|
Latest News
Thanks to Derrick King who has kindly converted
the documentation so I can include a PDF Version of the documentation.
This is available as either a PDF (540k) or zipped (270k).
View: PDF
Document (540k)
Download: Zipped
PDF Documentation (270k) Introduction
qPrinter² is the new version of qPrinter. qPrinter² has a range of new features and
is not
be compatible with earlier versions. qPrinter² is an ActiveX dll
component. The project overcomes some of the shortfalls
in the VB Printer Object and provides Print Preview facilities for
your projects. qPrinter² is provided as source code. If
you wish to change any of the code, please rename the compiled
component. Copyright notices must be retained.
We have moved toward an Document Object so that in
the future we can add further document elements. This new
version includes 'Templates' and 'Image' items to improve document
creation.
The project has had many changes made to it since
release, and I apologise for not including details of the new features
or changes in the Documentation. Unfortunately I have a limited
amount of time to work on the project. Some of the new features
are detailed in the qPrinter2
Latest document.
Donations
Due to the time required to update and support
qPrinter, we have decided to make qPrinter² 'Donation Ware', this
means you may make a contribution toward supporting and updating
qPrinter but you don't have to. I get anywhere up to 30 emails
a week about qPrinter. If you would like to make a donation,
please click the 'Donate' button.Language Support
Johan Ansink has added the ability to include
Language support in qPrinter². The Preview Window in qPrinter²
now automatically supports the following languages: English, Dutch, Italian,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish, German, Czech, Danish
and Euskara.
qPrinter² Features
Below are a list of the major new features.
There are some minor ones that haven't been listed.
| New Features in qPrinter² |
| Images |
qPrinter² allows images to be
included in Documents either as part of the 'flowing' items or
positioned 'Absolutely' on a specific page. qPrinter
stores the images in a Collection so that Images can be
repeatedly printed without storing more than one copy of the
image. |
| FormatBlocks |
FormatBlocks are objects that
contain formatting options and Text (previously known as
TextItems). |
| Templates and
TextBlocks |
Templates are FormatBlocks that
only contain formatting options. TextBlocks are small
objects that contain text and a link to a Template. This
is similar to using 'Styles' in Microsoft Word or HTML.
The formatting options are taken from the Template and applied
to the Text in the TextBlock. |
| Load / Save
Documents |
qPrinter can now load and save
Documents. All the information about the Document is
saved and alterations to formatting and Text can be made to a
Loaded Document in the same way as a newly created Document. |
| Printing/Previewing
Options |
qPrinter² includes Printer
Properties button. Both the programmer and the user can
choose the page number to Preview without moving through all
the pages. |
| Improved
FormPrint |
qPrinter² can now include
pictures held in PictureBoxes and ImageBoxes. |
| Page Caching |
qPrinter² now keeps details of
how pages are organised to improve the output speed. In
earlier versions of qPrinter the project would draw each page
virtually until it reached the page to be
previewed/printed. The new version can find the best
cached page as a starting point. |
| Keep With Next |
Document items can be linked so
that they are printed on the same page. qPrinter will
measure the available space left on a page and if a group of
'Keep with next' items cannot be printed together they will be
printed on a new page. |
| Vertical
Alignment |
Document items can be aligned
with other items vertically on a page. This allows
column printing. qPrinter will measure the height of
each of the aligned items and print the next non-aligned item
beneath the group. |
| <TAB>
inline style |
qPrinter² includes a <TAB>
style tag that can be used to position text in a specified
position horizontally on the page. |
| New in Version
2.12 |
| FormDocument |
Creates free-flowing documents
from Forms. These can span several pages and can be added at
any point in the document. |
| Flexgrid Print/Preview |
The test project includes an external
module in that can create a document from text in a Flexgrid
- see the example project. |
| Spanning |
Document items can be set to Span
a set number of the following items to create Column or Row
spanning. |
| Repeated Table Headers |
Document items can be marked as
a block to indicate a Table header. The block can then be repeated
if a page break is reached. |
| Allow Save from Print/Preview
screen |
Optional property allows a Save
button to be shown on the Print/Preview screen. |
|
