Improving the Printing Speed from Visual Workbench

 Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
Article ID: Q106395
1.00 1.50 WINDOWS kbtool

The information in this article applies to:

  • The Visual Workbench included with: Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.0 and 1.5

SUMMARY

Printing may appear to take longer than necessary when started from the Visual Workbench, particularly if the printer is a dot matrix printer or something similar. This is because printing is handled by the Windows operating system. Windows follows the "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" (WYSIWYG) method and prints the document in a slower graphics mode to reproduce the displayed font, rather than using the fast, default printer font.

In most cases, printing in the same font in which the source code is displayed in the Visual Workbench is not necessary. Use of the default font can therefore greatly speed up the printing process, and this can be accomplished even though the printing is handled by Windows. A printer driver called "Generic / Text Only," which is available on the Windows installation disks, provides text-only output, and therefore will use the default printer font. Note that this requires text-only capability in the printer; for example, some PostScript printers do not have this capability.

MORE INFORMATION

To install this driver:

  1. Select the Control Panel icon and choose Printers.

  2. Choose Add.

  3. Select the "Generic / Text Only" entry from near the top of the "List of Printers," then choose Install .

    Windows will prompt you for the Install floppy disk that contains the appropriate driver, TTY.DRV.

  4. Insert the Install floppy disk and choose OK.

    Windows will decompress the driver file and copy it to your hard drive.

  5. Choose Connect if you need to specify a different port for the printer.

When printing is required from the Visual Workbench, choose Print from the File menu. The dialog box that appears contains a list box that displays the available printers. Select the "Generic / Text Only" printer and choose OK. Output from the printer will appear using the faster, default printer font.

This printer driver work bests with a dot matrix printer; using it with a laser printer may require modifying the page or printer setup because of the laser printer's different page length. Also, there is little benefit in using the default font with a laser printer, because a laser printer can print quickly with any font.

If further assistance is needed, the "Microsoft Windows User's Guide" provides information on the printer installation process.

Additional reference words: kbinf 1.00 1.50
KBCategory: kbtool
KBSubcategory: VWBIss
Keywords : kb16bitonly

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Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
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