The following commands are used to print or display a print preview of a PrintOMatic document, or just about anything else you want to print out:
printPreview displays an on-screen print preview of the requested item(s)
print prints the requested item(s) to the currently selected printer
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:
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.
