Designing a form for contact printing

About this task

Contact printing is a type of printing in which users choose a form and a paper sectioning scheme to print multiple documents. For example, you can print multiple names and addresses (listings) and choose options for creating sections (such as twenty labels on a page). To make contact printing in an application available to users, the designer must create and enable a form for contact printing.

To create and enable a form for contact printing:

Procedure

  1. Create a form and define the layout and content of the form.
  2. Choose Design - Form Properties.
  3. At the Form Info tab, name the form and then check "Include in Print" to enable the form for contact printing. It is recommended that you do not check other Display options.
    Note: Checking "Include in Print" is the only way to enable a form for contact printing.
  4. Close the Form Properties dialog box.
  5. Create all the reserved fields listed in the table that follows these steps. Although you can place the fields anywhere on the form, they are typically placed at the end of the form to separate them from the main body of the form.

    You can also create a subform containing some or all of the reserved fields and then insert the subform into one or more forms.

    All of the contact printing reserved fields are required. They must also have the same number of entries in each, except for $SectDataOptions. If there is one entry, then the form has one sectioning type (for example 20 labels to a page) available to it. If two entries, then the form has two sectioning types (for example 20 or 30 labels to a page).

  6. For each of the reserved fields:

    At the Field Info tab:

    • Next to Name, enter the reserved field name.
    • Next to Type, select "Text" and then "Computed."
    • Check "Allow multiple values." Leave the next two settings unchecked.

    At the Hide When tab:

    • Check "Printed" in the "Hide paragraph when document is" section.
  7. Close the Field Properties dialog box.
  8. For each of the reserved fields, go to the Objects pane of the Programmer's pane, find the name of the field you just created, and select Value. Then, click in the Script area and enter the appropriate value. Enclosed the value in quotes.See the following table for information on the values you can enter for each reserved field.

    Reserved Fields for Print Listings

    Reserved field name

    Description and values

    $SectDataName

    Enter a name for the sectioning type and enclose it in quotes (for example, "2 x 7 Labels, 1-1/3 x 4 in"). The name you enter as the value is the name shown for the sectioning type (or Paper type) on the Documents Style tab of the "Print view" dialog box in Notes®. This name also appears in form error messages.

    The sectioning type can have multiple entries, but they must be separated by a colon (for example, "2 x 10 Labels, 1 x 4 in" : "3 x 10 Labels, 1 x 2-5/8 in"). If the sectioning type has multiple entries, other contact printing reserved field (except for $SectDataOptions) must have the same number of entries.

    $SectDataOptions

    Choose options for printing the listings or leave the value blank by specifying double quotes with no characters between them ("").

    Separate multiple options with spaces (for example, "Debug Inches"). Note that, for this field only, you do not have to match the number of entries with the number in other print listings reserved fields.

    Only the following options are valid:

    • Fullsheet -- Sectioning is turned off and the whole sheet of paper is taken to be the section.The form still determines the content and layout of the listing produced for each document. This option is useful for print merges. Usually, print headers, print footers, and page settings are ignored in print listings; however, the Fullsheet option prints normal print headers, print footers, and page settings. If you specify the Fullsheet option, the next four reserved fields are ignored.
    • Debug -- Delineates each printed section.You can use this option to debug the data for a sectioning type because you can see on the printed paper where each section prints and where the inner margin of each section lies.This option also lets you preview the labels.
    • Centimeters -- Causes the values in $SectDataWidthAndHeight, $SectDataInnerMargins, and $SectDataOriginXandY, to be interpreted as 1/100th of a centimeter rather than the default of 1/1000th of an inch.In other words, this option turns on metric units.
    • Inches -- Causes the values in $SectDataWidthAndHeight, $SectDataInnerMargins, and $SectDataOriginXandY to be interpreted as 1/1000th of an inch. This is the default. If both inches and centimeters appear in $SectDataOptions values, the last one listed takes precedence.
    • Relaxrowsandcols -- Looks at the number of rows and columns specified in $SectDataRowsAndCols and, if necessary, reduces the number of rows and columns to what actually fits fully within the paper. If this option is not specified, the number of rows and columns specified in $SectDataRowsAndCols is taken literally, even if the specified number of rows or columns does not fit within the paper.

    $SectDataRowsAndCols

    The value in this field always contains two options separated by a space. For example: "72." The first option is the number of rows and the second is the number of columns. Both values must be 1 or greater. If you have two entries for other fields, you must have two entries here. For example: "10 2" : "10 3"

    Note: For this field (and the remaining reserved fields):
    • If fewer options are given than the item requires, the remaining options are interpreted to be zero ("0"). If no options are specified, "0" is assumed for all options. If extra options are specified, they are ignored.
    • For a sectioning scheme where there is only one section per sheet of paper, specify "1 1." If you have specified the Fullsheet option, enter an empty value in double quotes ("").

    $SectDataWidthAndHeight

    Specifies the width and height of each section. The value in this field takes two options. The first option gives the width of one section and the second option gives the height (for example: "4156 1000"). Both values are in 1/1000th of an inch.For example, 1-1/2 inch would be written 1500. The value must be one or greater.

    If you have two entries in other fields, there must be two entries in this field (for example : "4156 1000" : "2781 1000").

    $SectDataInnerMargins

    Specifies an inner margin for each section. The value in this field must contain four numbers, separated by spaces, and specifies an inner margin for each section. In order, the options are left, right, beginning, and end margins (for example: "156 0 0 0").

    The inner margins are measured inward from the section's overall width and height ($SectDataWidthAndHeight), within which the listing is placed.You can also use the inner margins to avoid printing in preprinted areas and pre-punched holes.

    You can enter any value including zero. The only restriction is that the sum of the inner margins in each direction must not exceed the size of the section itself in that direction.For example, you cannot specify a section width of 1.5 inches, a left inner margin of 1 inch, and a right inner margin of 1 inch.

    If you have two entries in other fields, you must have two entries in this field (for example: "156 0 0 0":"156 0 0 0").

    $SectDataOriginXandY

    Specifies the exact location, measured from the beginning of the physical page, for where the data begins on the page. The value for this field contains two options. The first option gives the beginning horizontal position and the second option gives the beginning vertical position (for example: "100 835").Both are in 1/1000th inch and any value including zero is valid. Remember that if you have multiple entries in other fields, you must have multiple values in this field (for example: "100 835":"100 835").

    The first option not only gives the location of the first section, but also implicitly positions all other sections (because all sections abut each other with zero pixel separation between each). The sections step horizontally by the $SectDataWidthAndHeight width value and step vertically by the $SectDataWidthAndHeight height value.The stepping proceeds through the number of rows and columns given in $SectDataRowsAndCols. However, if you previously specified Relaxrowsandcols, the stepping proceeds for as many rows and columns as fully fit within the physical sheet of paper.

    Be careful when you use zero as a value. For most printers, the printable portion of the paper begins 1/8 to 1/4 inch inward from the beginning of the physical paper.

Example

About this task

In Domino® Designer, you can view examples of contact printing forms and fields by opening your Notes® Personal Address Book (NAMES.NSF) and viewing forms such as "Address labels 20 or 30, business."

In Notes®, you can see an example of how contact printing works for the end user:

Procedure

  1. From the Notes® client, open the Personal Address Book (NAMES.NSF).
  2. Choose the Contacts view.
  3. Choose File - Print. The Print View dialog box appears.
  4. At the Printer tab, click "Selected documents." The Documents Style tab appears.
  5. At the Document Styles tab, click "Print multiple documents on each page."
  6. Next to "Label format," you can view a list of the contact printing forms. For example, "Address labels 20 or 30, business" is a form enabled for contact printing and was created using the contact printing reserved fields.
  7. Next to "Paper type," you can view the values set by the contact printing reserved fields. For the "Address labels 20 or 30, business" form, you have two paper sectioning entries: "2 x 10 Labels, 1 x 4 in" or "3 x 10 Labels, 1 x 2-5/8 in." (These two paper sectioning entries were specified in the $SectDataName field.)