ACC2: "Output To" of Print Definition Contains Only Headers

• Microsoft Access version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

When you use the Output To command to create an output file from a Print (or Object) Definition report, the file contains pages that have only headers. The rest of each page is blank.

CAUSE

All the information in Print Definition reports, except for the header, is contained in subreports. The Output To command does not support subforms or subreports. Print Definition reports cannot be saved because they are created temporarily in a library database.

RESOLUTION

You can work around this design limitation by saving the Print Definition report as a table, or by printing it to a file. Both of these methods are described below.

Saving the Print Definition Report as a Table

When you preview a Print Definition report, the Save As Table command is available in the File menu. Choosing this command saves the contents of the Print Definition report as a table named Object Definition. If a table already exists with this name, the new table is named Object Definition1. You can create your own queries and reports on the Object Definition table to analyze the structure of your database objects.

Printing the Print Definition Report to a File

To print the Print Definition report to a file, open the report and use the Output To command to print it to a text file using the Windows Generic print driver attached to the FILE port.

For more information about how to print to a text file using the Windows Generic printer, query on the following words here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   print and file and generic

STATUS

This behavior no longer occurs in Microsoft Access version 7.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database NWIND.MDB.

2. In the Database window, select the Shippers table.

3. From the File menu, choose Print Definition, then choose OK.

4. Choose either the 'Publish It With MS Word' or the 'Analyze It With MS Excel' button on the toolbar.

   NOTE: If you do not have either Microsoft Word for Windows or Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, you can add a button to the toolbar to output text files. To do this, using the right button, click the toolbar, choose Customize, choose File in the Categories box, and then drag the Output To Notepad button to the toolbar.

   The file that is output will contain text similar to the following:

        C:\ACCESS\SAMPAPPS\NWIND.MDB            Friday, April 1,  1994
        Table: Shippers                                        Page: 1
   
      Note that the page is blank except for the header.
   
   

REFERENCES

For more information about the Output To command, search for "Output To," and then "Output To Command" using the Microsoft Access Help menu.