XL5: Finding Default Printer and Port Settings

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

SUMMARY

Microsoft Excel version 5.0, does not have the built-in functionality to directly recognize default printer and port settings. To return this printer information, use the Microsoft Windows Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) to read the DEVICE line of the [WINDOWS] section of the WIN.INI file.

MORE INFORMATION

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The following macro will return the default printer type and port.

'Enter the following Declare Function as a single line
Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "KERNEL" (ByVal lpAppName As

 ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String,_
 ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer

Sub Default_Printer_Port()

   'Gets info from win.ini
    Call GetProfileString("Windows","Device","",result,254)
   'Gets first part of device line
    Printer = Left(result,InStr(result, ",")-1)
   'Gets last part of device line
    Port = Mid(result, InStr(InStr(result, ",") +1, result, ",") +1)
   'Displays Printer and port in successive message boxes
    MsgBox "The current default printer is " & Printer
    MsgBox "The current default port is " & Port
End Sub