Q.    My printer won't print at all from the DCMS, but it prints from other programs.

First, you should know that the DCMS doesn't take into account which printer(s) my clients are using. I'm not supposed to have to. One of the main selling points of Windows was that the operating system was supposed to handle all the printing (including the differences between printers - Another Bill Gates promise) Programs like mine were supposed to be able to create a page or pages and hand the print job over to Windows and Windows would take care of the rest. As such, my programming environment doesn't even let me take control of the printer directly, since to do so would short-circuit Windows' control over the printer.

I don't know the printer setup in your computer. If you read the paragraph above, I shouldn't need to. But sometimes, a computer can have several printers attached to it. Even if you only have one "physical" printer, you might have several other "virtual" printers - such as a fax program that "prints" your documents over a fax modem, or a similar program that takes your document and "prints" it to the internet. In other cases, you might have one machine, and it might have several functions such as print / fax/ copy etc.

Typically, when the DCMS has trouble printing, it is because Windows has sent the print job to the wrong "printer" in your computer. Most typically, for those with multi-function printers, Windows tries to send the print job to the fax side of the printer. This doesn't always happen, but if you are having troubles, it means that this is probably happening in your case.

So it appears that some times when the printer doesn't work, it's because the DCMS is triggering the wrong printer function within Windows. Therefore, I created the Automatic Printer Selection function of the DCMS. With this option engaged, every time the DCMS prints something, a window pops up to ask you  to select or confirm the Printer Selection. This way you can confirm that the print job is going to the right "printer" in your computer every time. To find the Auto-Printer Selection function, go to the Utilities menu and click on Configure the DCMS. You will find Auto-Printer Selection on the "System Page" of the Configure the DCMS option - near the bottom of the right side of the screen.

Finally, sometimes all it takes is a re-installation of your printer driver.  Sometimes, when the DCMS is installed after the printer has been installed, the printer has problems recognizing it. But when the printer driver is installed after the DCMS is on the computer, it can accommodate the DCMS better.  This might also be a good time to download an updated driver for your printer from your printer maker's web site, and install it instead.

I hope that helps.
 
 

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