 | |
Help! Vertical lines on invoice feature huge gap!!
comp.databases.filemaker comp.databases.filemaker
 |
| | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
 
| ||||||
| ||||||
|
Re: Help! Vertical lines on invoice feature huge gap!! -
07-29-2005
, 01:38 AM
|
In article <280720051917415771%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... The best bet is to go down to the sub-lineitems file and print from there, except you say not all line items have sub-lineitems. You could script the sub-lineitems to be collated into one text field for printing in the line items file. Yeah. There are solutions. They aren't clean though. Collating text into a field involves a number of sacrifices in formatting or a lot of work to preserve it. Plus you need this text field for each lineitem, it can't be a global or a calculation, so it violates good database design principles. |
set of Global fields), but it'd be painful having the script print each
invoices as a separate print job.
Quote:
|
With laser printers now much cheaper than they used to be, there's really little point in a business using an inkjet, unless perhaps it's a home-office type of thing that also wants colour. When I get around to upgrading this set-up I'll be getting a colour laser printer instead of this inkjet. I'm rapidly finding it cheaper to outsource colour printing, and running an inexpensive home b/w laser. Colour lasers cost more and seem to be pretty expensive to run as your watching 4 toners instead of 1... and like some annoying inkjets many won't B/W if ANY is empty. What printer are you leaning towards out of curiosity? |
now that Apple have announced their switch to Intel chips in the near
future I'm not sure when it'll be. I need to try and decide whether to
get the last of the PowerPC Macs or wait for the second generation of
Intel Macs, so any upgrading may be another couple of years away ... by
which time colour laser printers will probably come free in the
Cornflakes packs. ;o)
Quote:
|
Most entry level lasers these days do not have multiple trays. They are either formatted like an injket with a sheaf upright in the rear, or have one tray and a manual feed of some sort. Depends what you mean by "entry level". I wouldn't touch a Brother or Oki printer with a barge pole. Most makes above that have a proper manual feed tray where you can leave a small pile of paper as well as the usual plain paper tray, and often an option for at least one more tray. HP Laserjet 1000 series stuff is what I had in mind when i wrote that. The 1000, 1020, 1100, 1200, 1320, etc. At least one of the above printers does have an option for more trays, but in the entry level market the form factors change quickly, and if you didn't buy your extra accessories with the printer and its over a couple years old its probably easier and more economical to buy a new printer. |
so ugly and "unlaserlike".
Unless you've got one of those big proof-print inkjets, you ARE better
off buying a new printer than repairing a broken inkjet.
\Quote:
|
You do what they do in one small place I visit. There's two office, one out the back and one in the front with the laser printer - the people out the back simply internally phone the front office and ask them to put a sheet of letterhead in the printer, they then push print and by the time they've walked through the printout has finished. )You wrote "phone internally" I initially read "phone eternally"  Bothare appropriate. I deal with offices like that too; sadly they print more than one page at a time OFTEN and thus always ask for "some" paper, and then someone has to switch it back after the job. |
choosing the appropriate tray.
)Quote:
|
You're not "micromanaging printer settings" - you're choosing the correct paper tray. Most people push the print icon in the toolbar. The print dialog box for many of those programs doesn't even come up. The defaults are assumed correct and the paper comes out. That is how it -should- be in a most software systems. |
)Quote:
|
A lot of offices simply install multiple printers. The 'expert' users can swap paper, labels, duplex, envelopes, cheques, to their hearts content. But invoices print out on the invoice printer and nobody messes with it. And the poor girls at the front dealing with customers don't know, and don't need know anything more than push print, retrieve paper. Personally I think its a good system. |
each paper type. Almost all the places I deal with are community-based
organisations that rely on funding grants and donations.
(Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
#12
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <MPG.1d53018b4490edfe989c38 (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: In article <280720051917415771%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... The best bet is to go down to the sub-lineitems file and print from there, except you say not all line items have sub-lineitems. You could script the sub-lineitems to be collated into one text field for printing in the line items file. Yeah. There are solutions. They aren't clean though. Collating text into a field involves a number of sacrifices in formatting or a lot of work to preserve it. Plus you need this text field for each lineitem, it can't be a global or a calculation, so it violates good database design principles. Technically you COULD use a Global field (or perhaps more precisely a set of Global fields), but it'd be painful having the script print each invoices as a separate print job. With laser printers now much cheaper than they used to be, there's really little point in a business using an inkjet, unless perhaps it's a home-office type of thing that also wants colour. When I get around to upgrading this set-up I'll be getting a colour laser printer instead of this inkjet. I'm rapidly finding it cheaper to outsource colour printing, and running an inexpensive home b/w laser. Colour lasers cost more and seem to be pretty expensive to run as your watching 4 toners instead of 1... and like some annoying inkjets many won't B/W if ANY is empty. What printer are you leaning towards out of curiosity? No idea. I didn't really have any exact plan on when to upgrade, and now that Apple have announced their switch to Intel chips in the near future I'm not sure when it'll be. I need to try and decide whether to get the last of the PowerPC Macs or wait for the second generation of Intel Macs, so any upgrading may be another couple of years away ... by which time colour laser printers will probably come free in the Cornflakes packs. ;o) Most entry level lasers these days do not have multiple trays. They are either formatted like an injket with a sheaf upright in the rear, or have one tray and a manual feed of some sort. Depends what you mean by "entry level". I wouldn't touch a Brother or Oki printer with a barge pole. Most makes above that have a proper manual feed tray where you can leave a small pile of paper as well as the usual plain paper tray, and often an option for at least one more tray. HP Laserjet 1000 series stuff is what I had in mind when i wrote that. The 1000, 1020, 1100, 1200, 1320, etc. At least one of the above printers does have an option for more trays, but in the entry level market the form factors change quickly, and if you didn't buy your extra accessories with the printer and its over a couple years old its probably easier and more economical to buy a new printer. I forgot about the low-end HP models - probably because I think they're so ugly and "unlaserlike". Unless you've got one of those big proof-print inkjets, you ARE better off buying a new printer than repairing a broken inkjet. \You do what they do in one small place I visit. There's two office, one out the back and one in the front with the laser printer - the people out the back simply internally phone the front office and ask them to put a sheet of letterhead in the printer, they then push print and by the time they've walked through the printout has finished. )You wrote "phone internally" I initially read "phone eternally" Bothare appropriate. I deal with offices like that too; sadly they print more than one page at a time OFTEN and thus always ask for "some" paper, and then someone has to switch it back after the job. And here again is the benefit of knowing how to print correctly by choosing the appropriate tray. ) |
types.
Quote:
| You're not "micromanaging printer settings" - you're choosing the correct paper tray. Most people push the print icon in the toolbar. The print dialog box for many of those programs doesn't even come up. The defaults are assumed correct and the paper comes out. That is how it -should- be in a most software systems. That's because most people don't know how to print properly. ) |
starting your car, maybe pump the gas while trying not to flood it...
The exact procedure differed depending on when the car was last run, and
what the temperature was.
Now one approach would be to teach drivers how to start their cars
properly. Another would be to have the cars learn to make the
appropriate adjustments themselves.
We all know how -that- turned out.
Printing from a system is the same. You -could- teach the users how to
print properly, but its simpler and more effective in the long run to
teach the systems to make the adjustments themselves.
For the purposes of a 'system' like a POS/inventory/accounting system,
this is an acheivable goal.
Quote:
|
A lot of offices simply install multiple printers. The 'expert' users can swap paper, labels, duplex, envelopes, cheques, to their hearts content. But invoices print out on the invoice printer and nobody messes with it. And the poor girls at the front dealing with customers don't know, and don't need know anything more than push print, retrieve paper. Personally I think its a good system. *IF* you've got money to burn you could have a separate printer for each paper type. Almost all the places I deal with are community-based organisations that rely on funding grants and donations. ( |
thereby minimizing paper swapping and/or printer tray requirements.
Which brings us full circle to wanting to print vertical lines on
invoices
#13
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <290720051838090070%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... In article <MPG.1d53018b4490edfe989c38 (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: Most people push the print icon in the toolbar. The print dialog box for many of those programs doesn't even come up. The defaults are assumed correct and the paper comes out. That is how it -should- be in a most software systems. That's because most people don't know how to print properly. )Once upon a time you had to manually prime and choke your engine when starting your car, maybe pump the gas while trying not to flood it... The exact procedure differed depending on when the car was last run, and what the temperature was. Now one approach would be to teach drivers how to start their cars properly. Another would be to have the cars learn to make the appropriate adjustments themselves. We all know how -that- turned out. |
an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered
fixing their own car anyway.
)Quote:
|
A lot of offices simply install multiple printers. The 'expert' users can swap paper, labels, duplex, envelopes, cheques, to their hearts content. But invoices print out on the invoice printer and nobody messes with it. And the poor girls at the front dealing with customers don't know, and don't need know anything more than push print, retrieve paper. Personally I think its a good system. *IF* you've got money to burn you could have a separate printer for each paper type. Almost all the places I deal with are community-based organisations that rely on funding grants and donations. (Then the natural solution is to minimize the number of paper types, thereby minimizing paper swapping and/or printer tray requirements. Which brings us full circle to wanting to print vertical lines on invoices |
)A quick look through the (admitedly tiny) pile of bills and bank
statements sitting on my desk shows NO designs that have vertical
lines. The Visa bill for example has horizontal lines between each line
of detail and other places, but no vertical lines at all. It also stops
after nine detail lines and moves to a second page even though there's
more than enough room for another nine lines - something that ONCE in
the past has meant I've paid the wrong amount because I forgot about
page two.
( (I see they've now added a "carried forward to nextpage" line underneath the amounts column.)
My own invoicing system does have "vertical lines" (really they're
boxes), but it's a VERY simple system that doesn't use related data. It
instead uses the dreaded repeating field for a maximum of eight lines
of detail (on an A5 page and I print two invoices on an A4 page).
Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
#14
| |||
| |||
|
|
Yep, we ended up with cars that only a trained mechanic can fix ... at an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered fixing their own car anyway. ) |
to fix them too.
But this isn't about -fixing- them. This is about -using- them. Cars
used to be a lot more complicated to use then they are today.
Quote:
|
Then the natural solution is to minimize the number of paper types, thereby minimizing paper swapping and/or printer tray requirements. Which brings us full circle to wanting to print vertical lines on invoices Nope - you just design your invoice to not need vertical lines. ) |
we're just looping the circle.
#15
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <300720051132088282%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... Yep, we ended up with cars that only a trained mechanic can fix ... at an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered fixing their own car anyway. )Red herring there. Our printers need trained and expensive technicians to fix them too. But this isn't about -fixing- them. This is about -using- them. Cars used to be a lot more complicated to use then they are today. |
to learn how to use it properly and have an "operator's" license. Maybe
what we need is a license to operate a computer / printer where you
also learn how to use it properly before you can legally do so. ;o)
Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
#16
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <MPG.1d546304dda36784989c3d (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: In article <300720051132088282%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... Yep, we ended up with cars that only a trained mechanic can fix ... at an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered fixing their own car anyway. )Red herring there. Our printers need trained and expensive technicians to fix them too. But this isn't about -fixing- them. This is about -using- them. Cars used to be a lot more complicated to use then they are today. OK, try this for size ... before you can (legally) use a car you need to learn how to use it properly and have an "operator's" license. Maybe what we need is a license to operate a computer / printer where you also learn how to use it properly before you can legally do so. ;o) |
quads are all no less complex to operate and do not require any
licenses. The licensing is (in theory at least) for public safety on the
public streets.
Even so I think on some level the goal for cars is: sit inside, tell car
your destination, read a book or watch a movie until you arrive.
Licenses woudn't generally be required to operate them at that point.
Consider also that this exact progression has also occured with
elevators. Once upon a time they needed trained operators, now anyone
who can reach the buttons may operate them.
With printers we're also pretty much already there: "Press Print,
retrieve paper." That should cover 90% of all print work. (For every
funky document on photo paper, rotated 90 degress, and zoomed 10% there
are 100s invoices, credit card statements, bank statements, etc printed
by a system that had been pre-preset to know where to print.)
cheers
-dave
#17
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <300720051807333434%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... In article <MPG.1d546304dda36784989c3d (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: In article <300720051132088282%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... Yep, we ended up with cars that only a trained mechanic can fix ... at an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered fixing their own car anyway. )Red herring there. Our printers need trained and expensive technicians to fix them too. But this isn't about -fixing- them. This is about -using- them. Cars used to be a lot more complicated to use then they are today. OK, try this for size ... before you can (legally) use a car you need to learn how to use it properly and have an "operator's" license. Maybe what we need is a license to operate a computer / printer where you also learn how to use it properly before you can legally do so. ;o) Interesting. But you must concede that tractors, dirt bikes, trikes, and quads are all no less complex to operate and do not require any licenses. The licensing is (in theory at least) for public safety on the public streets. Even so I think on some level the goal for cars is: sit inside, tell car your destination, read a book or watch a movie until you arrive. Licenses woudn't generally be required to operate them at that point. |
trying to take over everything. Imagine driving along and your car gets
a 'blue screen of death'.
\Quote:
|
Consider also that this exact progression has also occured with elevators. Once upon a time they needed trained operators, now anyone who can reach the buttons may operate them. With printers we're also pretty much already there: "Press Print, retrieve paper." That should cover 90% of all print work. (For every funky document on photo paper, rotated 90 degress, and zoomed 10% there are 100s invoices, credit card statements, bank statements, etc printed by a system that had been pre-preset to know where to print.) |
paper.
)What you're wanting is for FileMaker, and other software, to control
and store every aspect of the printer - something that won't happen
until printers and printers drivers become consistent / standardised
(eg. some printers have two trays, some have three, some have "draft
mode" and some have "super quality mode", etc.).
Even then you're going to HAVE to tweak the settings at times, eg.
printing an invoice on coloured / pre-printed paper most times, but
sometimes wanting a copy on plain paper.
Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
#18
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <MPG.1d557860439a6033989c41 (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: In article <300720051807333434%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... In article <MPG.1d546304dda36784989c3d (AT) shawnews (DOT) vf.shawcable.net>, 42 nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote: In article <300720051132088282%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... Yep, we ended up with cars that only a trained mechanic can fix ... at an expensive charge. Of course few people these days can be bothered fixing their own car anyway. )Red herring there. Our printers need trained and expensive technicians to fix them too. But this isn't about -fixing- them. This is about -using- them. Cars used to be a lot more complicated to use then they are today. OK, try this for size ... before you can (legally) use a car you need to learn how to use it properly and have an "operator's" license. Maybe what we need is a license to operate a computer / printer where you also learn how to use it properly before you can legally do so. ;o) Interesting. But you must concede that tractors, dirt bikes, trikes, and quads are all no less complex to operate and do not require any licenses. The licensing is (in theory at least) for public safety on the public streets. Even so I think on some level the goal for cars is: sit inside, tell car your destination, read a book or watch a movie until you arrive. Licenses woudn't generally be required to operate them at that point. God God no! At least not while Microsoft is still in the business of trying to take over everything. Imagine driving along and your car gets a 'blue screen of death'. \ |
phone charging device into the cigarrette lighter.
Or perhaps you failed to note the fineprint that only claimed the
vehicle was water 'resistant'.
Quote:
|
Consider also that this exact progression has also occured with elevators. Once upon a time they needed trained operators, now anyone who can reach the buttons may operate them. With printers we're also pretty much already there: "Press Print, retrieve paper." That should cover 90% of all print work. (For every funky document on photo paper, rotated 90 degress, and zoomed 10% there are 100s invoices, credit card statements, bank statements, etc printed by a system that had been pre-preset to know where to print.) It already works that way for the "90%" of printouts - they're on plain paper. )What you're wanting is for FileMaker, and other software, to control and store every aspect of the printer - something that won't happen until printers and printers drivers become consistent / standardised (eg. some printers have two trays, some have three, some have "draft mode" and some have "super quality mode", etc.). |
can easily have it send some jobs to tray one, others to tray 2 etc.
The only thing it really lacks is the ability to switch printers. (And
the APIs for printer selection ARE standardized enough for that to be
built no. Both OSX and Windows XP have APIs that would let you print to
a printer by name. (which could then be stored in a field in a
preferences table in filemaker). On OSX you can already do it with
applescript, but that actually changes the default printer, which isn't
ideal. I just want to get filemaker printing to a specific printer
without changing the system default.
Quote:
|
Even then you're going to HAVE to tweak the settings at times, eg. printing an invoice on coloured / pre-printed paper most times, but sometimes wanting a copy on plain paper. |
and every time you want to print an invoice just to ensure you have the
ability to print on plain paper once in a blue moon is not worth the
..03c difference between the 2 sheets of paper.
If you figure you want the invoices printing on plain paper that often,
just add a 2nd print button for the purpose.
#19
| |||
| |||
|
|
In article <310720051137205888%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>, helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says... God God no! At least not while Microsoft is still in the business of trying to take over everything. Imagine driving along and your car gets a 'blue screen of death'. \Probably be ruled your own fault for inserting an unsupported cellular phone charging device into the cigarrette lighter. Or perhaps you failed to note the fineprint that only claimed the vehicle was water 'resistant'. |
travel, instead of a pretty looking lawn ornament. ;o)
Quote:
|
It already works that way for the "90%" of printouts - they're on plain paper. )What you're wanting is for FileMaker, and other software, to control and store every aspect of the printer - something that won't happen until printers and printers drivers become consistent / standardised (eg. some printers have two trays, some have three, some have "draft mode" and some have "super quality mode", etc.). Actually the ability to save page setup options in FM is VERY good. You can easily have it send some jobs to tray one, others to tray 2 etc. The only thing it really lacks is the ability to switch printers. (And the APIs for printer selection ARE standardized enough for that to be built no. Both OSX and Windows XP have APIs that would let you print to a printer by name. (which could then be stored in a field in a preferences table in filemaker). On OSX you can already do it with applescript, but that actually changes the default printer, which isn't ideal. I just want to get filemaker printing to a specific printer without changing the system default. |
on the printer), but I wouldn't have thought that FileMaker actually
stores printer specifics like the Tray and Double-siding options since
they are not part of the "page setup", but are part of the "printer
setup". The Page Setup command should really only store the page
specific information: page size (A4, A5, etc.) and orientation
(landscape, portrait), etc.
Quote:
|
Even then you're going to HAVE to tweak the settings at times, eg. printing an invoice on coloured / pre-printed paper most times, but sometimes wanting a copy on plain paper. Seriously, the hassle of having to deal with a print settings box each and every time you want to print an invoice just to ensure you have the ability to print on plain paper once in a blue moon is not worth the .03c difference between the 2 sheets of paper. If you figure you want the invoices printing on plain paper that often, just add a 2nd print button for the purpose. |
the printer driver itself. So for example you can have settings for
double-sided printing, single-sided printing, draft mode, etc. and you
simply choose the setting from a pop-up menu in the same Print window
where you specify the number of copies and page numbers. I've never
bothered to check if it saves the paper tray information as well.
Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
|
« Previous Thread
|
Next Thread »
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | |
Linear Mode
| |
Powered by vBulletin Version 3.5.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.