PCOL() Return the current column position of the printhead ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Syntax PCOL() --> nColumn Returns PCOL() returns an integer numeric value representing the last printed column position, plus one. The beginning column position is zero. Description PCOL() is a printer function that reports the column position of the printhead after the last print operation. PCOL() is updated only if either SET DEVICE TO PRINTER or SET PRINTER ON is in effect. PCOL() is the same as COL() except that it relates to the printer rather than the screen. PCOL() is updated in the following ways: . Application startup sets PCOL() to zero . EJECT resets PCOL() to zero . A print operation sets PCOL() to the last column print position plus one . SETPRC() sets PCOL() to the specified column position PCOL(), used with PROW(), prints a value relative to the last value printed on the same line. This makes it easier to align columns when printing a columnar report. A value is printed in the next column by specifying its position as PCOL() + <column offset>. Note that PCOL() is effective for alignment only if the column values are fixed-width. To guarantee fixed-width column values, format the output using TRANSFORM(), the PICTURE clause of @...SAY, or any of the PAD() functions. Notes . Printer control codes: Sending control codes to the printer causes PCOL() to become out of sync with the printhead position. Although control codes do not print, this discrepancy happens because Clipper counts all characters sent to the printer regardless of how the printer treats them. To make the necessary adjustment, save the current PROW() and PCOL() values, send the control codes, and then use SETPRC() to restore the original PROW() and PCOL() values. . SET MARGIN: PCOL() cannot reliably be used with SET MARGIN to print with @...SAY. When printing with @...SAY, the current MARGIN value is always added to the specified column position before output is sent to the printer. This effectively adds the MARGIN value to PCOL() for each invocation of @...SAY to the same print line. Examples . In this example, PCOL() creates a simple report that prints a listing of Customer names, addresses, and phone numbers: LOCAL nLine := 99, nPage := 1 USE Customer INDEX CustName NEW SET DEVICE TO PRINTER DO WHILE !EOF() IF nLine > 55 PageTop(nPage) nLine := 1 nPage++ ENDIF @ nLine, 10 SAY CustName @ nLine, PCOL() + 2; SAY RTRIM(City) + ", " + RTRIM(State) + ZipCode; PICTURE REPLICATE("X", 35) @ nLine, PCOL() + 2; SAY Phone; PICTURE "@R (999) 999-9999" nLine++ SKIP ENDDO SET DEVICE TO SCREEN CLOSE Files Library is CLIPPER.LIB.
See Also: ?|?? @…SAY EJECT PAD() PROW() QOUT()
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