Word 2004 & Desktop Printers?

[Diomedes]

Are desktop printers only supported by certain applications?

When I drag a Word document to my networked HP 8000, Word launches, and the printer prints a blank page. I also have a "Print" item as a contextual menu, and nothing happens when I right-click on a Word document.

 

[MisterMe]

Are desktop printers only supported by certain applications?

When I drag a Word document to my networked HP 8000, Word launches, and the printer prints a blank page. I also have a "Print" item as a contextual menu, and nothing happens when I right-click on a Word document.

You mean it actually prints something? Prompted by your post, I tried to drag and drop a Word file to my desktop printer. The file was intercepted by Microsoft's God-forsaken Project Manager. Disabling Project Manager results in Word's opening a blank document rather than printing the one that I dropped on the printer icon. Our experiences would seem to indicate that Word does not support desktop printers. I have yet to find another [non-Microsoft] application with the same failing.

 

[Diomedes]

Well, if a blank page is "something", then yes, it launches Word with a blank document and prints the blank page.

I don't know about being "intercepted" by Project Center (I think that's what you meant - you said Project Manager), but it definitely does not support desktop printers.

Even stranger...if you have a Word document open, and you drag a different WOrd document to the printer, the already-open Word document prints.I had a 20-page report open, and I needed to print two 1-page letters. I dragged and dropped them on the desktop printer, and next thing I knowI had printed the 20-page report twice.

Is this a bug? Does it have to do with Word being a Carbon app or not supporting Services?

 

[MisterMe]

Well, if a blank page is "something", then yes, it launches Word with a blank document and prints the blank page.

I don't know about being "intercepted" by Project Center (I think that's what you meant - you said Project Manager), but it definitely does not support desktop printers.

Even stranger...if you have a Word document open, and you drag a different WOrd document to the printer, the already-open Word document prints.I had a 20-page report open, and I needed to print two 1-page letters. I dragged and dropped them on the desktop printer, and next thing I knowI had printed the 20-page report twice.

Is this a bug? Does it have to do with Word being a Carbon app or not supporting Services?

Oops, I meant "Project Gallery." Sorry if I confused you.

Back to the topic at hand: My guess is that Word's lack of support for desktop printers has nothing to do with Carbon and everything to do with Microsoft and its software development priorities. Immediately after I tried without success to print from Word to one of my desktop printers, I tried the same thing with BBEdit Lite 6.1.1, a discontinued freeware text editor. It worked perfectly as did Adobe Acrobat Pro 6 and KaleidaGraph 3.6.2. If I were a betting man, I would bet that all of these non-Microsoft apps are Carbon. At any rate, they all worked perfectly.