Digital Workshop

Hi everyone. First post here. Anyway, I've been experiencing the same issue as described in this thread. I try to print an external file to no avail. I'm using Opus Pro 4.50 and WinXP Home.

I tried the sample posted by Robin above and had the same outcome. I get the print dialog, then the cancel dialog, but it just hangs there and never prints. I can print objects and slides, but no external files. I'm using an HP Laserjet attached to the network. Any ideas?

I have built several projects which require printing Pages, hidden Pages, or external files. They always work on my stand alone computer which is not part of a network.

I was surprised when a client (on a network) said he couldn't Print. As soon as we tried printing on a non-network computer, it worked perfect every time. Apparently network administrators can set their networks in such a fashion as to not allow terminal computers to print.

I'd try the project on a computer which is directly connected to a printer to verify it works. If it does, then I'd contact the network administator and see if he/she can give you assistance.

That's a good suggestion and something that I need to try. I'll have to get my hands on a standalone printer.

However, the interesting thing is that I can print from my presentation, I just can't print external files. I can print other slides, fields, or the entire presentation, I just can't print the external text files. I get the printer dialog to come up, where I can change options, etc. and I even get the "Cancel Printing" button. But nothing ever gets sent to the queue and the "Cancel Printing" button just hangs there.

Oh, one more thing. It printed fine from within Illuminatus 4. It's only in Opus 4 that I started having printing difficulties.

Has this problem been resolved yet?

I get exactly the same problem with no printing of external files.

I tried the sample posted by Robin above and had the same outcome. I get the print dialog, then the cancel dialog, but it just hangs there and never prints. I can print objects and slides, but no external files.

My problem is that the text object on the screen is small with a slide-bar, so if I just print the text object I get only a small amount of the full text.

The work-around I came up with was to create another text object off to the side of the viewable window with the same text within in, but no scroll bars, i.e a much larger text object that the user cannot see. The print action then prints this text object.

However, this is a bit messy. It would be nice to get this feature working properly.

/Mark

Mark,

You don't say what version of Opus you're using, but print from a text file does work in newer versions - I use it regularly.

If you have a launch file in your version, you could launch the notepad file with the /p switch which will print to the default printer.

Also make sure you've got the latest updates for your version from the download section. I vaguely remember having this problem with a client who had not updated to the 5.5 version of Opus.

Mack

Thanks for the reply Mack.

Sorry, I should have stated I use Opus04 with the lastest update/windows XP.....so I'm a little behind the times.

I have considered getting the latest version of Opus, but haven't really found a new feature that I need to justify the cost.

Do you think that the 'print text file' action has been updated in the later versions of Opus?


/Mark

It works in 6.0+ as I use it often in quiz games where the results are written to file and this file is printed.

I vaguely remember that one of our clients was using version 5.0 at the time and had the same problem as you, but the free update to 5.5 solved this.

Mack

Mark,
I created a new Opus 6.4 file and created an exe and tried to print a text file which failed. I tried the pre-configured Print featured as well as script. This was to 2 different printers connected using USB. So, how some get it to print I don't know.

You could create a variable that is triggered on the first page of your pub and loads the txt file into a "text object" on another page and then have a button to print the page with the "text object."

Leo

There was a program posted to the DW forum in 2003 called PrintRTF which works very well for RTF files. This is the readme.txt file that accompanied it. I not sure if it is still available.
---------------------------------------------------
Title - PrintRTF
Date - 2 Aug 2003
Version - 1.2

New since version 1.1 -
- Support for print quality.
- Support for print dither mode.
- Support for colour/mono selection.
- Support for duplex (double sided) printing.
- A number of little bug fixes.

Note:
Selection options for print quality - draft, low, medium, high.
Dither mode options - none, course, fine, lineart, grayscale.
Duplex printing options - simplex (normal printing with no duplex), horzduplex, vertduplex. This option requires printers with duplex (double sided) printing feature available.

Planned language feature for this version will unfortunately be held off for the next version. Mainly because the form will require a redesign to enable other languages to fit into the allocated spaces and I simply run out of time for this version. Sorry.

Any problems or suggestions please let me know. I may be PM'd via this forum or sw@pro-motion.net.au

Also, this program is SwearWear - meaning it's free as long as you promise not to swear at your Mother.


Steve ...
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Can those people reporting problems printing text files please report them to support if they haven't done so already.

I've said it before...we can't fix problems we are not told about and can't work through with customers. It is clearly something specific to certain systems. I've just tried it myself from both networked and standalone PC to laser and inkjet printers in Opus Pro 6.4 and it worked without problems.

So please can you check that the file is a genuine plain text file and that the file is in the right location and there are no security/administration issues or that you're not trying to print from Flex. If it still won't print send us a simple example publication with the text file to support@digitalworkshop.com.

Thanks

Paul Harris

Here's a sample IMP and EXE for people to test.

Mack

Mack,

I'm sorry to state but I still can't print the file from your compiled exe or from testing in Opus itself. I tried two different printers, one a Samsung laser and a Canon inkjet, both are attached to USB 2.0 ports.

I haven't had a problem with any other programs. Maybe, it has something to do with my settings. I am set as the administrator/owner for this computer.

When I get a minute I will download it to my Vista laptop and give it a try.

I hate to "pile on" but I can't get an external txt or rtf file to print either. I downloaded Mack's ZIP files. They don't work on my machine either.

I still have OPUS 4.5 and 5.5 on my computer. I got the exact same results using 4.5, 5.5, and 6.0. I can print the Current Page, a Text Object on the Current Page, and a different Page, but nothing happens when I try to print an external txt file. I tried removing spaces in the name (Test_Text.txt rather than Test Text.txt) of the file to print -- no luck. I tried RTF files rather than txt ones. Still no luck. I made sure my text file was in my Publication directory when I made EXE files to test. Still no luck.

DW has been sent all my sample tests using older versions of OPUS. What is Mack doing differently?

On Vista (UAC on or off) -- using Mack's example.
Get "Print.exe has stopped working" message and nothing is sent to the printer.

Paul

There in lies the problems.

Vista doesn't like print.exe and print.exe is not compatible with USB under XP or Vista.

Mack

This is fairly basic stuff -- I expect it to work.
USB has been around a long time now.

Paul