Print OMR on same position of every page in variable-length report

[dbMark]

I had originally posted this to the VFP automation forum thread1251-918780 but really it could be best answered here as a reports question. <Sorry>

I need to print a Optical Mark Reader (OMR) code on the margin at a specified position of every page of multiple reports. The detail bands are of varying lengths and can span multiple pages, yet I need to lock the OMR area to one margin position and vary its contents on each page. Working with VFP8 I can't seem to create an area that is positioned relative to the top or bottom of each page and not affect the bands.

I've seen many posts on how a UPC or Postal barcode can be scanned and written. But there's fewer on how to include them in a report form and none on static positioning on every page. For example one is thread184-722917 which dealt with placing an image on a report from a general field and another was thread1252-819902 on making header bands of a standard size but I didn't see anything there to help.

So far nothing has come close to my requirements, or I've looked in all the wrong places... How do you print to an area on the right or left margin in the same position on every page of a variable-length report?

dbMark

 

[Mike Lewis]

dbMark,

I replied to your original post before I saw this new thread. (Not that my reply was particularly helpful.)

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

My Visual Foxpro web site:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

My Crystal Reports web site:

http://www.ml-crystal.com

 

[dbMark]

Mike, both you and mgagnon replied to the other thread, but someone must have read my comment here that I'd posted the original query to the wrong forum. Now it's zapped and so are both replies. Please, you can repost them here.

I was thinking of two ways around the problem. One was to use headers or footers, but if I did that, I'd want them to overlay over the current page format and content. It's going to be in the margin anyway. But my attempts so far simply push the entire page down under the header or shorten the page with the footer.

The other was to make a special narrow column that only holds the OMR area. My first attempts with columns seemed to indicate that only equal size columns are possible? I was hoping to make one narrow for the code and leave the rest of the page to the report.

In the meantime I'll keep experimenting. There has to be some way to do this, otherwise the entire OMR and barcode markets are forced into workarounds or go elsewhere. Next, I'll take a look at the VFP 9 Report Writer...

 

[Mike Lewis]

dbMark,

both you and mgagnon replied to the other thread, but someone must have read my comment here that I'd posted the original query to the wrong forum. Now it's zapped and so are both replies.

That's annoying, because I went to a certain amount of trouble to reply, and I expect Mike Gagnon did to.

That said, the gist of my reply was to suggest that you use the report header or footer section for the OMR. But obviously you had already thought of that and it did not solve the problem.

Sorry I can't suggest anything else.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

My Visual Foxpro web site:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

My Crystal Reports web site:

http://www.ml-crystal.com

 

[Mike Gagnon]

dbMark

One was to use headers or footers, but if I did that, I'd want them to overlay over the current page format and content. It's going to be in the margin anyway. But my attempts so far simply push the entire page down under the header or shorten the page with the footer.

Can you explain the bolded part of the statement above?. We use OMRs set in the page header surrounded by an invisible bounding box (to maintain the position of the OMR). Is it a limitation of the OMR reader?




Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[dbMark]

Mike G, I meant that I was hoping to put the OMR lines close to the edge of the page, in either the right of left margin. If I put it in the header or footer, then an additional inch or so of the top or bottom of the page will be blank just to hold the OMR which would be placed in the unused margin. For that reason I said it would be nice if headers or footers could allow overlaying or superimposing one section over another. Sort of like zIndex does on CSS cascading style sheets.

Hmmm, does the Report Writer allow a background image like webpages?

 

[Mike Gagnon]

If I put it in the header or footer, then an additional inch or so of the top or bottom of the page will be blank just to hold the OMR which would be placed in the unused margin.

May I ask how big is this OMR anyways? In our case the OMR reader can read an OMR that is the thickness of 1 point and 1/4 inch in lenght. And you change the margin settings on your report you cna place the OMR right at the bleeding edge..

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[dbMark]

From the coding section of the manual, it says the code must be 15 mm from top, 20 mm from bottom, and 7 mm from the sides of the sheet. Above and below the code 8.5 mm (1/3 inch) must be kept clear. Each mark must be an immense 4.2 mm (1/6 inch) apart. You put up to 14 marks maximum together using up to 8 sheets, 6 inserts, parity, etc. and it can be over 2 inches high!

From my earlier post I said I wondered if I could overlay or superimpose the code. Here in the VFP9 Report Writer tutorial #1 it mentions a watermark that can be placed in an absolute position.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnfoxgen9/html/VFP9Reports1.asp

Layout Object Enhancements
A few improvements have been added for layout objects, including an option to control template characters, a trim mode for character expressions, and relative and absolute positioning.

Selection Box: Picture/OLE Bound Properties

Absolute Positioning
When the From page top property is set to a value that falls outside the Report Designer surface, or the value of the Height property is greater than the height of the band the object is located in, absolute positioning is used. Absolute positioning means the object is printed in exactly the same location on each and every page.

Absolute Positioning can be used to create a watermark on a report. Place a graphic image in the Page Header band, and set it to Scale contents, retain shape. Change the From page top property and the From left property to indicate the upper-left corner of where you want the watermark to begin. Change the Height and Width properties to indicate the overall size of the watermark, making sure not to extend beyond the printable margins of the printer.

Could that be what I'm looking for? Only if I can change it from page to page...

 

[dbMark]

Preliminary report: This project to print OMR code at consistent margin locations from page to page without disastrously affecting headings, footers, etc. requires Visual FoxPro 9. We will be using the absolute positioning described above. More details to follow later.

Without the VFP9 beta out here to test on we would have been up a very dry creek, to say the least! Needless to say, around here no vefrsion prior to VFP 9 [beta] will be considered current!

 

[Mike Gagnon]

dbMark

I would tend to disaggree with you findings. I have been using OMR for 5 years now with no problems and they are fixed and consitent. We started using them in VFP6.0,VFP7.0 and now VFP8.0 with run with about 12,000 invoices every months with no problems.


Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[dbMark]

Mike, in your earlier post above you said "We use OMRs set in the page header surrounded by an invisible bounding box (to maintain the position of the OMR). Is it a limitation of the OMR reader?" I replied that the OMR reader/gatherer/folder/stuffer that I have to write for, or have a share in writing for, is vertically positioned, must be on the same location on every page, and can be over 2 inches high with about 1/4 inch (6.3-8.4 mm) spacing required around it, looking something like this, with the lines spaced 1/6 inch (6 LPI or 4.2 mm) apart:

 _____

 _____
 _____
 _____

 _____
 _____

 _____

 _____
 _____

This is the equipment placed in front of me and that's what I have to work with. It may be a bit of overkill but each feature adds to the size: start, stop/insert, insert trays 1-5, 1-3 marks for page order verification, parity, and safety marks. Granted I may not use every possible option (usually only 1 or 2 inserts) so it will likely not extend to the maximum length of 13 or 14 lines in the jobs we anticipate, but I have to be prepared to do so if necessary. Rule number 1 is that absolutely no mailing can be accidently stuffed into another's envelope.

Since I am new to the OMR requirements, I wonder if your reports print OMR to be read by a machine capable of reading smaller spacing than the one I'm working on? You had written "In our case the OMR reader can read an OMR that is the thickness of 1 point and 1/4 inch in length." That sounds like ours except the lines must be 1/6 inch apart. We use a large header only on the first page of the report and I did not see a way to place headers on subsequent pages without bumping the text down. Mike, I respect your extensive experience in this area, so if you do have a way, please let me know what I missed, though we have already run tests and used the new absolute ositioning technique available in VFP9.

<smile> What better way for everyone to get the latest VFP? </smile>

 

[Mike Gagnon]

Yes it would be a way for programmers to get the latest version of VFP. My only problem is the back then (VFP6.0) this "absolute positionning" did not exist, so I had to work with and understand the limitations of VFP. This problem was present and discovered at the very beginning and presented to management and the solution was to repeat the header on every page (Or a similar verion of the header, ie. large logo, name and address on the first page, and smaller logo and repetition of some of the information from the first header on the subsequent pages taking up the same spacing as the first header ). This was the 'standard' technique recommended by the manufacturer of the folding/stuffing machine and at the time I was told this technique was used by most.

Mike, I respect your extensive experience in this area, so if you do have a way, please let me know what I missed, though we have already run tests and used the new absolute ositioning technique available in VFP9.

No, as you see above you came to the same conclusion as I did, and we went with one solution, and you have the opportunity to use another.



Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.