Network printing (1 Viewer)

DBrodin · Feb 20, 2017

I have a meeting registration DB. In the past, name tags were pre-printed. I modified the DB so that they are printed at the time of check-in. The system is structured as a simple shared access to the DB on a main computer, no FE/BE. The "remote" computers get a "printer not available" error when they try to print. The printer is a network printer that is defined in the Page Setup of the report that the name tag prints from. Two questions.

1.) Any idea what is happening?
2.) Would converting to a FE/BE structure maybe fix it?

Thanks in advance,

Dale

sneuberg · Feb 20, 2017

Can the computers that actually run the Access application access the network print that is defined in the Page Setup of the report? I think the report needs to be configured as though it were running on the local computers.

The_Doc_Man · Feb 21, 2017

1. Yes. Well... maybe.
2. No. (FE/BE might fix other problems but not this one.)

The remote printers ideally need to appear in the control panel's list of printers. Once that printer is identified as a network-accessible resource, the rest should be clockwork. This printer setup should be at most a one-time event at a given site and, once done correctly, should even survive reboots.

DBrodin · Feb 21, 2017

sneuberg said:
Can the computers that actually run the Access application access the network print that is defined in the Page Setup of the report? I think the report needs to be configured as though it were running on the local computers.

The "host" computer can print. The remote computers can not. If I redo the page setup from a remote computer, then that one works, but the main computer where the files are located can not. It is like there is a path issue, but with a network printer, I do not understand why.

sneuberg · Feb 21, 2017

The Access application on the main computer is just a file stored there. The code runs on the remote computer which don't automatically access the printers that the "host" computer does. This is no different than if you share the Microsoft Word application on the host computer. To print a Word document to a printer the remote computer needs access to the printer.

DBrodin · Feb 21, 2017

The_Doc_Man said:
1. Yes. Well... maybe.
2. No. (FE/BE might fix other problems but not this one.)

The remote printers ideally need to appear in the control panel's list of printers. Once that printer is identified as a network-accessible resource, the rest should be clockwork. This printer setup should be at most a one-time event at a given site and, once done correctly, should even survive reboots.

It seems like a path issue, but I do not understand why. I tried doing the page setup from a remote computer, and selecting the shared network printer on the host, hoping routing the print through the host would cure what ever the conflict is, but that did not work either.

My thoughts on the FE/BE was that maybe it would let me do a separate page setup/printer select on each terminal, rather than using one shared configuration like I am now. I am going to try making duplicate reports for each remote, and configuring the printer separately for each one.

DBrodin · Feb 21, 2017

sneuberg said:
The Access application on the main computer is just a file stored there. The code runs on the remote computer which don't automatically access the printers that the "host" computer does. This is no different than if you share the Microsoft Word application on the host computer. To print a Word document to a printer the remote computer needs access to the printer.

I may have stumbled upon the problem. It may that the ports for the printer are different on the different computers so the remote is looking for a port that does not exist on that machine. I am going to play with it a little.

The_Doc_Man · Feb 21, 2017

Page setup still would probably prefer that you had connected to the printer by name. If each workstation is connected to that remote printer ONCE, that connection can be used until you take the workstations to another site. Then your page setup could name the printer you are using (because after all, you just installed it).

Yes, this probably IS a path issue. You can't necessarily access a printer by its address "cold." You have to connect to it through an approved security pathway that is satisfied by going through the "Add Network Printer" dialog.

The reason the different computers have different ports is simple: Each connection is defined dynamically at run-time. Each connection is stored in the registry, I THINK in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive (but wouldn't say "no" if you said HKEY_LOCAL_USER hive.)

Network printing (1 Viewer)

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