SetPrinterHeuristic Macro Sets "winspool=x" for All Printers

 Last reviewed: October 10, 1997
Article ID: Q104036
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c
  • Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

When Word for Windows is running with Windows NT, if you use the SetPrinterHeuristic macro (supplied with Word in NEWMACRO.DOC) to set a printer heuristic, the macro defines the following heuristic, no matter which printer driver is active 

   winspool=x
where "x" represents the heuristic value.

As a result, every printer uses the heuristic setting, and you cannot define unique heuristics for individual printers. In other words, a printer heuristic is an application-wide setting instead of a printer-specific setting when you run Word with Windows NT.

CAUSE

When a Windows-based application (such as Word) queries the operating system for the name of the currently active printer driver, Windows NT always replies with "winspool" instead of the actual name of the printer driver. When you run the SetPrinterHeuristic macro, Word uses the printer driver name supplied by the operating system to create printer heuristic settings. Therefore, all printers appear to have the same driver name (winspool) to Word with Windows NT.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the versions of Microsoft Word for Windows listed above. This problem was corrected in Word version 6.0 for Windows.

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MORE INFORMATION

The Word for Windows printer heuristic design is based on the Windows version 3.1 convention that refers to a printer using its unique printer driver name. As a result, you can set a heuristic for each printer when you run with Windows version 3.1. This functionality is not available when you run Word with Windows NT.

KBCategory: kbprint
KBSubcategory: kbmacro
Additional query words: 2.0 2.0a 2.0a-CD 2.0b 2.0c winword2
winnt winword

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Last reviewed: October 10, 1997
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