> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu 
> [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Wouter van Ooijen
> Sent: Friday, 26 January 2007 10:02 PM
> To: 'Microcontroller discussion list - Public.'
> Subject: RE: [EE] Open word doc and print 3 times script,was: 
> Taking the funout of computers -WindowsVistaContentProtection
> 
> > Your Python script should be more-or-less doing what Mario posted.  
> > You treat Word as a component, that's the point of COM.
> 
> Probably, but I never mastered (or even looked into) COM. I 
> just start (from Python) a 'dos' command start starts word 
> with the file and a macro that prints the current document 
> and exits. Probably dirty, but simple for me and it does the 
> job. The opening and closing of word windows is a minor 
> nuisance, but not a real problem.
> 
> > Relying on a macro
> > within the Word doc itself (or as an add-in) is usually a 
> bad way to 
> > do it.
> 
> I agree about an internal macro (if it autostarts you would 
> not be able to view/edit the document any more!) but I don't 
> see why an external macro would be a bad way to do it?
> 
> > have "PrintAndMove.vbs c:\current\file.doc c:\archive\"; the .vbs 
> > picks up the file to be printed, and the dir to move it to 
> afterwards.
> 
> Possible, but I do everything in Python unless there are 
> pressing reasons to do otherwise. So the moving is done in 
> Python, no problem with that.


Extenal macros are fine, that the point of COM, to enable applications to be
controlled by something else.  I do a lot of work where something like an
Access database generates a Word document.

I'm not familiar with Python, but I'd assume a fairly new language would
handle COM.  A quick rummage turned up this:
http://www.darkcoding.net/software/printing-word-and-pdf-files-from-python/,
which looks remarkably like the VBS version, apart from the French.  :)

He mentions that you may get warning messages, but there's a property to
disable those, something like Word.ShowWarnings = False.

By adding Word.Visible = False, the user (ie you) won't see the doc open &
close.

In the .Open(), I'd include AddToRecentFiles := False, and ReadOnly := True.
These flags means it doesn't get added to the recent files (MRU) list, and
won't hassle you to save it if you have auto fields that update.

Tony

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