From: "Steve Philipp" <heuristx@yahoo.com>
To: <efg2@efg2.com>
Subject: Computer Lab feedback
Date: Sunday, October 22, 2000 10:31 AM

RE: Printing in Delphi

...

REPORT:

Delphi's TPrintDialog is a deadly trap for those who
use a Hewlett Packard printer of any 'flavour'. The
component does not use the Delphi Printer.PrinterIndex
or Printer.Printers, but the GetPrinter API. Now, as
we know, HP was the only company (we know of) that did
not go for the generic printer driver from Microsoft,
but developed its own. Later it made upgrades
available, but upgrades are slow to come, and their
new drivers are still max. 98 compatible (that's what
they call the Windows ME driver, too).

If a Delphi program uses the PrintDialog component,
and the user does not have an updated HP driver
(because he never upgraded or because he uses Windows
ME), the PrintDialog component will generate an error
message and abort printing.

Once you disable the dialogue, and use the
Printer.PrinterIndex property, everything will work -
but then you'll have to build a homemade form to
determine the number of copies, to change the current
Printer, etc.

Since you have a very detailed 'Printing in Delphi'
page, maybe you'll want to post this report, hoping
that someone out there will have the time to make a
substitute dialogue component... If we do it first, I
promise to make it available free of charge, but we
are a bit busy now...

All the best,

      Steve Philipp, Heuristic Research