print multicolumn formatted text vb6 - printing

Question

i need to print formatted text like in the image below, how can i achive this in vb6, given that vb6 print object is not friendly for such this
The data i need to print that represented by the boxes are non related

Answer 1

It is not very difficult. You use the ScaleLeft, ScaleWidth, CurrentX, and CurrentY properties to set where printing begins on the page. In this case you will probably also want to set the Orientation property to vbPROPortrait. Using those positioning properties, and setting the font and style you want you then call Printer.Print
This method will draw 4 boxes onto a page. Play with the (x, y) coordinates or hard code the numbers to alter the sizes. Remove the .EndDoc statement if you don't want the printer to print the page from this method and call Printer.EndDoc from somewhere else. Full Printer object documentation for VB6 can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa443915%28v=vs.60%29.aspx
Private Sub DrawBox()
With Printer
.ScaleMode = vbTwips
lngScaleWidth = .ScaleWidth
lngScaleHeight = .ScaleHeight
Printer.Line (.ScaleLeft + lngMargin, .ScaleTop + lngMargin)-(lngScaleWidth / 2 - (100 + lngMargin * 2), lngScaleHeight / 2 - (100 + lngMargin * 2)), lngColor, B
Printer.Line (lngScaleWidth / 2 + (100 + lngMargin * 2), .ScaleTop + lngMargin)-(.ScaleWidth - lngMargin, lngScaleHeight / 2 - (100 + lngMargin * 2)), lngColor, B
Printer.Line (.ScaleLeft + lngMargin, lngScaleHeight / 2 + (100 + lngMargin * 2))-(lngScaleWidth / 2 - (100 + lngMargin * 2), .ScaleHeight - lngMargin), lngColor, B
Printer.Line (lngScaleWidth / 2 + (100 + lngMargin * 2), lngScaleHeight / 2 + (100 + lngMargin * 2))-(.ScaleWidth - lngMargin, .ScaleHeight - lngMargin), lngColor, B
.EndDoc
End With
End Sub
The sample code below demonstrates some of the positioning and other properties.
Dim lMargin as Integer
lMargin = 200
With Printer
.FontBold = True
.FontItalic = False
.CurrentY = .CurrentY + (3 * .TextHeight(App.ProductName))
.CurrentX = lLeftMargin
.FontName = "Arial"
.FontSize = 11
Printer.Print "Date " & strTransDate
End With