Printer problems

[szlamany]

I'm stumped by the error I'm getting here - this code finds the DYMO label writer installed on a machine and successfully prints a label...

Dim prtPrinter As Printer, prtPriorPrinter As Printer

For Each prtPrinter In Printers
    If Left(prtPrinter.DeviceName, 4) = "DYMO" Then
        Set prtPriorPrinter = Printer
        Set Printer = prtPrinter
        Printer.Orientation = vbPRORLandscape
        Printer.FontSize = 10
        Printer.Print "Line 1"
        Printer.Print "Line 2"
        Printer.EndDoc
        Set Printer = prtPriorPrinter <- The error occurs at this line ***
        Exit For
    End If
Next

But I get the error Type Mismatch at the line of code noted.

What am I doing wrong?

[Grimfort]

Is Printer set to value (ie not nothing?)

[szlamany]

Yes - in the watches window I can see prtPriorPrinter be NOTHING until the loop hits the dymo

I can open the PRINTER object in the watch window - type of Object/Printer

The prtPriorPrinter object I can also open - type of Printer/Printer

[Magic Ink]

You
Set prtPriorPrinter = Printer
which makes any changes in Printer reflect into prtPriorPrinter. It is not a separate Printer variable.
You then
Set Printer = prtPrinter
which makes prtPriorPrinter reflect prtPrinter

so even if Set Printer = prtPriorPrinter executed without an error it would not do what you want to do.

Try;

Option Explicit

Private Sub Command1_Click()

    Dim prtPrinter As Printer, prtPriorPrinter As String
    
    For Each prtPrinter In Printers
        If prtPrinter.DeviceName = "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" Then
            prtPriorPrinter = Printer.DeviceName
            Set Printer = prtPrinter
            'Printer.Orientation = vbPRORLandscape
            Printer.FontSize = 10
            Printer.Print "Line 1"
            Printer.Print "Line 2"
            Printer.EndDoc
            Exit For
        End If
    Next
    
    For Each prtPrinter In Printers
        If prtPrinter.DeviceName = prtPriorPrinter Then
            Set Printer = prtPrinter
            Exit For
        End If
    Next
        
End Sub

[Grimfort]

You
Set prtPriorPrinter = Printer
which makes any changes in Printer reflect into prtPriorPrinter. It is not a separate Printer variable.
You then
Set Printer = prtPrinter
which makes prtPriorPrinter reflect prtPrinter

Does it? I'm not calling your bluff on this but surely it does not change a reference to another reference (like a pointer to a pointer). This would have broke a huge number of my apps if it was true.

[szlamany]

I kind of thought something like that was going on - I fixed it like this

For Each prtPriorPrinter In Printers
    If prtPriorPrinter.DeviceName = Printer.DeviceName Then
        For Each prtPrinter In Printers
            If Left(prtPrinter.DeviceName, 4) = "DYMO" Then
                Set Printer = prtPrinter
                Printer.Orientation = vbPRORLandscape
                Printer.FontSize = 10
                Printer.FontBold = True
                Printer.Print strName
                Printer.Print strAddr1
                Printer.Print strAddr2
                Printer.Print strAddr3
                Printer.Print strAddr4
                Printer.EndDoc
                Exit For
            End If
        Next
        Set Printer = prtPriorPrinter
        Exit For
    End If
Next

[westconn1]

Does it? I'm not calling your bluff on this but surely it does not change a reference to another reference (like a pointer to a pointer). This would have broke a huge number of my apps if it was true.

yes it will change with changes to the printer object, simple to test

set myprinter = printer
msgbox myprinter.devicename
set printer = printers(0)
msgbox myprinter.devicename
set printer = printers(1)
msgbox myprinter.devicename

[Magic Ink]

Grimfort,
Step through the original code and watch prtPriorPrinter.DeviceName

[Grimfort]

How bizzare. It does not work like this in .Net, maybe I have been away from VB6 too long . How do you dereference an object without setting that to nothing.

Why does this not follow the same rules

Dim myPrinter As Printer
Set myPrinter = Printer
MsgBox myPrinter.DeviceName
Set Printer = Printers(1)
MsgBox myPrinter.DeviceName
Set myPrinter = Printers(0)
MsgBox Printer.DeviceName

Instead of setting the Printer, I changed the myPrinter which was set the same way as before, except this time Printer did not change. Difference between ByRef/ByVal ? Confused .

[szlamany]

How bizzare. It does not work like this in .Net, maybe I have been away from VB6 too long...

Exactly - this is the only VB6 app I still support - I wrote it in 2001 - too much .Net since then for me as well...

[Grimfort]

Hmm, well, I retested using a locally created object instead of the Printer object and it works as it does in .Net. When you set a variable to the Printer property it must be to the property itself and not the object that the property points to. I guess I have not come across this.

[Magic Ink]

The Printer Object is a little unusual in that there is only one of them, you cannot use New or CreateObject to make new active instances of it. Any variables you set to it reflect the single instance and Properties of those variables are read only, the Methods are unusable.
So the Printer is hardly an object at all, it is just made to behave a bit like one in vb6.

>using a locally created object
They do not behave differently except that their Properties are read/ write and their Methods work.

Private Sub Command4_Click()

    Dim Obj1 As Object
    Dim Obj2 As Object
    Dim Obj3 As Object

    MsgBox (Command4.Caption)
    Set Obj1 = Command4
    Set Obj2 = Obj1
    Set Obj3 = Obj2
    
    Obj3.Caption = "Something else"
    
    MsgBox (Command4.Caption)

End Sub