What is usually used here, is portable computers with label printers fed with continuous paper. So they print two copies, one for the customers, and one for the files. Or they even use PDAs where people sign directly on the screen, and if they need a receipt, one is printed by the label printer. The electronic receipt is then sent via WiFi to the office.

>Hi
>
>Interesting because dot-matrix printers are used all over the place for multi-part forms. I write a package of software for companies who distribute heating oil to homes that used oil fired furnaces for heat. The trucks have a meter which prints out the price and quantity delivered etc. on a multi-part form. One copy is left with the customer and the remaining are returned to the office. So as you can immagine I have to play with dot-matrix printers all the time. Windows is not very good at handling forms with sizes from 3.5"x8" to 4.25"x9" so I still send the printer commands to the printer using Espon Esc Codes or HP PCL commands, otherwise the performance is terrible.
>
>Regards,
>Simon
>
>
>>We don't use those kinds of forms anymore, or at least only to a bare minimum, and only small forms like doctor's prescriptions. Those who have that need, and there may be a few, they must of course use a matrix printer, and programmers have to adjust. But those cases are getting rarer and rarer. I even don't think it's possible to buy a matrix printer from stock anywhere in Norway, but probably in some antique shops.
>>
>>Please note that I am not making this up, I am only telling you about the current situation here i Norway.
>>
>>>Hi Tore
>>>
>>>How do you handle the need for carbonless forms where technicians must fill out forms in triplicate? They certainly would not do it if it meant writing it out three times.
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>Simon
>>>
>>>
>>>>It's obvious that we here in Norway live in a more modern soxiety than many others. (duck) For instance we stopped using checks about 20 years ago, if we want to see a check, we go to a museum, or we fly to US. (duck again).
>>>>
>>>>For multipart forms, print the same form more than once. Different size forms, use printers with multiple paper bins, or standardize on size! Here ALL official forms are available for download, so that we can print them ourself, meaning that the need for preprinted forms is ZERO. But we can have them preprinted, if we want to fill them out by hand.
>>>>
>>>>>Hi Tore,
>>>>>
>>>>>Do you have a good solution laser solution for printing multipart forms and odd size forms that some clients want to use ??
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>>Ken
>>>>>
>>>>>>So, have you had a bad day, and want to throw the bad feeling on us?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>First of all, it has never been a secret that the VFP9 report engine is aimed at laser printers and inkjet printers, if you still need to print to dot matrix printers, you must use Report behavior 80. By the way, we dumped our last dot matrix printer some ten years ago, this is 2005, man! HP Laserjets: Skip the HP drivers, and use the native Microsoft drivers, that has been common knowledge for most of us.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Secondly, with so many features, you think 200 (I doubt that number, but OK) is a high number? How many do you think still exists in comparable software? And how many bugs are "serious"? Get real, man! This depends on your programming skills and which features you use, I have seen none, zero, zilch, bugs which has made any problems for me at all with VFP9.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>As to the announcement of a SP2, I think that's a good sign, this means that VFP9 will have even more bugs fixed. I'd rather have a VFP9 with a few minor bugs, than a 'real soon now' promise ala IE7, Longhorn and other programs which have been in the making for years.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>The claim of MS that VFP 9.0 is the most stable release they have so far is now in question to me. Why? SP1 has some 200 bugs fixed and they're coming up with SP2 aside from SEDNA which I guess will also have lots of fixes included. Worst, many of the reported bugs that were fixed are obvious and basic bugs which in the first place shouldn't be passing through first level of debugging. Reading the list of fixes of SP1, we have one bug that is so important to us that is not yet fixed: can't recognized legal size paper for some printer i.e. EPSON LX 300+, some HP Laserjets... We are then forced to set report behaviour to 80 which is awkward.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Is VFP 9.0 the most stable version or the worst version released since 3.0? Whatever your interpretation in this question of us, we are still using it and in fact our system might be integrated with MS Navision come 2006.