How Do I Print a ".prn" file?

[Gary]

I used "Print to File" in the Print dialogue to generate
a ".prn" file. Now, I want to print that file.
Intuitively, I suspected you would simply drop the file
on a printer and away we'd go... but instead Windows
tells me it doesn't know how to print a .prn file and to
try to open it from the application that created it.

Does anyone know how to actually print a ".prn" file?

 

[Bill Morel]

Yes, I am having exactly the same problem. The only thing
I can recall is is to print from Dos but how successful, I
do not know !

 

[Bruce Sanderson]

When you drop a file on a printer, that is an instruction to Windows to use
the "Action" called "Print" defined for files with whatever extension the
file has. The message you are getting is telling you that there is no
"Print" function defined for the program "associated" with files with a prn
extension, which is normal. By default, the prn extension' "Open" Action is
associated with Notepad, so if you double click on such a file, it will
"Open" in Notepad. But there is no "Print" Action defined for prn files.
You could add one, but I don't think it would be much use to you.

prn files constructed by "Print to File" contain a print stream ready for
printing which is the output from a print driver. Almost any Windows
program (e.g. Notepad) that might print such a file will most likely result
in having all the printer control commands printed rather than being acted
on by the printer - you would probably get a whole lot of gobldeegook.

Try:
1. open a Command Prompt window
2. type the command
copy path\filename.prn lpt1:

 

[Tony Edgecombe]

From the command prompt type:

copy filename.prn \\yourcomputername\yourprinterssharename

This assumes the printer is shared.

We also have a tool on our web site called FRP which does the same thing
from a Windows program, see the link below.