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When you use the TApdFaxConverter
component to convert a text file to an APF (our fax format), you get to
choose one of two fonts, large and small. This works under most
circumstances. However, the two fonts in
Async Professional
do not support many of the characters used in countries outside the U.S.
We are looking at providing support for TrueType fonts in a future
version. In the meantime, if you have a text file you need to convert
that has one or more unsupported characters, there is a way to create a
fax and have the characters you want by using the Async Professional
Printer Driver and Delphi's Printers unit.
TPrinter to the Rescue
The TPrinter unit in Delphi is a great addition over the old days of
printing in Windows. It creates a printer object with a canvas to which
you can print just as you would paint to the canvas of other Delphi
components.
In addition, TPrinter lets you to set the font, not only the type but
also the size and style as well. When you print to the printer object,
it goes to the default printer. If that default printer is the Async
Professional printer driver, then the result is an APF file instead of a
piece of paper.
The following code segment shows how you might print the lines of a
TMemo to the printer. If you set the default printer in Windows to the
Async Professional printer driver and select a font that supports the
character set you want, you will have a fax ready to send.
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
I : longint;
F : TextFile;
begin
AssignPrn(F);
Rewrite(F);
try
with Printer do begin
Canvas.Font.Name := 'Arial';
Canvas.Font.Size := 14;
for I := 0 to TFE1.Lines.Count-1 do
writeln(F, TFE1.Lines[I]);
end;
ShowMessage('Done');
finally
CloseFile(F);
end;
end;
Of course, you're not limited to printing from a TMemo. If you have a
text file, you could read it line by line, sending each line to the
TPrinter object.
Since the Printer has a Canvas property, you can use any of the
methods of the TCanvas class to add more to your fax than just text,
e.g., lines, boxes, or maybe even an image. We'll save that example for
another Tech Tip. |
