GS1 DataMatrix

rbuser

Hi,

We are using ReportBuilder for paper-based reports in an application
which deals with GS1 coding, and currently using NiceLabel for printing
to labels.

We would like to drop NiceLabel, and utilise ReportBuilder for our
labels too, because we can store templates in the database for RB, but
not for NiceLabel, and RB is embedded into our application so requires
no external resources installing and loading, amongst other reasons.

However - we need to be able to continue printing a valid GS1
DataMatrix, which includes the Function 1 - at the beginning, and after
variable-length fields, for example.

The NiceLabel implementation allows you to build GS1 codes, and includes
a list of all of the Application Identifiers - this knows which one is
variable-length, and includes the Function 1 character as necessary
based on the combination of AIs pieced together.

This does make the use of GS1-128 very simple in NiceLabel.

With GS1 being used more and more, do you have any plans to implement
better support for GS1 barcodes?


Thanks

Garry

nicocizik

Hi Garry,

Thanks for the feedback. As you have guessed, GS1 Datamatrix is
currently not supported in ReportBuilder due to the fact that it is not
possible to manually add the FNC1 codeword to the beginning of the data
string.

This is something we will consider researching and possibly adding for a
later release of the product.

rbuser

Hi,

I notice in the RB 18.0 release notes the following:

"New 2dBarcode DataMatrixSettings.EncodeType Manual ASCII option
- allows manually encoded barcodes such as GS1"

Does this mean that RB will now correctly interpret the FNC1 when placed
within the Data, both at the beginning, and after any variable-length
Application Identifiers?

Whilst maybe not quite as feature-rich as the configuration provided
within NiceLabel, we currently only utilise a couple of different GS1
barcode types, so manually piecing together the data to be encoded on a
per-report basis will be a one-off task... if RB will correctly
interpret the FNC1 control characters within the Data.


Thanks!

Garry



In article <566af26c$1@mail.>, support@digital-metaphors.com says...

nicocizik

Hi Garry,

Correct, for RB 18, setting the DatamatrixSettings.EncodeType to
etdmASCIIManual allows the user to insert raw Datamatrix codewords into
the data string directly.

For instance, according to the GS1 spec, the Datamatrix codeword for
FNC1 is 232. This means to add the FNC1 you would simply add the
character 232 before your data.

2DBarcode.Data := #232 + 'GS1 barcode data';

Before with etdmASCII encoding, the #232 would resolve to the ?
character. With etdmASCIIManual, it will directly add the Datamatrix
codeword 232, or FNC1 allowing for valid GS1.

rbuser

Hi Nico,

Thanks for your very quick response!

That's fantastic, and should allow us to centralise everything with
ReportBuilder - now to have a play with creating non-A4 sized reports
and sending them to label printers!!


Thanks.

Garry

In article <58516d29$1@mail.>, support@digital-metaphors.com says...