dim OutString As String
         Dim lf As LOGFONT
         Dim result As Long
         Dim hOldfont As Long
         Dim hPrintDc As Long
         Dim hFont As Long

         Printer.Print "Printer Object"
         hPrintDc = Printer.hdc
         OutString = "Hello World"

         lf.lfEscapement = 1800
         lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY
         hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf)
         hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont)
         result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))
         result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont)
         result = DeleteObject(hFont)

         Printer.Print "xyz"
         Printer.EndDoc
      End Sub

      Private Sub Command2_Click()
      ' Print using API calls only
         Dim OutString As String  'String to be rotated
         Dim lf As LOGFONT        'Structure for setting up rotated font
         Dim temp As String       'Temp string var
         Dim result As Long       'Return value for calling API functions
         Dim hOldfont As Long     'Hold old font information
         Dim hPrintDc As Long     'Handle to printer dc
         Dim hFont As Long        'Handle to new Font
         Dim di As DOCINFO        'Structure for Print Document info

         OutString = "Hello World"   'Set string to be rotated

      ' Set rotation in tenths of a degree, i.e., 1800 = 180 degrees
         lf.lfEscapement = 1800
         lf.lfHeight = (DESIREDFONTSIZE * -20) / Printer.TwipsPerPixelY
         hFont = CreateFontIndirect(lf)  'Create the rotated font
         di.cbSize = 20                  ' Size of DOCINFO structure
         di.lpszDocName = "My Document" ' Set name of print job (Optional)

      ' Create a printer device context
         hPrintDc = CreateDC(Printer.DriverName, Printer.DeviceName, 0, 0)

         result = StartDoc(hPrintDc, di) 'Start a new print document
         result = StartPage(hPrintDc)    'Start a new page

      ' Select our rotated font structure and save previous font info
         hOldfont = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hFont)

      ' Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
         result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))

      ' Reset font back to original, non-rotated
         result = SelectObject(hPrintDc, hOldfont)

      ' Send non-rotated text to printer at same page location
         result = TextOut(hPrintDc, 1000, 1000, OutString, Len(OutString))

         result = EndPage(hPrintDc)      'End the page
         result = EndDoc(hPrintDc)       'End the print job
         result = DeleteDC(hPrintDc)     'Delete the printer device context
         result = DeleteObject(hFont)    'Delete the font object
      End Sub

      Private Sub Form_Load()
         Command1.Caption = "API with Printer object"
         Command2.Caption = "Pure API"
      End Sub

Run the Project and click on the "API with Printer object" button. This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Printer Object" and "xyz" printed normally and "Hello World" printed rotated 180 degrees.

Click on the "Pure API" button. This will print a single page to the current default printer with "Hello World" printed normally and rotated 180 degrees.

Additional query words: sideways angle sp2 kbVBp500 KBVBP KBPRINTING KBVS97SP2 KBVS97SP3
kbAPI kbGDI


Keywords          : kbAPI kbGDI kbPrinting KbVBA kbVBp500 kbVS97sp2 kbVS97sp3 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,97,97sp2,97sp3
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: May 25, 1999