Can't print from InfoPath

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sunflower - 07 Dec 2005 23:26 GMT

I am trialling Infopath to see if it is of relevance to my organisation. We
have a user base of about 2000 who may potentially be using InfoPath, so this
could potentially turn into a large scale deployment. We have a rather
locked-down desktop in the organisation and will continue to do so.

One of my problem: I can't print from InfoPath.
This is what is installed on my PC:
- InfoPath 2003 SP1
- IE 6.0
- Windows 2K SP4

When I try to preview a form, I am seeing a gray screen. I have create a
Print Version view and designate that as the print view under the "Print
Settings" tab of the "View Properties" window.

I can see the .htm file that InfoPath has generated in my C:\TEMP\
directory. I can view the .htm file using IE.

But I can't print it from InfoPath nor preview it.

I suspect it is something to do with our settings but unfortunately, I don't
know what to tell our administrators to open up. Under my Internet Options,
I only have 3 tabs available to me - General / Privacy / Connections. All
the other options have been locked down.

Can anyone tell me what I should be considering? It would be unfortunate to
disregard InfoPath because of some security setting as it is a very strong
contender for what I am trying to do.

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Ben walters - 08 Dec 2005 02:09 GMT

Sunflower,
I have spent some time grappling with InfoPath and printing, as a test you
could export the form to an MHT format
File>Export>Web
assuming you have Microsoft Office installed you could then open this .mht
file in word Right Click>Open with > Microsoft word
you should then be able to print with out any problems.
assuming you don't have word the .mht file will open in Internet Explorer by
default.

> I am trialling Infopath to see if it is of relevance to my organisation. We
> have a user base of about 2000 who may potentially be using InfoPath, so this
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> disregard InfoPath because of some security setting as it is a very strong
> contender for what I am trying to do.

Reply to this Message

sunflower - 08 Dec 2005 02:23 GMT

Ben, Thanks... I can print the file out using Microsoft Word using the manual
steps you described but I'm afraid the manual steps required would not be an
acceptable workaround for our users.

Our users are not computer savvy and we have to provide them with the
ability to print directly from the InfoPath form itself.

Anyone know how InfoPath uses IE to print and why IE security setting is so
important?

It is almost as though InfoPath has lost a handle on the .htm file it
generates when printing or previewing and therefore, it sends nothing to the
printer or displays a gray screen.

> Sunflower,
> I have spent some time grappling with InfoPath and printing, as a test you
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
> > disregard InfoPath because of some security setting as it is a very strong
> > contender for what I am trying to do.

Reply to this Message

Ben walters - 08 Dec 2005 04:46 GMT

Sunflower.
I compleatly understand your problem a client I'm working with at the moment
is the same, I got around this issue by using Managed Code behind infopath
that would fire the Export funtion,this code would then use the Office
Interop to open the exported file in word directly I then extended the
interop code to convert the exported file to a word document before
displaying to to the user to avoid confusion. Only catch is that the form
either needs to be digitally signed or regiseterd on the users machine to
enable InfoPath to write to the users machine.

if you send me your form I could shoot it back with the sample print
functionality.
If not I could email you a sample form

> Ben, Thanks... I can print the file out using Microsoft Word using the manual
> steps you described but I'm afraid the manual steps required would not be an
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
> > > disregard InfoPath because of some security setting as it is a very strong
> > > contender for what I am trying to do.

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