vba to set duplex printing

jerry12302 · Jan 7, 2008

I have spent hours searching for code that will work to set the printer to duplex printing before printing a job. I have narrowed it down to this code from a Microsoft site, but it crashes right away. "Printer" is highlighted, and the error says "variable not defined."

Sub SetPrinterToDuplex() SetPrinterDuplex Printer.DeviceName, 2 End Sub ' ================================================================== ' SetPrinterDuplex ' ' Programmatically set the Duplex flag for the specified printer ' driver's default properties. ' ' Returns: True on success, False on error. (An error will also ' display a message box. This is done for informational value ' only. You should modify the code to support better error ' handling in your production application.) ' ' Parameters: ' sPrinterName - The name of the printer to be used. ' ' nDuplexSetting - One of the following standard settings: ' 1 = None ' 2 = Duplex on long edge (book) ' 3 = Duplex on short edge (legal) ' ' ================================================================== Public Function SetPrinterDuplex(ByVal sPrinterName As String, _ ByVal nDuplexSetting As Long) As Boolean Dim hPrinter As Long Dim pd As PRINTER_DEFAULTS Dim pinfo As PRINTER_INFO_2 Dim dm As DEVMODE Dim yDevModeData() As Byte Dim yPInfoMemory() As Byte Dim nBytesNeeded As Long Dim nRet As Long, nJunk As Long On Error GoTo cleanup If (nDuplexSetting < 1) Or (nDuplexSetting > 3) Then MsgBox "Error: dwDuplexSetting is incorrect." Exit Function End If pd.DesiredAccess = PRINTER_ALL_ACCESS nRet = OpenPrinter(sPrinterName, hPrinter, pd) If (nRet = 0) Or (hPrinter = 0) Then If Err.LastDllError = 5 Then MsgBox "Access denied -- See the article for more info." Else MsgBox "Cannot open the printer specified " & _ "(make sure the printer name is correct)." End If Exit Function End If nRet = DocumentProperties(0, hPrinter, sPrinterName, 0, 0, 0) If (nRet < 0) Then MsgBox "Cannot get the size of the DEVMODE structure." GoTo cleanup End If ReDim yDevModeData(nRet + 100) As Byte nRet = DocumentProperties(0, hPrinter, sPrinterName, _ VarPtr(yDevModeData(0)), 0, DM_OUT_BUFFER) If (nRet < 0) Then MsgBox "Cannot get the DEVMODE structure." GoTo cleanup End If Call CopyMemory(dm, yDevModeData(0), Len(dm)) If Not CBool(dm.dmFields And DM_DUPLEX) Then MsgBox "You cannot modify the duplex flag for this printer " & _ "because it does not support duplex or the driver " & _ "does not support setting it from the Windows API." GoTo cleanup End If dm.dmDuplex = nDuplexSetting Call CopyMemory(yDevModeData(0), dm, Len(dm)) nRet = DocumentProperties(0, hPrinter, sPrinterName, _ VarPtr(yDevModeData(0)), VarPtr(yDevModeData(0)), _ DM_IN_BUFFER Or DM_OUT_BUFFER) If (nRet < 0) Then MsgBox "Unable to set duplex setting to this printer." GoTo cleanup End If Call GetPrinter(hPrinter, 2, 0, 0, nBytesNeeded) If (nBytesNeeded = 0) Then GoTo cleanup ReDim yPInfoMemory(nBytesNeeded + 100) As Byte nRet = GetPrinter(hPrinter, 2, yPInfoMemory(0), nBytesNeeded, nJunk) If (nRet = 0) Then MsgBox "Unable to get shared printer settings." GoTo cleanup End If Call CopyMemory(pinfo, yPInfoMemory(0), Len(pinfo)) pinfo.pDevmode = VarPtr(yDevModeData(0)) pinfo.pSecurityDescriptor = 0 Call CopyMemory(yPInfoMemory(0), pinfo, Len(pinfo)) nRet = SetPrinter(hPrinter, 2, yPInfoMemory(0), 0) If (nRet = 0) Then MsgBox "Unable to set shared printer settings." End If SetPrinterDuplex = CBool(nRet) cleanup: If (hPrinter <> 0) Then Call ClosePrinter(hPrinter) End Function 

This is all at the top of the module also...

Option Explicit Public Type PRINTER_DEFAULTS pDatatype As Long pDevmode As Long DesiredAccess As Long End Type Public Type PRINTER_INFO_2 pServerName As Long pPrinterName As Long pShareName As Long pPortName As Long pDriverName As Long pComment As Long pLocation As Long pDevmode As Long ' Pointer to DEVMODE pSepFile As Long pPrintProcessor As Long pDatatype As Long pParameters As Long pSecurityDescriptor As Long ' Pointer to SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR Attributes As Long Priority As Long DefaultPriority As Long StartTime As Long UntilTime As Long Status As Long cJobs As Long AveragePPM As Long End Type Public Type DEVMODE dmDeviceName As String * 32 dmSpecVersion As Integer dmDriverVersion As Integer dmSize As Integer dmDriverExtra As Integer dmFields As Long dmOrientation As Integer dmPaperSize As Integer dmPaperLength As Integer dmPaperWidth As Integer dmScale As Integer dmCopies As Integer dmDefaultSource As Integer dmPrintQuality As Integer dmColor As Integer dmDuplex As Integer dmYResolution As Integer dmTTOption As Integer dmCollate As Integer dmFormName As String * 32 dmUnusedPadding As Integer dmBitsPerPel As Integer dmPelsWidth As Long dmPelsHeight As Long dmDisplayFlags As Long dmDisplayFrequency As Long dmICMMethod As Long dmICMIntent As Long dmMediaType As Long dmDitherType As Long dmReserved1 As Long dmReserved2 As Long End Type Public Const DM_DUPLEX = &H1000& Public Const DM_IN_BUFFER = 8 Public Const DM_OUT_BUFFER = 2 Public Const PRINTER_ACCESS_ADMINISTER = &H4 Public Const PRINTER_ACCESS_USE = &H8 Public Const STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED = &HF0000 Public Const PRINTER_ALL_ACCESS = (STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED Or _ PRINTER_ACCESS_ADMINISTER Or PRINTER_ACCESS_USE) Public Declare Function ClosePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" _ (ByVal hPrinter As Long) As Long Public Declare Function DocumentProperties Lib "winspool.drv" _ Alias "DocumentPropertiesA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, _ ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal pDeviceName As String, _ ByVal pDevModeOutput As Long, ByVal pDevModeInput As Long, _ ByVal fMode As Long) As Long Public Declare Function GetPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _ "GetPrinterA" (ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal Level As Long, _ pPrinter As Byte, ByVal cbBuf As Long, pcbNeeded As Long) As Long Public Declare Function OpenPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _ "OpenPrinterA" (ByVal pPrinterName As String, phPrinter As Long, _ pDefault As PRINTER_DEFAULTS) As Long Public Declare Function SetPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _ "SetPrinterA" (ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal Level As Long, _ pPrinter As Byte, ByVal Command As Long) As Long Public Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" _ (pDest As Any, pSource As Any, ByVal cbLength As Long)

Any help would be appreciated, including other ways, if any, to set the printer to duplex. I have also tried sendkeys methods, but they have failed.

Thanks!

BrianB · Jan 9, 2008

The code is for Visual Basic not Visual Basic for Applications. You may still, however, get it to work. The problem (so far) is that VBA does not recognise the Printer object,however in the code this is only used to supply the name to the SetPrinterDuplex() function.

I have not gone through the other details of the Function in detail but it does seem to be based on API calls common to both applications. To get the printer name with VBA we use Application.ActivePrinter. The problem then is that the string content result is different to that required by the function.

For my printer I get :-
With VBA Application.ActivePrinter .... "Brother HL-1440 series on LPT1:"
With Visual Basic 6 Printer.DeviceName ... "Brother HL-1440 series"

I suggest that, to begin with, you hard code the printer name and see what happens - If anything - at the next step. So the code will be, for my printer :-

Code:

Sub SetPrinterToDuplex()
    SetPrinterDuplex "Brother HL-1440 series", 2
End Sub

jerry12302 · Jan 10, 2008

Thanks Brian,

I entered the printer name (which is on a network here) and now it doesn't crash anymore, but I get the error message "access denied", as shown in this part of the code:

nRet = OpenPrinter(sPrinterName, hPrinter, pd)
If (nRet = 0) Or (hPrinter = 0) Then
If Err.LastDllError = 5 Then
MsgBox "Access denied -- See the article for more info."

The article it refers to suggests that, when remote access to a network printer's properties is denied, you should add a local printer driver for a network printer and set the default to duplex, then just change the printer as necessary. Here's the article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230743

However, this is for Windows NT or 2000, I have Windows XP.

I tried going through the steps anyway, but they're different, and I don't get an option to assign a different name to the printer, so it just recreates the same printer, no help.

BrianB · Jan 11, 2008

Actually the advice makes very good sense.
When using Add Printer you can call the printer anything you like. This is the name that shows in Start/Settings/Printers and appears in applications when you select file/print. Windows doesn't "know" what is actually on the end of the cable anyway.

My experience with XP or any other Windows version is that if we install the same printer twice we get something like PrinterName(2). We can then right click the name to get the Rename option. At this stage you, presumably, can also set the duplex option via .. Properties.

jerry12302 · Jan 11, 2008

Here's the problem, and maybe it's because the way the IT guys set up our network, but when I select Add a Printer I get the Printer Wizard and hit Next.

My options are to select a local printer, or a network printer. (The printer I print to is on the network, so I select Network Printer).

Then, I get 3 options, Find Printer, Connect to a Printer (type in the name in a field), and Connect to a Printer on the Internet...

I've tried both Find Printer and Connect to a Printer specifying a name. Either way, the only way I can add the printer is to select from a list of printers, even if I type in a name, it ignores it, I can only select my printer that's already in the list. When it recognizes a valid printer it asks me if I want it to be the default printer, I say no, and then the only option is to finish.

I have added printers before on other computers where I get printer(1), printer(2), etc. for the same printer, but on this network, it's not allowing that to happen.

I don't know that much about networks, if anyone knows a way around this, I would appreciate the advice.

BrianB · Jan 11, 2008

We can try another method. You mention that you tried SendKeys. This is fiddly to set up, but should be possible. There are a couple of tricks to this. One is the addition of Wait statements to delay code while things happen on screen, another is to add DoEvents lines to make sure the keystrokes happen. Long Wait is better than short to begin with. Can tweak things later on. It's simple really, but requires a lot of trial & Error.

First do the job manually to make notes of the keystrokes required. Then write the code including the Waits. Have a look at the message here that contains "MACRO TO WRITE EXTENDED FILE PROPERTIES INFO ..." and follow the message dialog to its final, successful, conclusion. I have done this sort of thing on numerous occasions and the result has always been satisfaction, despite the necessary slowness and occasional failure. Bear in mind that things connected to servers have very variable delays depending on the traffic at the time. Allow extra time for this.

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269104

esenko1 · Jan 8, 2017

Hello,

I need code for 64 bit version of Excel from this article https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/828638

Probably it's ready somewhere or please help to change it.

BrianB · Jan 8, 2017

Generally we can expect to copy paste old code, and for it to run without problem because they make it backward compatible. Although they do drop old functions from time to time. I don't know about this Word code, but consider it should work.

Your do not state which version of MS Office you are using. You have not said what error messages you get, if any. You could try stepping the code in the VB Editor using the F8 key, which often gives better error messages.

I have used VBA since the beginning, and still use macros written for Office 2000 32 bit without problems in Office 2010 64 bit.

I am sorry that I cannot help further with this and suggest that you post a new message with more information. You will see that my suggested solution is to set up as if for a new, or different, printer and use that.

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