Fieldset printing problem

[rd]

Has anyone else noticed a problem when printing html with fieldsets in
them? Whenever I print even the simplest document with a fieldset, the
amount of data sent to the printer jumps from a few K without a
fieldset to almost 50 Megs. This seems to only be noticeable in IE,
but I can replicate every time.

Example:
(70 megs sent to printer)

<form>
<fieldset>
<legend>Test</legend>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
</fieldset>
</form>

Example:
(15k sent to printer)
<form>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
Test<br>
</form>

Anyone have any ideas, this is crazy!
Thanks,
-rd

[Jukka K. Korpela]

f_****@hotmail.com (rd) wrote:

Whenever I print even the simplest document with a fieldset, the
amount of data sent to the printer jumps from a few K without a
fieldset to almost 50 Megs.

This made me really worried (particularly since I recommend using
fieldset). But when I tested it, using "print to file" function, I get
just about 14 Kbytes when fieldset is used, about 12Kbytes when it is
not used. So I suspect it's something in your printer, or your CSS, or
maybe even your HTML. Have you checked the syntax of your HTML and CSS?

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html

[Jacqui or (maybe) Pete]

In article <ff*************************@posting.google.com> ,
f_****@hotmail.com says...

"Jukka K. Korpela" <jk******@cs.tut.fi> wrote in message news:<Xn***************************@193.229.0.31>. ..

f_****@hotmail.com (rd) wrote:

Whenever I print even the simplest document with a fieldset, the
amount of data sent to the printer jumps from a few K without a
fieldset to almost 50 Megs.
This made me really worried (particularly since I recommend using
fieldset). But when I tested it, using "print to file" function, I get
just about 14 Kbytes when fieldset is used, about 12Kbytes when it is

.... Anyone else have a problem, or did I get some rogue version of
internet explorer (6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.030422-1633). I guess it could
have something to do with my printer as well.

I get 5Mb - WinXP/IE6/HP880C/print quality 'normal'/pictures 300x300.

Doesn't happen if I print to a file, only if I check the print queue.

Example page: http://porjes.haxorz.org/bigprint.html

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Jacqui or (maybe) Pete <po****@spamcop.net> wrote:

I get 5Mb - WinXP/IE6/HP880C/print quality 'normal'/pictures
300x300.

Doesn't happen if I print to a file, only if I check the print
queue.

This is getting very strange indeed. I get only 17.2 kB in the print
queue, using Win98/IE6/HP LaserJet 1000/Best quality, testing with your
document.

I wonder what happens on your systems if you set
fieldset { border: none; }
I suspect the problems might relate to the border, which is a somewhat
odd bird - it's different from normal borders in the CSS sense (it has
a hole where the legend appears) but CSS border properties affect it.

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html

[Jacqui or (maybe) Pete]

In article <Xn*****************************@193.229.0.31>,
jk******@cs.tut.fi says...

Jacqui or (maybe) Pete <po****@spamcop.net> wrote:

I get 5Mb - WinXP/IE6/HP880C/print quality 'normal'/pictures
300x300.

Doesn't happen if I print to a file, only if I check the print
queue.

This is getting very strange indeed. I get only 17.2 kB in the print
queue, using Win98/IE6/HP LaserJet 1000/Best quality, testing with your
document.

I wonder what happens on your systems if you set
fieldset { border: none; }

....

Yes, 'border:none' solves the problem, as does eg 'border: solid 1px
silver;' so it seems that IE6 is printing its pretty rounded border
thing as an image?

Anyway, it seems that the best solution is something like:

border: solid 1px silver;
padding: 5px;

http://porjes.haxorz.org/bigprint2.html

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Jacqui or (maybe) Pete <po****@spamcop.net> wrote:

Yes, 'border:none' solves the problem, as does eg 'border: solid 1px
silver;' so it seems that IE6 is printing its pretty rounded border
thing as an image?

I just realized that we might see different things. On my IE 6, the
default rendering (no style sheet whatsoever) of a fieldset element has
no _rounded_ border. It's a normal _rectangular_ border (no rounding
in the corners), except that the legend element (if present and
nonempty) appears in place of a segment of the border.

My next guess is that you are using a version of IE that by default
produces a different, rounded border, using some technique that causes
the printing problem.

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Pages about Web authoring: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www.html