PrintFlip for Windows Contents
PrintFlip for Windows Help Contents

Introduction

Installation

Main

Registration

Miscellaneous


PrintFlip Introduction

Version 1.6

Copyright 93 by Ling Siow Chang & Mei-Hsin Jenny Chang

PrintFlip is a quick printer changer and setup for Windows.  PF allows you to quickly switch from a printing device to another on the desktop without running control panel.  You can also see the present printer at a glance.  This is especially useful when you have a printer and a fax/modem.  PrintFlip supports multiple printer drirvers and ports.  Furthermore, PF can switch Print Manager status fast.  It also can change orientation on the fly.  Tested with Windows 3.1.  Please do distribute widely and we welcome any feedbacks.

Tip - It is always a good idea to backup win.ini and system.ini files.

NOTE!

Do not change the printer driver settings when the printer or output device is in used.  Doing this will cause a device change message to be sent and may cause Windows to be unstable and may crash the application.  For example, while we were faxing a document from Word for Windows, we changed the print orientation (during the faxing) by clicking on PrintFlip orientation icon.  This caused Word to crash and destabilized Windows.  This will also happen if you change the printer driver setting such as print orientation from the Control Panel!  Hence, this is not a unique behaviour of PrintFlip but rather Windows.

Please look at version history for the bug fix (related to the above device change message) for the prior version 1.2.  Please let us know if we are wrong about the above (may not happen to other applications).


PrintFlip Installation

Files that come with PrintFlip:

PRINTF.EXE	- PrintFlip executable file

PRINTF.HLP	- PrintFlip help file

README.TXT	- PrintFlip readme file

APIGUIDE.DLL	- needed dll file

Methods:

1.	You need the file VBRUN300.DLL (Visual Basic run-time file) in your Windows directory (\WINDOWS or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM) since this is a Visual Basic program.  You can get it from where you obtain PrintFlip.

2.	APIGUIDE.DLL should be copied to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

3.	The other files should be installed in their own directory (such as C:\WINUTIL\PRINTF).

4.	Attach PRINTF.EXE icon to a Group (Startup group recommended) in Program Manager (easiest way is to drag and drop from File Manager).


PrintFlip Main

The main screen is full of printer information.  The drop-down list shows the current active printer with the port information.  The page icon shows the current paper orientation.  The check box shows the state of the Print Manager.  PrintFlip updates itself every 20 seconds so be patient if you change printer settings in Control Panel because it will be reflected eventually.

Methods:

1.	Choose from drop-down list to quickly change printer drivers.

2.	Click on the page icon to toggle paper orientation. *

3.	Click on the check box to enable or disable Print Manager.

4.	Click on the Setup button to open the printer driver setup dialog box. *

* DO NOT CHANGE PRINTER DRIVER SETTINGS WHEN IT IS BEING USED!  Look at NOTE!

  The minimized icon of PrintFlip gives information about current active printer.  The icon also shows information about Print Manager.

 indicates no Print Manager.

 shows that Print Manager is active.

Methods:

1.	Select PrintFlip as active icon.

2.	Press F2 to select the next printer driver.  If the menu is open when PrintFlip is icon, clicking on the right mouse button will also achieve the same result.

3.	Press F3 to toggle Print Manager status.  If the menu is open when PrintFlip is icon, clicking on the right mouse button with the shift button will also achieve the same result.


PrintFlip Registration

PrintFlip is a shareware program.  Notice that there are no nag screens nor disabled options.  If you find it useful, please do register as this encourages us to develop more useful programs and update PrintFlip.  Registration is only US $5.00.  Site licenses are negotiable.  Please include your name, address, tel/fax number, e-mail address, PrintFlip version number and quantity.  The benefits of registration is clear conscience, support of the shareware concept, and further development of the product.  Nevertheless, if you have any comments (especially bug reports) or questions, do contact us.

Contact:

Ling Siow Chang & Mei-Hsin Jenny Chang

200 Central Avenue, C2

Jersey City, NJ 07307

Tel & Fax: (201) 798-8212

Internet: mchang@eniac.seas.upenn.edu or lchang@upenn5.hep.upenn.edu

Thank you.


PrintFlip Miscellaneous

History:

v1.6 - Fixed bug that made it unable to work with certain drivers.

v1.5 - Made code a bit more efficient.  Fixed bug of appearing in wrong screen.  Public release.

v1.4 - recompiled for Visual Basic version 3.0.  It needs VBRUN300.DLL instead of VBRUN200.DLL unlike before.  Fixed some bugs such as print orientation update and screen saver unable to activate.  Limited release.

v1.3 -supports driver with multiple ports.  Fixed a bug to update the minimized icon correctly.  Fixed a nasty bug that causes PrintFlip to send out device change message every time it updates itself instead of only when the settings change.  Look at NOTE!.  We are sorry for the bugs and inconveniences caused.  Internal release.

v1.2 - new and more intuitive configuration interface, name changed to PrintFlip, status changed to shareware.

v0.4 - fixed some bugs such as list and icon updates, refusal to start minimized.  Also added the print manager feature.  Better error trapping.

v0.3 - first public release as pftime and donateware.

Other:

If you like the program, do share it widely with other people.  Do upload it to all the BBS you can find especially popular commercial ones (which we currently has no access to).

Try out our new Loader program that quickly switches between wallpapers and sounds.

Disclaimer:

PrintFlip carries no warranties nor guarantees.  You assume all risk by using the program.  If you use PrintFlip, it frees us of all liabilities.  Windows, Word for Windows, and Visual Basic are registered trademarks of Microsoft.