[RESOLVED] setting e.HasMorePages when Printing out a DataGridView using DataGridPrinter class

[micki_free]

Hi all

I have a program which displays Microsoft Access Data using a DataGridView. This data can then be printed out using the DataGridPrinter Class which I got from here

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=356115

The problem is that it only ever displays and prints out the first page!. I have been told that this is because the e.HasMorePages value is being set incorrectly

The only reference I can find to e.HasMorePages in the DataGridPrinter class is in this statement which lies within a procedure called GridPrintDocument_PrintPage

  '\\ If there are more lines to print, set the HasMorePages property to true
        If _CurrentPrintGridLine < GridRowCount() Then
            e.HasMorePages = True
        End If

Is there any way to make it print out more than one page? 4 pages would be perfect. Can I set up a for loop or something to do that?

[Andy_P]

I haven't looked at the code for the class you mention, but looking at the snippet you posted, the call to the function GridRowCount() presumably returns the number of rows in your grid.

This is being compared with the _CurrentPrintGridLine value to decide if there are any more pages to print and sets the .HasMorePages property accordingly.

If this ends up as 'True', then the PrintPage event will fire again to carry on printing, until .HasMorePages is 'False'.

Place a couple of Debug.Writelines in there, or set a breakpoint to see what values you are getting.

[micki_free]

Andy, I tried putting some Debug.Write lines in the DataGridPrinter.vb file but nothing would show up on the output window. I dont know how to do break points

If it's any help, this is the code in the Print button on the form which displys the contents of the database

        If GridPrinter Is Nothing Then
            GridPrinter = New DataGridPrinter(Me.DataGridView1)
        End If

        'setting properties of dgview (after adding gridprinter )
        With GridPrinter
            .HeaderText = CStr("Report Dated - " & Today)
            .HeaderHeightPercent = CInt(5)
            .FooterHeightPercent = CInt(0)
            .InterSectionSpacingPercent = CInt(3)
            .PagesAcross = CInt(2)
        End With

        'printpreview prinout
        With Me.PrintPreviewDialog1
            .Document = GridPrinter.PrintDocument
            If .ShowDialog = DialogResult.OK Then
                GridPrinter.Print()
            End If
        End With

[Andy_P]

Put them just before the check that decides if .HasMorePages should be true or not.

Try this:

Debug.Writeline("_CurrPrintGridLine value : ", _CurrentPrintGridLine)
Debug.Writeline("GridRowCount value : ", GridRowCount())
If _CurrentPrintGridLine < GridRowCount() Then
    e.HasMorePages = True
End If

Note that the 'Debug' lines will only execute if you build and run your app in Debug mode.

You could put Console.Writeline... instead, but then they will always execute, even if you compile the app in Release mode.

I would definitely recommend learning how to use a breakpoint. Very useful in debugging your app. It does what it says - 'breaks' execution allowing you to run your app step-by-step, inspect variable values, etc.

[micki_free]

I tried adding the code you said but I got the following 2 errors befoe I could even build it.

Error	1	Overload resolution failed because no accessible 'WriteLine' can be called without a narrowing conversion:
    'Public Shared Sub WriteLine(value As Object, category As String)': Argument matching parameter 'category' narrows from 'Integer' to 'String'.
    'Public Shared Sub WriteLine(message As String, category As String)': Argument matching parameter 'category' narrows from 'Integer' to 'String'.	F:\Documents and Settings\Tommy\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\FinalYearProject\FinalYearProject\DataGridPrinter.vb	475	9	FinalYearProject

Error	2	Overload resolution failed because no accessible 'WriteLine' can be called without a narrowing conversion:
    'Public Shared Sub WriteLine(value As Object, category As String)': Argument matching parameter 'category' narrows from 'Integer' to 'String'.
    'Public Shared Sub WriteLine(message As String, category As String)': Argument matching parameter 'category' narrows from 'Integer' to 'String'.	F:\Documents and Settings\Tommy\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\FinalYearProject\FinalYearProject\DataGridPrinter.vb	476	9	FinalYearProject

you also said I have to run it in debug mode, how would I do that?

[Andy_P]

Apologies, change the lines to this:

Debug.Writeline("_CurrPrintGridLine value : " & _CurrentPrintGridLine.ToString)
Debug.Writeline("GridRowCount value : " & GridRowCount.ToString)

You probably already are running in Debug mode.

Go to the Build menu, select Configuration manager and check that the Active Solution Configuration is set to Debug.

Or you can use the build configuration drop-down box on the toolstrip, depending on how your version of VB is set up.

[micki_free]

Worked like a charm! Output from debug window was

_CurrPrintGridLine value : 1
GridRowCount value : 1

The problem is that if i remove the IF statement and just put e.HasMorePages = True then it's stuck in a perpetual state of adding more pages when I click the print button

I need a way to set the e.HasMorePages = True for four pages then set it to false

[Andy_P]

What is this output telling you, and compare it against the 'If' check.

_CurrPrintGridLine value : 1
GridRowCount value : 1

If _CurrentPrintGridLine < GridRowCount() Then
    e.HasMorePages = True
End If

Is the value of _CurrentPrintGridLine less than the value returned from the call to the GridRowCount() function?

No it is not, they both have a value of 1, therefore .HasMorePages will never be set to true, and only one page is going to be printed.

If you permanently set .HasMorePages to true, then it will carry on forever, as you have found out because you are constantly telling the app that more pages are to be printed!

You are going to have to show us what code you have in the GridRowCount function. I would guess there might be an error in there because it is returning a value of 1, and I am assuming your grid has more than one row in it.

Or, failing that, you will have to set up a counter variable that increments each time a page has been printed, and stop when it reaches a count of 4, but let's see what you have in the function first.

[micki_free]

Andy I seem to have gotten it working somehow. I set the initial value of GridRowCount to 0 and it seems to be fine now. Thanks for all your help!

[Merrion]

The function GridRowCount() should be returning the total number of records in your data table - this is what it uses to decide whether or not it has reached the last record. If it is returning 0 (or 1) and your data table has more than 1 record then something is amiss.

The code works best if the DataSource of the data grid being printed is a DataTable class - can you try putting your MSAccess data in a Datatable and then using that maybe?