PROW( )

Topic group Related topics

Returns the printing row position of a printer. Row numbers begin at 0.

Syntax

PROW( )

Description

Use PROW( ) to determine the vertical printing position of a printer—that is, the row at which the printer is set to begin printing. Use PROW( ) in mathematical statements to direct the printer to begin printing at a position relative to its current row position. For example, PROW( ) + 5 represents a position five rows below the current position and PROW( ) – 5 represents a position five rows above the current position.

When you direct output to the printer, dBASE Plus maps each character according to the coordinate plane, a two-dimensional grid. The coordinate plane is divided into character cells whose widths depend on the value of _ppitch. See the table in the description of _ppitch, which lists _ppitch values. The height of each character cell is determined by the size of the font of the parent form window.

If you're printing with a proportional font, you can add and subtract fractional numbers to and from the PROW( ) value to move the printing position accurately. If you issue ? without the STYLE option and use only integer coordinates, dBASE Plus uses the default printer font (typically Courier or another monospaced font).

SET PRINTER must be ON for PROW( ) to return a row position; otherwise, it returns 0.