KB202017 - WD2000: How to Create a Macro to Change Printer or Fax Driver

Article ID: 202017

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2006

Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q202017

SUMMARY

This article contains a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sub procedure (macro) that allows you to send a document to a specific printer or fax device and then resets the printer to the original default.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

   Sub SwitchPrinter()
      Dim strActivePrinter As String
      ' Get active printer.
      strActivePrinter = Application.ActivePrinter
      ' Change to the Microsoft Fax printer driver.
      Application.ActivePrinter = "Microsoft Fax"
      ' Print the active document to Fax.
      ActiveDocument.PrintOut
      ' Change back to the default printer.
      Application.ActivePrinter = strActivePrinter
   End Sub

NOTE: If you run this macro and specify a printer that is not installed, the following error message appears:

Run-time error '5216': There is a printer error.

REFERENCES

For more information about creating Visual Basic for Applications macros, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type how to create a macro in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 163435
TITLE : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words: vb vba

Keywords: kbhowto kbmacroexample kbprogramming KB202017