APP012.TXT  TestPoint Application Note


APP012.TST  Associated Source File 


(c) Capital Equipment Corporation 1995





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Printing Files


General technique for printing text files


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TestPoint has the ability to open, close, read, write and erase files.  


But how  do you print files?  Providing a general solution for printing 


any Windows file isnāt easy since there are dozens of popular file types 


and they can store data as text or graphics in standard or compressed 


mode, in ASCII,  vector or raster formats. There are virtually unlimited 


combinations.  However, most applications creat ASCII  files and there 


is a good general technique for printing these files using TestPointās 


File,  Math and Code objects. 





As with most applications,  we have several options.  In this 


application weāve chosen to use the Windows file dialog provided by 


TestPoint's File object and weāre using the Windows Print Manager and 


Notepad programs  to provide print spooling and other features.





Start by selecting  Pushbutton, Math, Code and File objects.  Drag the 


file object to the Pushbutton Action List and choose Get filename.  Set 


the Math objects formula = "notepad /p" & filename.  This allows us to 


use a variable filename and the print features of  the  Windows Notepad 


program.  Drag the Math object to the Action List and select Calculate. 


Drag the File object to the Math object's parameter field.  Double click 


on the code object and enter the settings exactly as shown below:





                DLL Filename = KERNEL


                Subroutine Name = WinExec


                Argument Types = string, integer


                Return Type = integer


                Preload = 1 





Drag the Code object to the Action List and youāre ready to print.  If  


the file name is a constant, you can eliminate Action Line 1 and enter 


the filename as a constant.  You could also provide an entry field for 


typed entries by using a data entry object for the filename.  Another 


solution is to create files with .TXT extensions.  Select the file using 


Windows file manager and simply drag and drop it on the Print Manager 


for automatic printing.