Printing Bar Codes

[Mike Schwartz-PC Support & Services]

> Why then, does filePro print across and down?
> 
> George Simon (IT Department)

	Left to right was the standard way to print labels long before
filePro (and even computers) came along.  Punch card printers, Addressograph
and Multigraph equipment always printed left to right.  It simply wasn't
possible to do it any other way.

	Ease of programming aside, it probably has to do with people using
line printers (ie, dot matrix) as opposed to page printers (ie, laser).
With line printers, it is simply too inefficient to have the printer
backspace the paper in order to print each additional column.  Heck, most
dot matrix printers can't even do a backwards line feed!

	I still have more customers printing filePro reports to line
printers than I do page printers.  In most cases, they are printing multiple
part forms that need to stay together during an order fulfillment process,
and laser printers simply can't do that.  In most of the rest of the cases,
my customers prefer to have continuous reports on fan fold paper, rather
than loose-leaf laser paper.  A few print to line printers for other
reasons, such as cost.  It is still quite a bit cheaper to print a page on a
dot matrix printer than it is to print the same page on a laser, although
that cost differential has decreased substantially over the last few years.

	There's no right or wrong way to do things.  You are either going to
decide to print the labels left to right, and keep the line printer and
Cheshire labeling machine people happy, or you are going to change the
standard to printing down in columns, and make the membership list printing
people happy.  (That would break all the Cheshire labeling machines.)

	Why don't you submit a request to the filePro wish list to have an
option to print the labels down and then in columns (phone book sort).  I do
know that it's been a little extra programming work for me to define an
extra array every time a customer wants a membership list printed in phone
book order on a dot matrix printer.  I wouldn't mind seeing this option when
I print labels, although I do have things on the wish list that are higher
priority.

Mike Schwartz