Problems selecting paper bin/source with some printers drivers

Question

Hi,
I'm using CR2008 SP2 .NET SDK.
With some printers drivers i'm unable to set the correct paper source in the print options.
For example, if I use Toshiba e-series PLC driver (you can find it here:drivers and select, for example, the e-STUDIO281C printer).
Even if i set the correct paper source on the report designer when i print it through code (without applying any changes to the report) the report is always printed by the default paper source defined at the printer preferences.
The same thing happens when you do it through the designer.
I already tried the following workaround but without any success: at the CR Designer, go to the File Menu, and choose Page Setup. Under Page Options, check the Dissociate Formatting Page Size and Printer Paper Size. This often helps with these issues. Resave the report, and see if that works any better.
Is there any known issues with printer drivers and CR2008?
(This thread was originally posted in [.NET Development forum|Re: Problems selecting paper bin/source with some printers drivers])

Answer 1

Oops, sorry my mistake. I'll leave it here for now.
How CR works is to get the Printer info from the DEVMODE structure, which is where the printer driver settings and configurations are saved for each printer installed.
What I've seen plenty of times before is within the DEVMODE structure there is one area called DMExtra and in that structure it holds various custom options. Quite often the issue is we query that structure to get info but the problem lies in the driver returning an invalid structure size and therefore CR can't use any custom settings.
Same type of issue if they use an uncommon (ENUM) value for the paper size. In code you can see this in debug mode. But if you simply pass the values as pointers and not attempt to alter them at all CR should not alter what the designer used and saved in the RPT file when the reprot was designed.
What can happen when CR loads the printer info it fails due to problems with the printer itself. There are missing files from the install of the printer which cause Crystal to stop getting the info.
Try this on a clean PC with no other printers installed, Install just that printer driver and then install Crystal Reports. If it still fails then we know it could be Crystal having problems with that driver. You may want to post your issue with the printer manufacturer also. They may be able to test also and determine if it is a CR or their driver issue. They can download a trial version of CR for testing.
Trial lin is: Direct link to the Trial version: http://www.sap.com/solutions/sapbusinessobjects/sme/freetrials/index.epx
If that's not an option you could purchase a support case here for one of our Engineers to escalate to R&D. If it turns out to be a CR problem then you'll get a credit for the case, if it is a printer driver problem then no credit.
Single Case Purcahse is: http://store.businessobjects.com/store/bobjamer/DisplayProductByTypePage&parentCategoryID=&categoryID=11522300?resid=-Z5tUwoHAiwAAA8@NLgAAAAS&rests=1254701640551
Be sure to tell them it needs to go to the Report Designer team first.
There is also a possibilty their driver has issue with Windows OS and the .NET framework. Crystal reports is also UNICODE compliant so the printer driver would have a better success rate if their driver was also unicode compliant.
Bottom line is if it doesn't work in Crystal Designer it won't work in code either.
Thanks again
Don