What's supported
Print Wizard currently has fax support for the following:
Fax32
Windows faxing is referred to here as Fax32. Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 support this type of faxing without the need to purchase additional software. While it may not be installed initially (“Fax” should show as a printer driver), you should be able to install it from your Windows CD.
MAPI
The Messaging Application Programming Interface comes in various flavors with support for many 3 rd party applications such as Outlook (MAPI), Outlook Express (Simple MAPI), Exchange (Extended MAPI), and others. Print Wizard implements standard MAPI with support for sending of faxes based on the profiles default transport mechanism being set for faxing.
WinFax PRO
Symantec’s WinFax PRO supports many object calls into their software for the control of faxing through 3 rd party applications. Print Wizard implements a basic set of calls to do WinFax PRO faxing.
Options
There are several Print Wizard command line parameters used for faxing (certain required items may be pulled from default fax type):
/fax=
(uses defaults from printwiz.ini) /fax32=
/faxcoverpg=
(optional for Fax32) /faxfromnum=
(optional for all types) /faxfrom=
(optional for all types) /faxprofile=
(required for faxing with Mapi) /faxmapi-
/faxwinfaxpro=
/j
(cover page subject) /n
(cover page notes or include file) /t
(optional "to" name for all types)
Fax32
Back in Windows 95, Microsoft released a fax engine that would allow applications, such as Word scripting, VBA (Visual Basic for Application) and Word itself, to fax. They then dropped this support until Windows 2000 came out. Fax32 may not be installed by default on Windows 2000, 20003 or XP but can be added as a Windows component.
The new version of Fax32 is supported by Print Wizard both as a "superfile" (print to a file named fax://....), and as a fax target.
Currently, from the command line you can direct output to a “print-to-file” name of fax32:// or you can specify the current "target" type as fax32 (/Fax32=
In the case of the "superfile", fax32://, the current files to process get handled one at a time as a write to the printer driver for faxing. This does assume what you are faxing is a file type that Print Wizard can handle.
- In the command line option, all files are passed to fax32 as attachments and ran thru a TIF file creation routine instead of writing them to the printer driver directly. In this manner, Print Wizard can handle multiple attachments of any file type (as long as there is a “file association” application).
-
If a cover page name is specified in the CoverPage field of Fax32 in the Print Wizard default file (printwiz.ini), then a cover page is looked for by that name. Otherwise we obey the UseServerCoverPage option set in the fax printer driver. In this case, the driver looks for a “.cov” file as specified in the registry
CSIDL_PERSONAL\Fax\Personal Coverpages\ directory
i.e.
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Fax\Personal Coverpages
or in the case of a file server in
\SERVERNAME\FAX$\
If no name is given but “include cover page flag” is set, then MS Fax looks in
CSIDL_APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows NT\MSFax\coverpg.cov
or
\\SERVERNAME\FAX$\Coverpg.cov
When using the command line parameter to fax with Fax32, all files are handled as attachments, so some file association for the file extension must exist for the file to get rendered. We then merge all these tifs into one and re-pass it back to Fax32.
MAPI
MAPI is the standard set of calls used by Outlook, Outlook Express, Exchange and others. There are several levels of MAPI including Simple, Extended and Exchange Server versions. Print Wizard implements basic MAPI calls which should work with Simple MAPI (Outlook Express) and Extended (Outlook).
In order to fax with MAPI, you must set up a profile that uses the “fax transport” method rather than an email transport. You must then reference this as the profile to use when faxing.
Starting with Print Wizard MAPI sends all files as attachments, letting the fax transport render them as necessary. The default transport application for faxing is normally Windows Fax32 in the case of Windows 2000 or later. However this can be overridden if some other fax transport is loaded, such as WinFax PRO. Check your Outlook settings.
When faxing via the MAPI protocol, you are dependent on 2 major items:
- Security software may prohibit or at least warn you before allowing a 3rd party program, such as Print Wizard to fax
- Outlook settings determine if and when faxes get sent and may also require recipients have fax numbers in some cases.
MAPI fax support in Print Wizard takes all files as attachments, no writing to the printer. So a file association must exist for the file extension.
WinFax PROWinFax PRO from Symantec supports several 3rd party calls into its objects. Print Wizard uses these calls, writing to the fax device. These calls should work with WinFax PRO version 9.6 (from Delrina, though the object name may need to be manually changed inside the printwiz.ini file), and with version 10.0 or something later than version 10.03.
When Symantec took over support, they determined that there was too much support necessary with the 3rd party object calls. Hence support was dropped in version 10.01. Due to numerous complaints, in 10.02 some were put back in, but full support was not restored till 10.03. This latest version has to be ordered from Symantec tech support (tell them you are using a 3rd party program to fax through WinFax PRO and they will send a CD). As of November 2004, this version should be shipping as the “Windows XP Version”.
WinFax PRO support in Print Wizard does support writing to the printer device and then rendering attachments separately. This works fine provided the file name is capable of being handled by Print Wizard. Otherwise the file should be passed as an attachment.
Cover pages are handled with the command line parameter
'/faxcoverpg=<>'
or by the variable in the profile file (it must be a complete path).
Otherwise a QuickCoverPage flag inside the WinFax PRO setup is used. QuickCoverPage can include a logo and a file of text to show, but the general layout cannot be changed. Any textual change of this needs to be done through the CoverPage Editor included with WinFax PRO.
Custom cover pages can be developed within WinFax PRO Cover Page Editor, but watch for the variables.
Including only a notes line will cause Print Wizard to automatically use a QuickCoverPage, otherwise you should specify a cover page file.
Faxing from the Print Wizard engine
From the Print Wizard engine, you can fax directly by including command-line parameters that include all the fax information. If any fax information is missing that is necessary, it will be asked for unless you are running from a service or in quiet mode. If a specific fax type is not specified, then a default fax type must be set up through the Print Wizard User Interface. Also note that any vertical bars in the "notes" parameters, will get reinterpreted as a line-feed.
Several examples are below:
printwiz /x5036240760 testfile
printwiz testfile /l /debug /ffax32://5036240760
printwiz /x5036240760 /t"this is to me" /n"this is line 1|and this is line 2" /j"this is the subject" /ac:\printwiz30\test.doc testfile
printwiz /x5036240760 /t"this is to me" /n"c:\printwiz30\testfile.txt /j"this is the subject" /ac:\printwiz30\test.doc testfile
printwiz /x5036240760 /t"this is to me" /n"c:\printwiz30\testfile.txt /j"this is the subject" /ac:\printwiz30\test.doc
printwiz /x5036240760 /n"test notes line 1|and line 2|and line 3" testfile
printwiz a file with !WINFAX /x<> /a<>
(faxes single page plus attachment page, 2 pages total)
printwiz a file with !WINFAX /x<> /a<> /a<> /a<> /n<>
(faxes multiple pages, one for each attachment, one for data, one for coverpage (notes))
printwiz a file with !FAX32 /x<>
{faxes with MS Fax}
printwiz a file with !MAPISEND /pFaxing /f5036240760
(sends fax via MAPISEND program and faxing Outlook profile)
printwiz /fax=5036240760 /faxfrom="My PC" /faxfromnum=5035555555 testfile.txt
(faxed using default fax method of "winfaxpro")
printwiz /faxmapi=5036240760 /faxprofile=Faxing /faxfrom="My PC" /faxfromnum=5035555555 testfile.txt /j"Subject line note" /n"body note 1|body note 2"
printwiz /fax32=5036240760 /faxfrom="My PC" /faxfromnum=5035555555 testfile.txt
/j"Subject line note" /n"body note 1|body note 2"
printwiz /fax32=5036240760 /faxcoverpg="\Documents and Settings\Bobby Ezell\My
Documents\Fax\Personal Coverpages\faxcoverpage.cov" /faxfromnum=5035550099
/faxfrom=MyPC /t"My Fax" /n"note 1|note 2" /vdocname="My Fax32 test" /j"subject line 1" test.doc test.xls
(fax32 with 2 files and a cover page with info on it)
printwiz /x5036240760 /faxcoverpg="\temp\bovy.cvp" /faxfromnum=5035550099
/faxfrom=MyPC /t"My Fax" /n"note 1|note 2" /vdocname="My Fax32 test" /j"subject line 1" testfile
(WinFax PRO with a single file to render, but a custom cover sheet to also include)
Faxing from a print profile
You can set up a print profile through the Print Wizard User Interface that faxes as its target. In doing this you can
- always make it fax to the same number
- set it such that it asks
When set without any fax-to information, and the Print Wizard engine does not run in quiet mode, the fax-to information will be asked for. Refer to the Print Wizard documentation and other Knowledgebase articles for more information on print profiles.
Faxing from a drag/drop shortcut
You can easily setup a desktop shortcut that will take in whichever file name is dragged and dropped on the shortcut and will fax it. As with faxing with the Print Wizard engine or faxing from a print profile, if necessary Print Wizard will ask for the "to" information.
You can set a desktop shortcut that does the faxing direct from the Print Wizard engine
printwiz /x5036240760
or from a profile
printwiz /profile=myfaxprofile.profile
Any dropped file name will then be appended and ran just as normal through the Print Wizard engine.
Faxing through a Print Wizard service or Windows Services for Print Wizard
Like the above approaches, you can set up a Print Wizard service that will receive a print job and fax it out. You do this by setting up a print profile to do the faxing (as described above) and them point your service at that profile.
In this manner, you can utilize the PC as a means of faxing without all the overhead of a fax server. See documentation and knowledgebase articles on print profiles and services for more information.