add a delay to VB that automatically prints PDF's

[Jon_T]

Operating system::    Windows 11
Outlook version:     Outlook 2021 64bit
Email type or host:    IMAP

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Hello All

I have the following script running to automatically print PDF attachments

Public Sub PrintPDFAttachments(Item As Outlook.MailItem)
Dim Atmt As Attachment
Dim FileName As String
Dim TempFolder As String
Dim objShell As Object

' Set a temporary directory (ensure this path exists or use Environ)
TempFolder = Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Documents\TempPrint\"
If Dir(TempFolder, vbDirectory) = "" Then MkDir TempFolder

For Each Atmt In Item.Attachments
' Only process PDF files
If LCase(Right(Atmt.FileName, 4)) = ".pdf" Then
FileName = TempFolder & Atmt.FileName
Atmt.SaveAsFile FileName

' Use ShellExecute to print to default printer
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
objShell.NameSpace(0).ParseName(FileName).InvokeVerbEx ("print")
End If
Next Atmt
End Sub

I'm seeing some corrution in the characters when PDF are printed (ascii charaters instead of text). Having changed all the hardware including the PC and the printer I'm wondering if the PC is trying to print too many PDF's at the same time. This is used on the main invoice processing PC and they get a lot of invoices that arrive at the same time from various suppliers.

What command(s) can I use please that will force the VB script to print 1 attachment and then wait 3 seconds before printing the next

Thank you in advance!

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Outlook VBA doesn't have a built-in timer - you either need to use a loop or use an Excel function to delay it.

Some ideas are here:

Outlook VBA Macros - VBOffice

More than 100 free macros and code samples for vba programmers and beginners.

www.vboffice.net

 

[Hornblower409]

I'm wondering if the PC is trying to print too many PDF's at the same time.

What command(s) can I use please that will force the VB script to print 1 attachment and then wait 3 seconds before printing the next

Since you are calling Shell.Application to do the Print, and it just executes the program defined as the file type's Print shell command (e.g. Adobe) to do the actual printing, I think you might want to first check that the problem isn't with the program actually doing the printing. If you save one of the attachments, use the default Open on it, and Print from that program, do you still see the corruption?

As Diane noted, there is no native Outlook VBA Sleep command. But I use the kernel32 Sleep to good effect.
Pause Code Execution - VBOffice
You will want to use the PtrSafe attribute to make sure your code is 64 bit clean. e.g.

Public Declare PtrSafe Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)      ' Windows Sleep DLL Call

 

[Jon_T]

Since you are calling Shell.Application to do the Print, and it just executes the program defined as the file type's Print shell command (e.g. Adobe) to do the actual printing, I think you might want to first check that the problem isn't with the program actually doing the printing. If you save one of the attachments, use the default Open on it, and Print from that program, do you still see the corruption?

If I save and print the attachments manually then they print fine for now I've added a loop at the bottom of the script as I couldn't get the sleep function to work :-(

Code now looks like ths:
Public Sub PrintPDFAttachments(Item As Outlook.MailItem)
Dim Atmt As Attachment
Dim FileName As String
Dim TempFolder As String
Dim objShell As Object

' Set a temporary directory (ensure this path exists or use Environ)
TempFolder = Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Documents\TempPrint\"
If Dir(TempFolder, vbDirectory) = "" Then MkDir TempFolder

For Each Atmt In Item.Attachments
' Only process PDF files
If LCase(Right(Atmt.FileName, 4)) = ".pdf" Then
FileName = TempFolder & Atmt.FileName
Atmt.SaveAsFile FileName

' Use ShellExecute to print to default printer
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
objShell.NameSpace(0).ParseName(FileName).InvokeVerbEx ("print")
End If
Next Atmt
Dim dteWait
dteWait = DateAdd("s", 6, Now())
Do Until (Now() > dteWait)
Loop

End Sub

I'm not VB expert but it does seem to be putting a delay into the printing

 

[Hornblower409]

All I might suggest is that you add a Do Events in your timing loop. This helps keep Outlook from hogging the CPU.

Do Until (Now() > dteWait)
    DoEvents
Loop

DoEvents function (Visual Basic for Applications)

 

[christinejohn999]

You can add a short delay after invoking the print command by using <span>Application.Wait</span> or, more reliably in VBA, the Windows <span>Sleep</span> API. However, there is one important point: <span>InvokeVerbEx("print")</span> generally hands the PDF off to the associated PDF application and does not necessarily wait until the document has actually finished printing.

For a simple 3-second delay, you can declare <span>Sleep</span> and add it immediately after the print command:

<span>' At the top of the module<br>#If VBA7 Then<br> Private Declare PtrSafe Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As LongPtr)<br>#Else<br> Private Declare Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)<br>#End If</span>
Then:

<span>objShell.NameSpace(0).ParseName(FileName).InvokeVerbEx ("print")<br>Sleep 3000</span>
This will wait approximately three seconds before the loop processes the next PDF.

If the PDFs are arriving in batches, I would also consider increasing the delay or, better yet, implementing a proper print queue so the next file isn't submitted until the previous print job has been handed off successfully. A fixed three-second delay may help with printer/application overload, but it doesn't guarantee that the previous PDF has completely finished printing.