change fonts going to printer
lazarus / 64-FPC development

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DesJardins · 2018-08-14 23:26

I want to send the following simple spreadsheet to a modern printer.
(only a few lines of the whole print out are shown to keep this
inquiry short, but you get the idea of what I am trying to do)

The font used by either the program, the computer, or the printer (I
don't know which it is) is proportionally spaced, so formatting does
not let me line it all into nice clean columns. If I use something
like "Courier New" which I use to open it from a file that I saved so
I can open it in Word or Notes then the length of each cell works
fine.  But I have not figured out how to format it for transmittal
directly to a printer.  To see a picture of the full screen you can
visit my website @ www.rjdesjardins.com.  All I want to do is print it
without saving to a file and using Notes or Word to print it.  In
Python you can write a program to save to a file and then print the
file all with one click..  I still have not found where I can do in
FP. 
Note that the program is strictly Free Pascal.  It does not use
Lazarus controls, like grid, Can I combine FP and Laz and use font
controls from Laz?

This is what Courier New spacing looks like:  (actually I had to
modify this to get it to line up for this demo, it is not perfect). 
The object is pretty columns.

HOT WATER        95.00   STACK HT.        10.00                 
 PRESSURE DROPS
COLD WATER      85.00   STACK DIA        19.04   INLET LVRS     
 0.284    PLEN HT W
WET BULB          78.00   FAN DIA            18.00   FILL            
    0.388              3.00
DRY BULB           95.00   HUB DIA             4.00   ELIMINATOR     
0.038    PLEN HT L
ALTITUDE            0.00   FAN TYPE     HUDSON     PLENUM           
0.025              6.00
FILL TYPE   OF21MA       NO BLADES          9.00    SUBTTL<hs>   
0.735               1.3
FILL HT.              4.00    MOTOR RPM   1750.00    EXTNL<hs>     
0.035              1.44
INLET HT.            5.00    GEAR RATIO        8.50   TOTAL<hs>     
 0.770   FANDK HT L

This is Arial or something like Arial that goes to the printer. 
nothing lines up in columns. 

HOT WATER        95.00   STACK HT.         10.00                 
 PRESSURE DROPS
COLD WATER       85.00   STACK DIA         19.04   INLET LVRS       
0.284   PLEN HT W
WET BULB         78.00   FAN DIA           18.00   FILL             
0.388         3.00
DRY BULB         95.00   HUB DIA            4.00   ELIMINATOR       
0.038   PLEN HT L
ALTITUDE          0.00   FAN TYPE     HUDSON       PLENUM           
0.025         6.00
FILL TYPE   OF21MA       NO BLADES          9.00   SUBTTL<HS>       
0.735          1.3
FILL HT.          4.00   MOTOR RPM       1750.00   EXTNL<HS>       
 0.035         1.44
INLET HT.         5.00   GEAR RATIO         8.50   TOTAL<HS>       
 0.770   FANDK HT L

How do I change the font?
I have tried a lot of Format controls fmt, setlength, strLength, etc. 
I have tried repeat/until, adding spaces to give me 12 wide, etc. 
Sometimes I get some really weird results. 

Here is what I am using to send to find a default printer and print
it:

Unit myPrinterUnit5;   {last update 8/26/17  from
C:\psy\psy\psy_11_30_17}
 {$mode objfpc}{$H+}
 interface

procedure BeginPrinting(const sPrinter: string);
{procedure myPrintLn(const S: String);}
procedure PageReady;
function GetDefaultPrinter: string;
{procedure testprint;}
procedure PU(const S: string);

var   hdcPrint: hDc;   DocInfo: TDocInfo;   PenPos: TPoint;   
PrintRes: TPoint;

implementation

function GetDefaultPrinter: string;
var    DefaultPrinter: array [0 .. 79] of Char;     I: Integer;
begin
  GetProfileString('windows', 'device', '', DefaultPrinter,
SizeOf(DefaultPrinter) - 1);
  I := Pos(',', DefaultPrinter);
  if I = 0 then I := Length(DefaultPrinter) + 1;
  GetDefaultPrinter := Copy(DefaultPrinter, 1, I - 1);
end;

procedure BeginPrinting(const sPrinter: string);
begin
  hdcPrint := CreateDC(pchar('WINSPOOL'), pchar(sPrinter), nil, nil);
  FillChar(DocInfo, SizeOf(DocInfo), #0);
  DocInfo.cbSize := SizeOf(DocInfo);
  DocInfo.lpszDocName := 'Myprogram';
  if StartDoc(hdcPrint, DocInfo) = 0 then Exit;
  if not StartPage(hdcPrint) = 0 then
  begin
    EndDoc(hdcPrint);
  end;
  PrintRes.X := GetDeviceCaps(hdcPrint, LOGPIXELSX);
  PrintRes.Y := GetDeviceCaps(hdcPrint, LOGPIXELSY);
  PenPos.X := round((0.5 * PrintRes.X) / 2.54); // margin 0.5 cm
  PenPos.Y := round((0.5 * PrintRes.Y) / 2.54);
end;

procedure PageReady;
begin
  EndPage(hdcPrint);
  EndDoc(hdcPrint);
  DeleteDc(hdcPrint);
end;

procedure PU(const S: string);
begin
  if S <> '' then
    TextOut(hdcPrint, PenPos.X, PenPos.Y, @S[1], Length(S));
    PenPos.Y := PenPos.y + round((1 / 6) * PrintRes.Y); // 6 lines per
inch
end;

end.


This is the code for reading the cells:

  for J:=1 to FYmax do
  begin
    Line:='';
    for I:='A' to FXmax do
    begin
      with Sheet[I,J] do
      begin
        while (Length(Line)<XPOS-4) do Line:=Line+' ';
        if (Constant in CellStatus) or (Formula in CellStatus) then
        begin
          if not (Locked in CellStatus) then
          begin
            Str(Value:FW:DEC,P);                        {FW does
usually set the width of a cell properly}
            Line:=Line+P;
          end;
        end else Line:=Line+Contents;           {Contents is type
AnyString;} 
              {EVERY TIME I TRY TO SET WIDTH OF CONTENTS IT GIVES
UNEVEN WIDTH OF CELL}
      end; { With }
    end; { One line }
    PU(Line);                  {PU calls myPrinterUnit5}
    end; { End Column }
  PageReady;               {this sends it to the default printer}
  Grid;
  LowVideo;
  update;
  GotoCell(FX,FY);
end
______

UNIT CF20_2;
(* Program cf20_2.pas
  This is the spread sheet portion of the counterflow program
which is included in Cflow11.pas  LAST UPDATE 1/10/93 *)
{$mode objfpc}{$H+}
INTERFACE
USES crt,dos, sysutils,  Cf20Var, CF20error, CF20Fan, CF20fan1,
CF20psychro, myPrinterUnit5;
const
  FXMax: Char  = 'G';    FYMax  = 21;
type
  Anystring   = string[70];
  String3 = string[3];
  SheetIndex  = 'A'..'G';
  Attributes=(Constant,Formula,Txt,OverWritten,Locked,Calculated);
  CellRec    = record
      CellStatus: set of Attributes;
      Contents:   Anystring;
      Value:      Real;
      DEC,FW:     0..20;      {number of decimals  width}
  end;
  Cells      =  array[SheetIndex,1..FYMax] of CellRec;
const                      { (3,14,25,36,47,58,69);}
  XPOS: array[SheetIndex] of integer = (3,16,29,42,55,68,81);
  BFX: SheetIndex = 'B';
  DFX: SheetIndex = 'D';
  FFX: SheetIndex = 'F';
  GFX: SheetIndex = 'G';
var
  FileName: anystring;
  Line: string[100];
Var S1, S2 : AnsiString;  {used with date time}

var
  Sheet:         Cells;
  FX:            SheetIndex;
  FY:            Integer;
 { Ch:            Char; } {Ch now in CFLOWVAR as a master}
  RDFile:        file of CellRec;
  AutoCalc:      boolean;
  AutoSave:      boolean;
  Temp:          real;  {a holding value for NewData}
{  S:  anystring;} { this was not here in the original}

The length of “Value” for numbers seems to work properly.  But
“Contents” and other text does not.

 Am I wrong in thinking I need to change the font to one that has
evenly spaced characters?

Thanks for reading.
Richard

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440bx · 2018-08-15 00:23

Hello Richard,

I didn't study your code in full detail but, I get the impression from
what I saw, that the reason things are not aligning is because you
don't set the alignment before calling TextOut.

Usually, when using a proportionally spaced font, you want to set the
alignment to the right.   That allows you to calculate one coordinate
and all text is output to the right of that coordinate causing it to
be neatly aligned (the text ends at the coordinate, instead of
starting at the coordinate, which usually makes a jumble.)

In the code you presented, it seems that just setting the alignment
would go quite a ways to getting closer to getting things to align
properly.

HTH.

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DesJardins · 2018-08-15 19:37

If I use the Format function it allows me to use the "-" sign to align
left, but then it does not seem to allow me to set the cell width.  I
would prefer to align the text to the left and the numbers to the
right because it reads better.  I still think the key would be to
change the font to a monospaced font (like Courier New), then I can
set the width in characters.  With proportional spacing this doesn't
work.  Is there a way to set the spacing in pixels?  Can I use the Laz
fonts with FPC?  If so, how do I do that?

What do you mean by setting a coordinate?  How do I set the
coordinates across several cells in a line at print time?  I guess I
could do this for each cell (each cell has a name, like C6 for row and
column), with a bunch of code, but somehow I don't think that should
be necessary.

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440bx · 2018-08-16 02:28

Quote from: DesJardins on August 15, 2018, 09:37:09 pmIf I use the
Format function it allows me to use the "-" sign to align left, but
then it does not seem to allow me to set the cell width.  I would
prefer to align the text to the left and the numbers to the right
because it reads better.  I still think the key would be to change the
font to a monospaced font (like Courier New), then I can set the width
in characters.  With proportional spacing this doesn't work.  Is there
a way to set the spacing in pixels?  Can I use the Laz fonts with
FPC?  If so, how do I do that?

What do you mean by setting a coordinate?  How do I set the
coordinates across several cells in a line at print time?  I guess I
could do this for each cell (each cell has a name, like C6 for row and
column), with a bunch of code, but somehow I don't think that should
be necessary.
What you're doing at this time depends on the width of the string
being determined by the number of characters in the string.  That is
only true when using a Monospaced font.   You are correct that if you
change to a monospace font, your code will probably work.

As far as being able to set the spacing in pixels, the answer is, you
do that "manually".   For instance, if you decide you are going to
output your first label at point (X:100; Y:100), you tell TextOut that
you want left alignment (TA_LEFT) and TextOut will output the label
starting at that coordinate.  For the value that is associated with
that label, you calculate a different point, say (X:400; Y:100) (same
Y so it is horizontally aligned) and you tell TextOut that you want
right alignment (TA_RIGHT), that will cause TextOut to output the
value in such a way that it _ends_ at that coordinate.  By varying the
Y coordinate, you write the following lines repeating the same method.

You calculate the spacing by using GetTextExtentPoint32 to determine
the maximum width of all your labels.  Call that MaxLabelWidth.  Do
the same for the values, calculate the maximum width of the values,
call that MaxValueWidth.  If you had picked (X:100; Y:100) as the
coordinate of the first label then, the coordinate of the first value
would be something along the lines of (X:100 + MaxLabelWidth +
MaxValueWidth + SomeWhiteSpaceInPixels; Y:100).

Once you've got that, and you output with the correct alignment,
everything will be neatly aligned.

I attached a little program that gives the idea.  The output is
relative to the red crosshair (I picked the center of the screen for
this example.  You'd pick something to the left of that for the labels
and to the right for the values.)  Look at the source to see how to
use TextOut and GetTextExtentPoint32 to have the string output exactly
where you want it.

The most important thing is to pick the starting point (coordinate)
for the labels, from that, you calculate the coordinate of a point for
the values that will result in output being visually appealing, after
that it's all calls to SetTextAlign and TextOut while varying the Y
coordinate.

HTH.

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DesJardins · 2018-08-16 05:19

thanks for your comments.  I know it took you some time.  

I read that there is no way to change the fonts.   It was a 2013
article.   Is that correct?  I saw there were font programs for sale
for FPC, but I suspect they are just for the screen, and not the
printer.  I have not yet had time to look into them.

Richard

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engkin · 2018-08-16 05:23

As 440bx have shown, there are a few solutions.

If you want to try changing the font, simply create the fonts you want
to use and select one of them:
Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i function
CreateFontObject(AFontName: string): HFONT;var  LDataFont:
LOGFONT;begin  FillChar(LDataFont, SizeOf(LDataFont), 0);  with
LDataFont do  begin    lfHeight := -MulDiv(10, GetDeviceCaps(hdcPrint,
LOGPIXELSY), 72);    lfCharSet:=ANSI_CHARSET;    lfFaceName :=
AFontName;  end;  Result := CreateFontIndirect(LDataFont);end;...var 
fontCourierNew, fontArial: HFONT;...  fontCourierNew :=
CreateFontObject('Courier New');  fontArial :=
CreateFontObject('Arial');...  oldFont := SelectObject(hdcPrint,
fontCourierNew);  TextOut(hdcPrint,.......  SelectObject(hdcPrint,
fontArial);  TextOut(hdcPrint,... 
When done, select the original font, and delete the rest:
Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i  
SelectObject(hdcPrint, oldFont);  DeleteObject(fontCourierNew); 
DeleteObject(fontArial);

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440bx · 2018-08-16 06:04

Quote from: DesJardins on August 16, 2018, 07:19:51 amthanks for your
comments.  I know it took you some time.  

I read that there is no way to change the fonts.   It was a 2013
article.   Is that correct?  I saw there were font programs for sale
for FPC, but I suspect they are just for the screen, and not the
printer.  I have not yet had time to look into them.

Richard
You're welcome.  I'm pleased to help in the measure I can.

As far as the fonts, Engkin above provided the code needed to use any
installed font. 

As far as the article, that sounds "strange".  You can pretty much use
any font installed on the system.  Windows will render the font as it
is needed by the device context (that's pretty much what selecting the
font into the device context does.)

As far as screen fonts and printer fonts, some fonts, usually
bitmapped fonts, are meant for screen output and render poorly on a
printer but, those are few now.  If you stick to TrueType fonts, you
can use any font that is installed in the system.  A TrueType font
should render well on just about any printer.

For now, you probably want to keep it simple.  Use a font like Arial
or Verdana.  A font that is almost guaranteed to be installed in the
system.  Once you get your program working with Arial (for instance)
then you can get a list of available fonts with EnumFontFamiliesEx and
play with the various fonts you get from it.

HTH.