Is it me or is the IDE missing something simple...

[The Frog]

Hi all,

Does anyone have a way to print forms at design time directly from the
IDE? I am not a great fan of the print screen to paint to print
method. I would really like to know if anyone has a way around this.
The posts I have read appear to suggest that no-one has yet got a awy
to do this. It seems kind of dumb to me. I also find it ironic that
the only thing that cant be programmed is the IDE itself!

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Cheers

The Frog

 

[John Daly]

There is a add-in you can download to do this. It is called 'Microsoft PrintForm Component 1.0'. The easiest way to get it is to download the PackInstaller which can be found here http://www.codeplex.com/PackInstaller/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4274.
It is located under Windows Forms.

 

[The Frog]

Thankyou very much for that John,

I will download and give this a go. I am glad that there is an answer
to this frustrating problem. Thankyou once again.

Cheers

The Frog

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Does anyone have a way to print forms at design time directly from the
IDE?

Unfortunately this possibility which has been available in VB6 is not
present in the current release of VS/VB 2005.

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Herfried,

Is there not a better place for a MVP to write his complaints, I know at
least one, maybe that helps better than telling so often how good VB6 was in
this newsgroup. .

Cor

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Is there not a better place for a MVP to write his complaints, I know at
least one, maybe that helps better than telling so often how good VB6 was
in this newsgroup. .

Well, the feature not being present any more is a /fact/. Why should I hide
facts?

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Herfried,

A fact can be what actions you have taken to get this back, I will for sure
support you than on those places.

Cor

 

[The Frog]

Thanks for the help and guidance guys. I thought that I was missing
something. I have only "played" with .Net languages and am still
learning my way through the IDE's and the framework - its huge. I was
just a little surprised that something so seemingly fundamental to
producing a workable application is missing from the IDE.

I often have to show forms to end users and "managers" to get their
creative input on the way the want to work. Its definitely much easier
to scribble ideas on a piece of paper than on your monitor. Its jus
the way I work I suppose.

Thanks for the help once again. I do hope that the creators of the IDE
decide to add this simple function in the next service pack or upate.
Outsie of the missing print function for forms I find the IDE really
good to work with, and I am quite enjoying the functionality of
the .Net framework. Takes a little getting used to, but I quite like
it

Thanks everyone

Cheers

The Frog

 

[Johnny Jörgensen]

So is this the place for two MVPs to lash out at each other in full public?
Bad style!

It's noticeable that you both chose to haggle over whether or not a feature
is present in one or the other version of VB, and neither of you came up
with the solution to "Frog's" problem (see John Daly's post).

/Johnny J.

Herfried,

Is there not a better place for a MVP to write his complaints, I know at
least one, maybe that helps better than telling so often how good VB6 was
in this newsgroup. .

Cor

 

[The Frog]

Hi Johnny,

I kind of noticed that too, but I figured that if they want to go
ahead and do such things then let them. I did try to smooth the issue
over a little when I realised that a potential flame war might begin
over such a seemingly simple thing. I guess that people carry strong
feelings about their preferences and feel strongly enough to voice
and / or defend them.

I think its great to see such passion from people. Fortunately they
started up after a solution was posted so no harm done. I do like to
see a lively topic, so long as it doesnt turn into a flame war.

The Frog

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

So is this the place for two MVPs to lash out at each other in full
public? Bad style!

You seem to miss the point of my post. I just wanted to state that the OP
doesn't need to look for the feature in the IDE any longer because it's
simply missing, /although/ it has been present in an IDE Microsoft considers
a predecessor of the current version of VB.

It's noticeable that you both chose to haggle over whether or not a
feature is present in one or the other version of VB, and neither of you
came up with the solution to "Frog's" problem (see John Daly's post).

I posted my reply after John's post has been visible to me because it
provides additional information. Even the package John mentions doesn't
provide exactly the same functionality the VB6 solution provided (this is,
printing forms as they appear in the designer onto paper directly from the
IDE).

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

I think its great to see such passion from people. Fortunately they
started up after a solution was posted so no harm done.

I am not sure if you already took a closer look at the PrintForm component
John mentioned. The PrintForm component mainly provides a replacement for
the 'PrintForm' method forms had in VB6. It's not intended as a direct
replacement of the command used to print forms at design time.

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

I have put the problem on another place, I miss this functionality too.

Cor