Printing and Print Preview

The following commands are used to print or display a print preview of a PrintOMatic Lite document.

	printPreview displays an on-screen print preview of the requested item(s)
	print prints the requested item(s) to the currently selected printer
	printStage prints the contents of the stage with one line of Lingo code

 printPreview

Syntax:	printPreview(document)
		printPreview(any [, ... ])

Returns: TRUE if the user previews all the pages in the document
		FALSE if the user cancels the print preview

This function displays an on-screen facsimile of the output that the print command will generate when it is passed the same set of parameters. printPreview will display a preview of a document as well as sets of strings, sprites, cast members, lists, etc. See the print command for a complete list of the elements that can be previewed.

Typing any key or clicking in the preview window advances to the next page; typing command-period (Escape on Windows) cancels the preview without displaying all the pages. When the document can't be displayed on the main screen at 100% size (which is most of the time, unless you have a big monitor), the page is scaled to fit.

print

Syntax:	print member whichCastmember [,... ]
		print member whichCastmember of castLib whichLib [, ... ]
		print castLib whichCast [, ... ]
		print sprite whichSprite [, ... ]
		print string [, ... ]
		print list [, ... ]
		print document

The print command is an extension to Lingo provided by the PrintOMatic Xtra. This command is used to print one or more items to the currently selected printer. The following Director objects are printable:

	type of object           what gets printed
	_________________________________________________________________

	text field cast member   the text of the field, using the 
	                         specified fonts and styles

	rich text cast member    the bitmap image of the cast member,
	                         including anti-aliasing

	bitmap cast member       the cast member graphic

	PICT cast member         the cast member graphic

	cast library             all printable cast members in the 
	                         library, in cast sequence

	sprite                   the cast member of the sprite

	text string              the text string, in the default font 
	                        (Geneva 10pt on Macintosh, 
	                         Arial 10pt on Windows)

	list                     the elements in the list

	document                 the contents of the PrintOMatic document

Examples:

You can print a number of objects together with a single call to the print command:

	print "Printed Output" & RETURN , member "image" , member "someText"

One of the most powerful uses of the print command is to assemble all the elements of a document into a single cast library, and print the entire cast library with one line of Lingo:

	print castLib "document"

printStage

Syntax:	printStage [(grabOffscreen)]

Returns: TRUE, if printing was successful, FALSE if printing was canceled.

This function prints the contents of the Stage (or Authorware presentation window) with one command. This routine uses a “best fit” method to position the stage contents on the printed page. If the stage is wider than it is tall, the paper orientation is automatically switched to landscape mode. If the stage is exceptionally large, it is proportionally scaled to fit on the page within one-inch margins. The output is always centered on the page.

The grabOffscreen parameter affects whether the image on the stage is grabbed from the screen, or Director’s offscreen buffer. The default is to grab from the offscreen buffer, which will not capture “trails”, overlapping movies-in-a-window, the mouse cursor, or other windows. If grabOffscreen is false, the Xtra will take a “screen shot” of the stage, including all “trails”, and any other elements that may overlap the stage.

This command is not available in projectors until you register your copy of PrintOMatic Lite.

Examples:
	
	printStage        -- prints from offscreen buffer
	printStage(FALSE) -- prints a screen shot