PRINT, document directly from the app

[ns_soft_studio1]

It would be real nice to have an option to print the document directly from the app, and not to open a file in google drive and then finding that document and so on.
Like action button print this page, or ctrl+P on PC, something like that, that would generate document directly for printing, from the template that we pre made for that type of document.

[Aleksi]

The closest what you can do… create an action button and you can trigger the Workflow rule. That will save the pdf into your gDrive. Save the URL link for that pdf into your table… then you can create another action button and you can open that pdf for printing.

[ns_soft_studio1]

Tnx for the update, its sounds a bit complicated to make, and we are not even sure how to make that.
So if you have some spare time it would be nice to explane that to us, if its not to much to ask.

Is there in the future some solution that appsheet is preparing for the users, that would be easier.

[Aleksi]

Please check the sample app “Parent Workflow” from www.appsheet.com/portfolio/531778. It doesn’t have action buttons but it shows you how you can open the pdf directly from the app. Create a new parent record (with child records) and then click the file link. You need to wait probably 30…60 seconds before the pdf is generated.

[PocketSurvey]

Yes I’ve done this and it works quite well.

Apart from one big issue. Although the report on the Google Drive is always the latest, the action button somehow uses a cached version which can last for days!

So from an end user perspective it’s totally unworkable, because they will never get the latest version of the report at the time they produce it.

[Austin]

Zapier is a possible solution that might be able to literally print the document for you. Also if you change the file names for each report created and dynamically grab it it should not pull a cached version.

[PocketSurvey]

Yes. I’m going to Zapier next.

Problem with changing the names of the files each time is that that I’m going to get a huge build up files. Which for hundreds of uses and hundreds of reports will build up massively

[Austin]

Maybe make a repeating file name style that would limit it to say 100 files. have file-1, next time file-2 etc and at file-100 you go back to file-1. Should eliminate the cache by the time you reach the start again.

[blobuesky]

I definitely support this capability.

The use case is a driver picking up supplies and printing out a pick-up note via Bluetooth thermal printer to leave with the supplier. Ideally, there would be an action button to send a pre-formatted document (e.g., pdf) to the printer. The suggested workaround would not work in this situation, especially in the rural areas where network connection is spotty (i.e., no option to use an API or send an email to an internet-enabled printer). Even if everything were able to be networked, this type of workaround takes about 30 seconds to actually initiate the print (according to other community posts). That’s a lot of time to twiddle thumbs while waiting to move on to the next pick-up point.

[W101]

@blobluesky
Did you ever solve this one? I am trying to develop a solution to very similar problem - pick up notes in areas without network connectivity

[blobuesky]

@W101 No luck yet. Right now we’re trying a workaround that uses a screenshot sent to the bluetooth printer. A little too much duct tape for my liking, and only works if the document fits on one screen.

The other option is to export to CSV and have a sister app that prints from CSV to the BT printer. Gives us option for longer documents and better print quality, but I’m not sure that the CSV export will work yet. Talking to someone next week about it.

[fsandovalsk]

Android RawBT does a great job. I print sheets directly to it. It also expands or contracts the printout to best fit the 58mm width. Good options when printing directly. They are working on an API.

[Rifad]

PocketSurvey:

So from an end user perspective it’s totally unworkable, because they will never get the latest version of the report at the time they produce it.

That’s totally wrong. You can control the version of PDF either manually or automatically on edit. So each time you update the row the document can be generated and file name is updated automatically to V1,V2,V3…

When I do manually I will have an action button to generate the file manually.

I usually does something like this.

File name will look like this.

All the file generated will have a document history like this

Here is how document control will look in spreadsheet

[PocketSurvey]

Yes, I do indeed use a incrementing counter to overcome the issue of caching

The point is that there is a huge build up of files taking up disk space that is no longer free on Google Drive is you use versioning of some sort. It simply should not be needed.

Caching should ALWAYS take into account file changes, CRC , and data stamps and therefore should NEVER return an out of date cached version. THIS IS HOW CACHING SHOULD WORK FULL STOP… NO EXCUSES!

When writing a new file of the same name the cache should be updated. Accuracy is more important than speed.

[Rifad]

Open File/Image with external browser without looking up cache Here is another way we can do it. Super helpful @tsuji_koichi

[Eduard_Fonse]

same