Label Printing - Start Position

[Ant-Tech]

What I am trying to do is what is available in some programs when printing labels:-

I have a report that I use to print an invoice shipping label, and a button on the form that is set to print a label for the current record only.

I can print a full sheet of labels for that record with no problems at all. But when I only want one label and I need to start printing from position 2 or 3 or 4 etc, (on a sheet of labels which holds 2 across x 3 down,) because I have already removed/used either the first label, or the first 3 labels, and to save money on waisted labels, I am re-using the same sheet with say 4 or 3 labels still available on that sheet.

Some programs I have seen in the past, ask which label the printer should start printing from and has a box/field to enter say 3, thus missing out printing on position 1 and 2. Printing over any empty 2 positions smudges the ink as it would be printing on the backing sheet, which is smooth and waxy, and bleeds onto the rollers etc, which is not good for the printer.

I would like to do this from within Alpha 8.

Any suggestions anyone! Many thanks in advance.

Regards,

Ant.

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Suggest searching the message board for "Labels Start Position".

This leads to:

http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...start+position

which looks helpful.

There are other possibilities, too. Scroll this page to bottom to see the suggested list generated automatically from a search using key words in your message topic.

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Dave,

The report might be a better solution and I have done this 2 ways since earlier posts. This one would work fine for you with just a few labels per page and only printing one.

Make your report to line up with first label. and get it so it will print. Use a conditional object based on a variable you will make from a dialog box in your form using a button/ondepart from a field/? or use an ask variable in report. The conditional object will have a default that should be blank if anything but 1, choosing 1 would make the label print. If your condition/variable is one, it would print that one only. do this again on the same report for label 2 and so forth.

Now when you print the report, you specify which label by number and only the coiniding conditional object will print.

Dave

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Dave, that's interesting! A working model would be a valuable contribution to the Code Archive. Might even be worth sending to the Newsletter editors.

-- tom

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

The other one was harder and easier. Make however many reports necessary for the number of labels(putting the label to print in the proper place) and whatever number you put in from the form printed the form associated. I did not understand conditional objects then.

Dave

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

I might do that Tom.

Dave

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

I'll send it here now so maybe it will help

Dave

[Ant-Tech]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Many thanks to Tom and Dave.

I will give them all a go.

Shame this sort of function is not already written in the Report part of Alpha 8.

Regards,

Ant.

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Ant.,

It is not a function, but a tool off the tools menu in design mode.

Dave

[NickH214]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

I know that this is a software message board but, how about a hardware solution. You can purchae a single label printer - Dymo and Brother are a couple of brands - for about $100.00. Alpha 5 will print easily to them. A dedicated single label printer will make life easier and you can find all kinds of creative uses for it. (No, I don't sell them.)

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

But, if you sell copies of your program, do you require all your customers to purchase a label printer or supply it with the program??

LOL

Dave

[Ant-Tech]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Never thought of that. I might go down that route. However, the software solution is cheaper.

Thanks all the same for your suggestion.

Ant.

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

I worked for a finance and insurance(auto dealers type) that required the dealers to have a dot matrix printer for their paperwork(needed when you print multi-copy forms). we supplied okidata 320's for a price. Each work station had to have a printer. Now figure it out, 6 work stations with a 450.00 printer each.

That is kind of the problem with specialty printers. If you have 3 people doing the job, you need 3 printers and they need to be the same(or at least print the same).

Epson and HP print differently and hp's print differently from printer to printer.

Dave

[Ant-Tech]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

Hi,

I have tried Dave's Label.zip example, which uses:- IF(ISBLANK("Fname"),VAR->ST_POS-1,1) This works fine, but I need to print one shipping label for one invoice, at 1 of 5 starting positions on a 2 across 3 down label.

I think the above is working on the priciple of adding a blank record x the number I put in the variable St_Pos, but then prints all invoices.

Is there a way of doing the same but then only prints the current invoice?

Thanks in advance.

Ant.

[DaveM]

Re: Label Printing - Start Position

You did not need to add a variable for what I wrote, The which variable is declared in the onpush event of the form as global. Check how it is printed from the form using onpush event(it only allows the record showing by name-you might would use recno() or a specific field on the form. If you chose the forth position "4" or another higher number, it would print nothing because there is no fourth position in the report.

In the report, you can have how ever many labels you want (up to 999 because the var accepts 3 letters), just keep adding and placing the labels where you want them on the report. Test them to be sure they print exactly where and how you want them. I did three across as an example. You only need one varaiable to specify which label prints. I was not trying to write your program, just show a method that works.

Hope this helps more.

Dave