Use Specific Printer Based On Textbox Entry

Legacy Poster

• November 16, 2015 14:50

Hello-

 

I am trying to help our warehouse with labeling.  They have some material that is owned by the customer, and other material owned by us.  We had done a bad job keeping this material separate, and want to improve.

 

As a suggestion, I said we should buy a second printer with different colored labels.  Then we would just print to the appropriate label as needed.  I bought the printer and labels, and everything is working as I suggested.

 

However, the request has been updated is to use info in a database-sourced textbox to pick the printer for us so the warehouse crew won't have to remember which label to use (I guess paying attention was the original issue anyway, and a new printer wasn't going to fix that).

 

So.....I'd like some script to key off the last letter in that textbox.  If it's a "C", then print to printer A, otherwise, print to printer B.  I'd also like to make a textbox visible that says the material is customer owned when the last letter is "C".

 

Is this possible?

 

Thanks!

Brian

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  Legacy Poster

  ★ BarTender Hero ★

  • November 19, 2015 11:04

  That is possible, however I'm not aware if it is possible to switch printer within Bartender except for setting the default printer with VBScript. So you could try this:

   

  Create two Named Data Sources. One which contains the database data and one that will contain the line "the material is customer owned" when printer C is selected.

   

  On the OnPrintJobStart event use the following code:

  Dim valueToCheck
  Dim objPrinter
  
  ' Set the printer object'
  Set objPrinter = CreateObject("WScript.Network")
  
  ' Retrieve the last letter from the text'
  valueToCheck = Right(Format.NamedSubStrings("name of database named source").Value, 1)
  
  ' Check which printer to use'
  If UCase(valueToCheck) = "C" Then
    objPrinter.SetDefaultPrinter "Name of the printer to use when C is found"
    Format.NamedSubStrings("Name of the Data Source which should be visible when C is found").Value = ("the material is customer owned")
  Else
    objPrinter.SetDefaultPrinter "Name of the printer to use when C is NOT found"
    Format.NamedSubStrings("Name of the Data Source which should NOT be visible when C is NOT found").Value = ("")
  End If
  

  When a print command is given the script checks the value for "C"  and swaps the default printer and fills the textbox if needed.

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  Legacy Poster

  ★ BarTender Hero ★

  • November 20, 2015 15:16

  That looks like a reasonable approach.  I have to work on the supporting database a little more before I try it, so I'll let you know.

   

  Also, I know this is a noobie question, but I do have a lot of experience with VBA and have found a lot of internet support on there, explaining programming with VBA.  However, with VB Script, there doesn't seem as much, and I'm getting the idea that Bartender actually only allows a portion of what VB Script can do.

   

  With that said, is there a resource out there that gives the fundamentals of VB Script programming for Bartender?  The help topic section in Bartender doesn't seem very helpful, and I hate to use this site to ask basic questions.

   

  Sorry, that was a little off topic, but I do wonder....

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  Jenna Ingersoll

  Moderator

  ★ BarTender Hero ★

  • November 24, 2015 18:38

  BarTender 2016 beefed up its VB Script engine, alongside with the documentation. I'd suggest anyone working with VB Script to download the trial and strongly consider upgrading.

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