[ekinskofer]

Hi all,

I am trying to automate faxing Cyrstal Reports using WinFax pro 10.0. So far I have been successful, but it has been very ugly in doing so.

Here’s the basic process:

1/. Export the crystal report to an rtf file as it contains a couple of graphics that need to be used.
2/. From the WinFax Pro Com, using the SDKSend object, I set up all my variables, i.e. to, subject, etc. and then call the the .AddAttachmentFile method.
3/. I then call the send method

the last bit looks like this in Delphi:

if oWinFax.AddAttachmentFile(‘D:workwinfax test applicationreport2.txt’) = 1 then ShowMessage(‘Could not add file’);

oWinFax.Send(0);

//find out if there was an error or not
res := oWinFax.GetLastError;
if res <> 0 then
memMessages.text := memmessages.text + ‘ , ‘ + inttostr(res)
else
memMessages.text := ‘Sent Successfully!’;

so what happens now, is that winfax, launches word, prints the file to the winfax printer, then closes word.. VERY UGLY!

I need to support around 100-200 faxes going out a day with different reports. Is there anyway that I can added these attachments without having word come up and steal the CPU, i.e. maybe print in the background? Is there anyway of adding an attachment without having to use thier printer drivers?

Please help me out if you know of anything or can point me in a similar related issue.

thanks,

Eric kinskofer
[email protected]

[Anonymous]

why don’t you just set the printer to Winfax and then print the crystal report output directly to the winfax driver. You don’t need to add attachments using this method.

[ekinskofer]

we are trying to automate the whole process. When you just print directly to the winfax driver, it prompts you with a dialogue that asks for number, etc.

I’m wondering if there is a way of setting up the fax numbers, subject, etc. before calling the print method so that this dialogue doesn’t show up. Any help would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

yes, you need to set ShowSendScreen(0)
you might want to look at this example written in VBA for Word. It shows how to print a Word document using the printer driver directly from Word.

http://www.getfaxing.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=3&topic=4

[mp6]

Hi, I am also trying to do the same thing. Is there any further (more current) developments on this.

I am using crystal reports and winfax pro 9 on win2k and xp.

As it was suggested to do a set showsendscreen(0), you cant do this if you’re just doing a print from crystal reports to winfax because you’re not using the winfax object at all.

As for using Word VBA… this doesnt sound like a solution for automating the process. (I couldn’t find the link which was referred to either)

I am in two minds as to whether 1) print the report from crystal reports by just setting the printer name to winfax OR 2) use the winfax object and try to attach the report.

Both of these pose a problem.

Number 1 requires the fax number to be passed on from crystal report to winfax and crystal report does not have the functionality (method/properties) to do this. The only possible way would be to use DDE to communicate the fax number to winfax simultaneously (DDE info and sample code is in the winfax help) and that’s quite ugly as there are intermittent problems whereby the send dialogue appears during transmissions of some reports within a batch.

Number 2 hogs up CPU when it loads up Word,etc to convert the file for winfax – causes probs for big report batches. An extended problem I have to this is trying to fax report attachments in landscape – anyone have any idea for this ?

Which way’s best and allows for efficient faxing of large batch jobs?

Cheers, mp6

[shabbs]

I’m actually doing the same thing, faxing from crystal reports, but I end up going through a couple of extra steps.

1. export crystal report as pdf
2. use ghostscript (free) to turn pdf into a tiff
3. use winfax sdk to turn tiff into fax format
4. add attachment

this works with multipage pdfs as well, although you have to somehow figure out the number of pages within the tiff (I use ImgX dll that my company bought).

the only worry is ghostscript, which takes a little while to figure out, but it can be run in fully batch/auto mode so no user interaction is required. it can also print pdfs to printers, which might be just as good for you instead of going through the mess with tiffs.

I’ve also tried converting the pdf directly to fax format, as ghostscript supports that as well, but I couldn’t find a compatible format with winfax, wonder if it’s proprietary.

anyway, hope this helps

[Author]

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