Barcode Printing Method
Good Afternoon,
We use Report Builder to generate receipts with a barcode on them. They are read using a Cash Dispenser machine. Some of the machines are not reading the barcodes correctly. We think it's probably either a printer issue or a barcode scanner issue. But we wanted to learn more about the way report builder generates barcodes.
What we would like to know:
What method do you use to generate barcodes for the reports?
What format do those barcodes end up in?
Are they an image format?
Do they write as Barcode characters directly to the printer?
If it's an image, what image format does it use? (png, jpg, bmp, etc)
We use Report Builder to generate receipts with a barcode on them. They are read using a Cash Dispenser machine. Some of the machines are not reading the barcodes correctly. We think it's probably either a printer issue or a barcode scanner issue. But we wanted to learn more about the way report builder generates barcodes.
What we would like to know:
What method do you use to generate barcodes for the reports?
What format do those barcodes end up in?
Are they an image format?
Do they write as Barcode characters directly to the printer?
If it's an image, what image format does it use? (png, jpg, bmp, etc)
Comments
ReportBuilder renders all barcodes as Metafiles. This ensures the highest quality output for the given device regardless the scale or zoom level. These metafiles are not converted before printing so they are drawn directly to the printer.
The metafile canvas is created with the default printer device context meaning that its resolution is used for measuring each bar/module. If your default printer is set to a low resolution, this could affect the output, especially for smaller barcodes.
See the TppDrawBarCode.AsMetaFile routine located in the ppBarCodDrwCmd.pas file for the rendering code.
Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com