What's New in BarTender 7.75 - Seagull Scientific

W h i t e P a p e rWhat’s New inBarTender 7.75A Summary of New Featuresin Version 7.75

ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................3Oracle XML Label Request Support............................................................................3XML-based Label Printing Automation......................................................................3Modify Printer Code....................................................................................................3Action Lists ...........................................................................................................4VB Scripting..........................................................................................................4Enhanced Printer Code Template Support................................................................5Improved SAPScript-ITF Support ........................................................................5New Keyboard Terminal Support ........................................................................5Export Directly to Device .....................................................................................5New Advanced Data Sources.......................................................................................5Label Object String...............................................................................................5Printer Code Template Field................................................................................6Enhanced Label Object Features ................................................................................6Image Mirroring ..................................................................................................6New Fill Color for Objects ....................................................................................6Text Background Color........................................................................................7International Currency Validation ............................................................................7Prefix/Suffix Adjacent Text.........................................................................................8Japanese Postal Code Bar Code ..................................................................................8New Support for Informix Databases ........................................................................9New Command Line Option........................................................................................9Edition Changes ..........................................................................................................9Enhanced Basic Edition .......................................................................................9Key Integration Command Line Parameters areNow Only Available Only in Enterprise Editions...........................................10Page 2

IntroductionBarTender v7.75 now supports Oracle XML-based label integration, as well as offeringimproved SAP Script support. Also included are more powerful Printer Code Template options,support for additional data-entry keyboard terminals, new ways to share data between objects,new data sourcing features, a new bar code symbology, and a few minor features. Each item isdiscussed in detail below.Oracle XML Label Request SupportOracle Warehouse Management and Oracle Mobile Supply Chain are ERP applicationsincluded in Oracle's E-Business Suite. These applications generate XML-based “label requests,”which specify a label format name, label data, the number of label copies, a printer and aprint job name.Commander (part of the BarTender Enterprise package) can now detect and parse this OraclegeneratedXML, allowing BarTender to automatically load and print the requested label jobs.This also allows BarTender to easily be automated from Oracle web interfaces.For more details, please see the white paper “XML Integration with Oracle’s WMS and MSCA”,available at:http://www.seagullscientific.com/aspx/whitepapers.aspxXML-based Label Printing AutomationUsing the same integration support we developed for Oracle’s WMS and MSCA, any applicationcan automate label jobs by passing an XML file to Commander. The XML file can specify alabel format name, label data, the number of label copies, a printer and a print job name.Please see the “XML Integration with Oracle’s WMS and MSCA” white paper for more details.Modify Printer CodeThe new Printer Code Modifier feature gives users the ability to make automated changes tothe print code generated by a printer driver. There are two different BarTender functions thatcan use the Printer Code Modifier feature:• For Printing. Allows users to make “on-the-fly” changes to printer commands beforethey are sent to the printer. This makes it easier to take advantage of features in theprinter that may not yet be supported and to work-around driver or printer problemsPage 3

and/or shortcomings. This can allow users to get up and running quickly in situationswhere they might otherwise have to wait for updates to their software.• For Exporting Printer Code Templates. Provides much more powerful formattingof the output for a desired Print System. For example, this feature was used by Seagullto improve our SAPScript-ITF export feature and to add support for a variety of dataentrykeyboard terminals. Printer Code Modifier simplifies Printer Code Templatemaintenance by eliminating any need for manual edits to the exported printer code.The Printer Code Modifiers have two separate interfaces, the Action List for simple changesand Visual Basic Scripting for more advanced manipulation. Each is described below.Action ListsA list of simple actions, such as Searchand Replace, can be created and executedin sequence to automatically alter printercode before it is sent to the printer orlabel template file. One specializedapplication for which Action Lists can beuseful is the encoding of proprietary orspecialized character sets.VB ScriptingIf the desired modification is morecomplex than the Printer Code ModifierActions can perform, you can add VBscripting to the print code modificationprocess using the BarTender VB scriptassistant.Page 4

Enhanced Printer Code Template SupportThe Modify Printer Code feature (described above) has been used to improve our existingSAPScript-ITF support and add support for more data-entry keyboard terminals. In addition,users can export Printer Code Templates directly to a device, instead of having to export to afile first and then use a separate loader.Improved SAPScript-ITF SupportThe SAPScript-ITF print system has been updated to fully support SAP Script Release 4.6C.We’ve added support for limiting the length of lines in the ITF file and are handling certainspecial characters better.New Keyboard Terminal SupportSupport has been added for the TSC KU-007, TSC KP-100/200, and TEC KB75 data-entrykeyboard terminals.Export Directly to DeviceNow, when exporting a Printer Code Template that is intended to be stored on a printer or adata-entry keypad terminal, the code can be sent directly to the appropriate port (serial,parallel, USB, or TCP/IP) instead of first being sent to file. This eliminates the previouslyrequired step of manually transmitting the file to the port.New Advanced Data SourcesIn addition to the many data sources that BarTender supports, version 7.75 now allows labelobjects to read their data from other objects on the label. Also, printer code template fieldscan now be more easily assigned to objects on the label.Label Object StringBarTender has long supported the sharing of data between objects, but, until now, it has beenlimited to sharing the individual data fields that make up an object. Now it is possible to sharethe object’s entire data string with another object. This is especially useful for:• Printing in text form data that includes a check digit that was computed for a bar code.• Printing in text or bar code form the data encoded into an RFID tag.Page 5

Printer Code Template FieldWith the addition of Printer Code Template Fields to the selectabledata source options, it is easier than ever to design label formats thatwill have certain data supplied by a software or hardware productafter the printer code has been output by BarTender. This capabilityis taken advantage of when performing SAPScript integrations andwhen storing label formats in XML-ready Printers and Data-EntryKeyboard Terminals. The Printer Code Template Field option isnow included in the list of data sources and can be easily accessedfrom the Modify dialog or from the Toolbox.Printer Code Template Fields Shown in BarTender’s ToolboxEnhanced Label Object FeaturesImage MirroringWith BarTender 7.75 youcan now mirror-flip anindividual image on a label.New Fill Color forObjectsBoxes and Ellipses can nowhave a fill color distinct fromthe line color used to createthem.Page 6

Text Background ColorThe background for a text field can now be set to a specified color. This is useful for creating“highlight” effects, such as these:International Currency ValidationCurrency validation has been added as a datavalidation type. This now allows you to filter labeldata sources to limit the display and printing ofcharacters to being only numbers andinternational currency symbols (including thedifferent decimal separators).Page 7

Prefix/Suffix Adjacent TextNon-variable prefixes and suffixes can now beadded to an object’s substring data. Forexample, a numeric currency field of 5.95 canadd “$” as a prefix and (USD) as a suffix tocreate a text field of “$5.95 (USD)”.Prefix and Suffix Adjacent Text set using the Substring More Options DialogJapanese Postal Code Bar CodeBarTender 7.75 has added support for the Japanese 4-State Postal Code, used by the JapanesePost Office for automatic sorting of mail. (This is referred to as a “4-state” code because thebars are printed in four different lengths and positions. By comparison, the Postnet code usedby the US Mail service is a 2-state code.)Page 8

New Support for Informix DatabasesIBM Informix is now available as a data source for label objects.New Command Line OptionUsing the new command line parameter /PrintJobName, a user-specified name for a printjob can now be displayed in the print spooler instead of the default job name. This allowsmultiple jobs to be easily identified in the print spooler.Edition ChangesEnhanced Basic EditionBarTender 7.75 Basic Edition now includes the following features that were previously onlyavailable in the Professional or Enterprise Editions:• Automatic alphabetic or numeric serialization• 2D bar codes• Minimum/Maximum number of charactersPage 9

• Character validation (when prompting)• Prefix/Suffix strings for substrings• UCC/EAN AI Wizard for Code 128Key Integration Command Line Parameters areNow Only Available Only in Enterprise EditionsPrevious to BarTender 7.75, although a few command line parameter options were limited tothe Enterprise editions, most of the options were available in all BarTender editions. WithBarTender 7.75, many of the command line parameters that are used for automatingBarTender print jobs from within other software packages are now only supported by theEnterprise editions. The Professional edition of BarTender now supports only a very limitedsubset of the Command Line Interface, mainly to allow the specification of a number of printjob options when running BarTender from a Windows folder icon.The change of a large number of command line parameters into “Enterprise-only” featureshas been done to more clearly address and differentiate the separate marketing needs of eachedition. The Basic edition is intended for users with limited design requirements while theProfessional edition meets more advanced label design requirements. Both of these editionsare intended for users with no need for automation from other applications. For automatedprinting, the Enterprise edition is recommended, as it fully supports all of BarTender’savailable command line capabilities, as well as ActiveX Automation and Commander. Pleasesee BarTender’s help system for more details on using Command Lines.Page 10

Available Seagull White PapersGeneral White Papers• The Advantage of Drivers by Seagull• Choosing the Right BarTender Edition• What’s New in the Latest BarTenderIntegration White Papers• Integration Overview• Getting Started with ActiveX Automation Using C#• Getting Started with ActiveX Automation Using VB.NET• Getting Started with ActiveX Automation Using VB6• Commander• Commander Examples• Exporting Printer Code Templates• Using BarTender with Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame• XML Integration with Oracle’s WMS and MSCASAP Integration White Papers• SAP Integration Methods• Reading SAP IDocsMiscellaneous White Papers• BarTender Enterprise Licensing• Printing Foreign Text Using BarTender• BarTender Software Activation• Using BarTender’s Application Identifier Wizard• Optimizing Label Printing Performance• Status Monitor OverviewFor downloadable versions, visit:www.seagullscientific.com/aspx/whitepapers.aspxVersion: 2006-08-17 15:24 Copyright © 2006 Seagull Scientific, Incwww.seagullscientific.com