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ptc-13461801-Visitor
1-Visitor
February 15, 2013
Solved

PTC Mathcad: How to print an e-book in its entirety

  • February 15, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 7475 views

I'm attempting to create an internal e-book for our company which can be used to perform a complex computation we are working on. However, after creating separate xmcd files such as: splash screen, TOC, and some content pages, I cannot figure out how to print the entire book. I would like to be able to have the user print the book as a reference, but still be able to create their own version usign the e-book copy and paste function to their own document.

Does anyone have any idea how this can be done?

Best answer by RichardJ

A script would be the only possibility. It could either figure out the sequence from the TOC, or the sequence could be hard coded into the script (a lot less elegant, but easier). Then it would have to load the worksheets, print them using Worksheet.printall, then close the worksheets. Definitely doable, but a fair amount of work to write it.

4 replies

W
Werner_E25-Diamond I
25-Diamond I
February 16, 2013

AFAIK there no way to do this, at leaast not out of the box. I doubt that it could be done with some kind of sphisticated scripted components which load the single worksheets in the right sequence and print.

What about linking at the index page of your e-book to a pdf you provide along with your ebook where you had collected the printouts of the whole book?

R
RichardJ19-TanzaniteAnswer
19-Tanzanite
February 16, 2013

A script would be the only possibility. It could either figure out the sequence from the TOC, or the sequence could be hard coded into the script (a lot less elegant, but easier). Then it would have to load the worksheets, print them using Worksheet.printall, then close the worksheets. Definitely doable, but a fair amount of work to write it.

P
ptc-13461801-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
February 16, 2013

Wow, that's intense. I'd imagine someone has already solved this. Does anyone want to share such a script?

T
tietjee15-Moonstone
15-Moonstone
February 16, 2013

i agree that it is nearly impossible to print an ebook. my only comment would be, if you are planning to use the ebook with prime. my understanding is prime will not support ebooks. hopefully it will be added. i found it a good method to document large reports. the down side is presentation outside of engineering. program manager, atleast in our office, do not have mathcad nor the skills to use the program.

let me know if you do find a simple solution.

regards,

H
HarveyHensley12-Amethyst
12-Amethyst
February 16, 2013

Carl,

I think Werner's suggestion regarding using a pdf file is good and much easier than the script approach. If you have multiple Mathcad files in the book, just make them into multiple pdf files which is easy to do. Then zip them together. Provide the link to the zip file. When the user extracts all of the files, he/she can select all of them, right click, then print. All of the files will be printed in the order listed in the folder. If you name the files alphabetically, then they will print in the right order.

W
Werner_E25-Diamond I
25-Diamond I
February 16, 2013

Harvey Hensley schrieb:

Carl,

I think Werner's suggestion regarding using a pdf file is good and much easier than the script approach. If you have multiple Mathcad files in the book, just make them into multiple pdf files which is easy to do. Then zip them together. Provide the link to the zip file. When the user extracts all of the files, he/she can select all of them, right click, then print. All of the files will be printed in the order listed in the folder. If you name the files alphabetically, then they will print in the right order.

With most pdf-creators (the freeware PDF Creator at http://www.pdfforge.org comes to mind) you can collect a bunch of print jobs and combine them into a single pdf-file. No need to create a crowd of single files. I'm not sure if this would be an options for Carl.

One drawback with a scripted solution using Worksheet.printall could be, that the output is sent immediatly to the standard printer. I don't know if it would be possible to prepend a printer selection dialog the selection of which is then used automatically for all automatic printouts.

H
HarveyHensley12-Amethyst
12-Amethyst
February 16, 2013

Werner Exinger wrote:

With most pdf-creators you can collect a bunch of print jobs and combine them into a single pdf-file. No need to create a crowd of single files.

I guess I would have to upgrade to a better pdf creator. My CuteWriter (free version) doesn't appear to have that capability, but it looks like the Pro version might.

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ptc-13461801-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
February 21, 2013

I thank everyone who have contributed to the discussion. It's interesting that such a thing is not possible. What about convering the entire e-book to HTML somehow and then printing using a browser? This would not be ideal but it could work correct?

W
Werner_E25-Diamond I
25-Diamond I
February 21, 2013

Carl Moller schrieb:

I thank everyone who have contributed to the discussion. It's interesting that such a thing is not possible. What about convering the entire e-book to HTML somehow and then printing using a browser? This would not be ideal but it could work correct?

What would be the benefit compared to a pdf?

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