David:

Don't have a solution to the problem but I do have some thoughts on things that I have wrestled with when trying to get a client's program to print to a dot matrix printer.

Go to the Panasonic web site and make sure there that you have the very latest driver for the printer.

Keep in mind that FoxPro binds a particular print driver to each report in the report writer.

Try printing to a generic text print driver.

Also be alert to check whether a line is dropped off the bottom of each page. To prevent this I had the footer print dots rather than be blank.

Bruce

>I must print invoices on a Panasonic KX-P3626 dot matrix printer.
>
>The printer is driven by a (windows 9x compatible) driver that came with it.
>
>The driver offers no pre-canned options for the paper size and format I have. I use 12 x 8.5 inch fan-fold paper which feeds the printer such that the long side of the paper is perpendicular to the direction of paper travel. (I believe this is called Transverse feed. It definitely has nothing to do with Landscape or Portrait orientation. The latter two attributes determine whether printed lines are parallel or perpendicular to the direction of paper travel).
>
>With the factory supplied driver, one must print in Portrait Mode using a Custom paper size of 12 x 8.5 (not 8.5 x 12) to get the correct results.
>
>But here's the weird part.
>
>When the report generator finishes printing a page, the first line of the next page is 1/3 inch higher than it had been on the previous page, and it continues to creep up by 1/3 inch on each subsequent page....as if the printer is set for a page length of 8.5-0.33 inches.
>
>By setting the size of the paper to be 12 x 8.83 inches in the print settings dialog (actually a subdialog of it), the correct result is achieved! Weird! (The paper really is exactly 8.5 inches long)
>
>Here's a related fact that could be pertinent. In the windows Printer Settings one can set the print margins of a printer. This particular print driver forces the top margin to be 1/3 inch. (This setting is read only ... you may think you change it, but it resets as soon as you leave the dialog).
>
>VFP Report generator 'knows' about the 1/3 inch stand off because in Print Setup it makes this distincion if you choose 'Printable Page' as opposed to 'Whole Page' ... btw neither of these settings fixes the problem...only increasing paper length by 1/3 inch cures problem)
>
>I think I know what's happening....at the end of each page, the Report Generator is issueing a form feed (or form feed command sequence) which the print driver is ignoring. I think this is a printer driver problem but it is hard to investigate because the reason for it appears to be buried in the internals of either the printer driver or the report generator.
>
>I have an acceptable work around right now, but if anyone out there understands what's really going on, and has a more correct solution, please let me know.