>Is there any way to force Excel to recognize a paper size that the current, default printer is incapable of handling? I am in a situation where the user's printer is usually an HP4000, but need to give some users the ability to print 11 x 17 paper size versions of an Excel sheet I am creating in VFP.
>The problem I'm encountering is that if the current default printer cannot print 11 x 17, the paper size settings disappear. Excel, unlike Word, does not seem to have a custom size setting. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious..?
>Any suggestions would be appreciated.

It doesn't look like it. I just did a quick check on my new laptop, on which I hadn't set up a printer. I opened Excel and selected Page Setup, and it informed me that I needed to set up a printer--it wouldn't bring up the Page Setup dialog -- so it must be very tied to what the printer driver allows. So I installed my HP 895, which is incapable of 11x17, and tried again. To set the page size, Excel sends you to the Options button, and from there it pulls up the printer's dialog box. The printer dialog let me select only what it supports (which is the functionality we want).

IMO, this is they way it SHOULD work. Excel manages printing large documents on multiple pages very well, and to do this, it needs to know how the printer is setup. Since Excel will print nicely on whatever paper is loaded (although it may not be what is desired), I'd leave it to the user to manage what printer/what media, since that's the way most software works. If printing on 11x17 is imperative if it exists, I'd set up a prompt before printing, allowing the user to cancel and setup the printer appropriately. Or, I'd try to set the 11x17 paper and trap any error. The problem with the first approach is that it annoys users that don't have 11x17, or always have it set to 11x17. The problem with the second approach is that when the software automagically sets 11x17, it can't automagically wander over to the network printer and plop in the proper paper tray, which annoys the other users printing on to the printer who have to wait on a job that the owner didn't remember to change the paper trays. Besides, what if they WANTED the letter size for some reason?

HTH,

- della