Printing reports

Henko · Post by **Henko** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:52 am

I am writing a program which generates some reports that must have the possibility to be printed on a (air)printer.
Currently i found a method, but it is a very clumsy one. Perhaps some of you have better ideas, but first i will point out my clumsy method.

1. In the (SB) program, the output font is set to a fixed pitch font, i used 'Courier'.
2. Each line is first built up in a string, using formatting functions for text and numbers.
3. The line is the printed on screen, and, depending on a switch, also to an ascii printfile. So far, so good (see picture 1.)
4. The printfile is then ported from the SB sandbox to an app that can print to a printer, using copy/paste. I tried "Notes" and "Pages". In both cases the font information is lost and the report becomes a mess (see picture 2)
5. Only in "Pages", the "Courier' font can be defined again and the report looks good again and may be printed using airprint. (See picture 3.)

My question is whether there is a more simple, direct method.
A SB file command, sending a file to a printer would be the best option, but may not be expected any soon.
Is it possible to write a function using the browser facilities in SB?
After all, an (air)printer has its own local(?) IP adress, and a browser must be able to send text to an URL?
I have very little experience using browser and other internet stuff, hence i put the question here.

If it can be done, i will write some functions to print multi-page reports in a proper way. I used them in the good old DOS period, using Borland's turbo-C.

: IMG_1518.PNG (358.14 KiB) Viewed 3211 times

Picture one, report on screen (and when viewing the printfile).

: IMG_1514.PNG (857.69 KiB) Viewed 3211 times

Picture two, printfile arriving at "Notes" or "Pages"

: IMG_1516.JPG (1.76 MiB) Viewed 3211 times

Picture three, printed by "Pages" after selecting "Courier" font again.

Dutchman · Post by **Dutchman** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:55 am

- Toolbar off
- Make screenshot
- Print picture from album
Is that a solution?

Henko · Post by **Henko** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:32 am

Thanks Ton, i didn't come up with that one.
It is another solution for single page reports. It is printed directly from the SB sandbox, hence no other apps needed, but yet "manual" actions required.

It really would make SB a "professional" tools if a proper (air)printfacility were present.
More ideas? What about the browser possibilities?

Post by **Mr. Kibernetik** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:53 am

https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_win_print.asp

"Try it yourself" button generates a simple example code.

rbytes · Post by **rbytes** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 3:55 pm

Has anyone gotten this example to work in SB?
I wrote the following small program to test it. My screen showed the button, but it didn't do anything.

Code: Select all

N$="browse"
q$=chr$(34)
a$=""
t$="<!DOCTYPE html><html><body><p>Click the button to print the current page.</p><button onclick="&q$&"myFunction()"&q$&">Print this page</button><script>function myFunction() {window.print();}</script></body></html>"
BROWSER N$ URL A$ AT 30,30 SIZE 500,300
BROWSER N$ TEXT t$
pause 10

rbytes · Post by **rbytes** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:42 pm

Tried another way. I created a separate file that contains the exact W3 example code:

Code: Select all

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<p>Click the button to print the current page.</p>
<button onclick="myFunction()">Print this page</button>

<script>
function myFunction() {
    window.print();
}
</script>

</body>
</html>

Next, the program to display it:

Code: Select all

N$="browse"
q$=chr$(34)
a$="print.html"
BROWSER N$ URL A$ AT 30,30 SIZE 500,300
pause 10

Same result.
Maybe Dutchman or Dav could find a solution. They have done some amazing work with JavaScript.

rbytes · Post by **rbytes** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:00 am

I tried one more time, using the SB browser to load the W3School's demo page for Window.print. Still nothing when I press the print button, so I am convinced that it is an SB browser issue.

Henk, I have another way to print from Smart Basic. Here is a program that will load a text file of data and generate a pre-addressed Mail email message to you containing the data. Once you send it, you can print the received message, with all your columns intact. No copying or pasting needed - just push a few buttons. Maybe it will work for you until we get a better solution.

Instructions are in the comments at the top of the program.

Code: Select all

/*
Send Text to Mail
by rbytes, April 2018
1. Prepare your data file
2. Enter the data filename and your email address in the green area.
3. Run the program. Your data should appear in the browser window.
4. Press the Mail button and Confirm link to send your data to a Mail message,
   already addressed to you.
5. Press Send to send the message.
6. When you receive the message you can print it.
I used Menlo, a fixed-width font, so your columns will stay aligned.
*/


'g'
' Enter the name of your text file to load

fname$="numbers.txt"

' Enter your email address

email$="nobody@all.com"

''

if file_exists(fname$) then
  file fname$ setpos 0
  while not file_end(fname$)
  file fname$ readline temp$
  content$&=temp$&"<br>"
  end while
end if


SET BUTTONS CUSTOM
path$=""
GET SCREEN SIZE sw,sh
/* for iPhone testing
sw=568
sh=320*/
rw=sw/1024!rh=sh/768


'init screen
GRAPHICS
GRAPHICS CLEAR .7,.7,.7
DRAW FONT SIZE 20*rw
DRAW FONT NAME "Arial"
FILL COLOR .9,.9,.9
GOSUB makebuttons
gosub definestrings
BROWSER "preview" AT 10*rw,10*rh SIZE sw-20,sh-60
body$= "<font face='Menlo'>"&content$&"</font>"

' assemble a$ from a1$(html),a2$(title),a3$(html),a4$(body) and a2$(html)
title$="Print This"
GOSUB definestrings
a$=a1$&a1a$&a1b$&a1c$&a2$&a3$&a4$&a5$
b$=a1$&a4$&a5a$
BROWSER "preview" text b$

do

IF bp("mail") THEN
 
  BROWSER "n" AT 600*rw,720*rh SIZE 80*rw,30*rh
  BROWSER "n" TEXT a$
  BROWSER "n" SHOW
  ENDIF
  
slowdown
until 0
'----------
makebuttons:
'----------

FILL ALPHA 0
SET BUTTONS FONT SIZE 20*rw
BUTTON "mail" TEXT "MAIL" AT 400*rw,720*rh SIZE 100*rw,40*rh
FILL ALPHA 1
RETURN


'----------
definestrings:
'----------

a1$="<html><head><title>PRINT NOTE</title></head><body><font face='Courier'>"
a1a$="<a href="&CHR$(34)&"mailto:"
a1b$=email$
a1c$="?subject="
a2$=title$&lin$&lin$   ' title field
a3$="&body="
a4$=body$              ' body field
a5$="</font>"&CHR$(34)&">Confirm</a></body></html>"
a5a$="</font></body></html>"
RETURN

DEF bp(a$) = BUTTON_PRESSED(a$)

Post by **Mr. Kibernetik** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:30 am

Ok, and what if to try this printing webpage not from sB browser but from Safari?

Henko · Post by **Henko** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:33 pm

rbytes wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:00 am
I tried one more time, using the SB browser to load the W3School's demo page for Window.print. Still nothing when I press the print button, so I am convinced that it is an SB browser issue.

Henk, I have another way to print from Smart Basic. Here is a program that will load a text file of data and generate a pre-addressed Mail email message to you containing the data. Once you send it, you can print the received message, with all your columns intact. No copying or pasting needed - just push a few buttons. Maybe it will work for you until we get a better solution.

Instructions are in the comments at the top of the program.

Hi Richard,

I followed yor instruction carefully, but ended up with an empty mail body (just telling : PRINT THIS

Anyhow, i am looking for a method that can be executed from within a SB program, wich does not require intermediate actions. Let me clarify. I have the following reports menu:

: IMG_1521.PNG (336.01 KiB) Viewed 3159 times

And for each of the reports, the (relevant) structure is as follows:

Code: Select all

'
Structure of printing program
'

for i=1 to n_lines
  t$=.....                       ' prepare the i'th line
  print t$                       ' put the line on the screen
  if switch("prt") then          ' add the line to printfile
    file fname$ print t$
    endif
  next i

' so far the existing code. What I would like to add :

if switch("prt") then
  file fname$ to printer     ' this would be a nice SB command
         or
  send-to-printer(fname$)    ' self written function in SB
  end if

............    

So, before i start the program, i run to the 1st floor, start my printer, and go back downstairs.
I start the program, do things, then select the report menu, switch the switch on if i want the stuff on paper and select a report. The report appears on the screen, and i would like to hear my printer start printing the chosen report. That's how things should work.

If it is not possible and "manual" actions are needed, then i am quite happy with the copy/paste to "Pages" method.

rbytes · Post by **rbytes** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:28 pm

Odd that you ended up with a blank email, Henk, but no use troubleshooting the program right away, since it doesn't meet your needs. I will check it out in a few days, in case anyone else wants to use it.

Mr. K, in answer to your question, yes, the JavaScript Window.print command does work in Safari, but not in the Smart Basic browser.

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