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Chapter 2 – Examples of preparation of different applications for barcode stickers
Table of Content
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - Examples of preparation of different applications for barcode stickers
1. Creating barcode stickers without variable data on a custom page size
Basic definitions:
Check the page size defined in your stickers’ printer. Verify that the stickers printer driver is properly defined for this page size.
Creating the document base and definitions
1.1 Click on File in the main menu, select New (or click on the New button in the toolbar).
1.2 Click on the objects tree on the left side and select the Document object ( 
).
In the properties window, under the “Page” tab (which is the default that opens), define the printing configuration (Custom size), mark the page orientation: Portrait, and define the requested sticker size (in our example 62 x 29 mm).
1.3 Click on the “Quantity” tab and set the quantity of stickers that you want to create (in our example, 20 stickers will be printed)
* It is always possible to come back here and change the quantity at a later stage
Adding a barcode to the document
2.1. Click on the Add Barcode 
button on the toolbar.
Then, mark a position on the work space by clicking anywhere on the page and drag the mouse pointer until creation of a suitable place for the image. (It is possible to change the position after inserting the image)
In the Add a new object dialog box that appeared, select the suitable Input object (default is Text). To print a barcode with a fixed text, leave it as it is.
In this example, the output object name is Output1, and the input object name is Input 1
2.2 Click on the objects on the left and select input1:
2.3. In the data window on the bottom left, type in the text that you want to present as a barcode.
2.4. Click on the objects on the left and select output1:
2.5 In the Properties window that appeared, select the barcode type that you want to use (coding) and if you want to display the text under the barcode or modify the barcode printing direction. It is possible to do this also in this screen.
The end result should be like this, and a number of identical sticker will be printed, according to the defined quantity.
2. Creating barcode stickers with running numbering
Basic definitions:
o Check the page size defined in your stickers’ printer. Verify that the stickers printer driver is properly defined for this page size.
o Repeat stage 1 of the previous chapter, in which you defined the page size and selected the stickers quantity.
Adding a barcode to the document
1.1. Click on the Add Barcode button on the toolbar.
Then, mark a position on the work space by clicking anywhere on the page and drag the mouse pointer until creation of a suitable place for the image. (It is possible to change the position after inserting the image)
In the Add a new object dialog box that appeared, select the suitable Input object (default is Text). To print a barcode with a running numbering, change the input object type to “Numbering”.
In this example, the output object name is Output1, and the input object name is Input 1
1.2 Click on the objects on the left and select input1: (Note that unlike the previous example, the input object icon this time Numbering and not Text.)
1.3. In the data window on the bottom left, you can select the Numbering parameters:
- Starting number
- Number of displayed digits
- Numbering steps (can be negative)
- And additional parameters for more advance definitions…
1.4. Click on the objects on the left and select output1:
1.5. In the Properties window that appeared, select the barcode type that you want to use (coding) and if you want to display the text under the barcode or modify the barcode printing direction. It is possible to do this also in this screen.
The end result should look like that, but unlike the previous example, different numbers will be printed on each sticker according to the defined quantity of stickers.
3. Creating barcode stickers with variable data from the Priority ERP
Basic definitions:
o Check the page size defined in your stickers’ printer. Verify that the stickers printer driver is properly defined for this page size.
o Create printing data into the “Work space for preparing stickers” of the Priority program. If you do not know how to do this, consult with your Priority application expert.
o Define the PRIXPR software with Priority and properly activate the xPress program. If you dont know how to do this, please refer in the manual to “Installing stickers printing from Priority to the xPress program”.
o Repeat stage 1 of the previous chapter, in which you defined the page size and selected the stickers quantity.
Defining a link to a data field of Priority
1.1 Select Tools from the main menu, and select Files manager. A new window will appear enabling you to create links and edit them.
1.2 Click on Add in the windows that appeared, type in “Param1” under Name, and under “Path” any example representing a real data that could appear in this field in Priority. For instance, if in the field Number 1 of the work space there is an internal supplier’s invoice number, you can type VND12345 – which is a possible value of this field. You can leave this field blank, but typing in an acceptable value will help you in the editing and design tasks.
Click on OK when done.
1.3 Repeat this as many time as necessary according to the fields you want to link to Priority. Click on OK when done.
Adding a barcode to the document
2.1. Click on the Add Barcode button on the toolbar.
Then, mark a position on the work space by clicking anywhere on the page and drag the mouse pointer until creation of a suitable place for the image. (It is possible to change the position after inserting the image)
In the Add a new object dialog box that appeared, select the suitable Input object (default is Text). To print a barcode which source is a Priority field, change the input object type to “File”.
In this example, the output object name is Output1, and the input object name is Input 1
Linking a parameter to a data field
3.1 Click on the objects on the left and select input1:
(Note that unlike the previous example, the input object icon this time File and not Text.)
3.2. In the ‘Data’ window that appeared, mark the “File Manager” checkbox and select the parameter to which the data field will be linkedparameters for more advance definitions…
Now you can edit the output object (as shown in the previous chapter) to display bottom text and change its parameters.
The end result should look like that, but unlike the previous example, the number that will be printed is the one entered as an example when creating the ‘Param’ field in the file manager.
Note! Repeat the task of creating Output and Input objects and linking them to parameters of the file manager for each object you want to display on the page. Now, save the design you created and give it a name, for instance VEND.XPR Define usage of this template in the PRIXPR program and in Priority and print the stickers from Priority.
The sticker should be printed according to the design you created, but now, instead of the example parameter typed in during the design, the real data from Priority will appear.
The data flow of this process is as follows:
A Priority field → is flowed to a specific column of the work space to create stickers from Priority → is then flowed to a parameter of the File manager → linked to an Input field of xPress → displayed according to the Output field design.
4. Creating barcode stickers with variable data from an SQL database
Basic definitions:
o Check the page size defined in your stickers’ printer. Verify that the stickers printer driver is properly defined for this page size.
Creating the document base and definitions
1.1 Click on File in the main menu, select New (or click on the New button in the toolbar).
1.2 Click on the objects tree on the left side and select the Document object ( ).
In the properties window, under the “Page” tab (which is the default that opens), define the printing configuration (Custom size), mark the page orientation: Portrait, and define the requested sticker size (in our example 62 x 29 mm)
There is no need to define the number of pages in the document. We will set it later according to the results of the query that will be defined. The quantity will be defined automatically
Defining an ODBC link
2.1 Select Tools from the main menu, and select ODBC links.
2.2 In the window that appears, click on the <…> button. A list of ODBC links from your computer will appear. If the link to the database does not exist, create it. If it does, select it from the list.
2.3 In our example, we will use an ODBC link from an Microsoft SQL database on which the Priority system is installed, but ODBC links to any type of database can be used
2.4 In the database of our example, you have to enter a username and password. If your ODBC link does not require Username and Password (for instance a link to a Microsoft Access database), you will not be requested to type them in.
2.5 After filling in the fields, if they appeared, approve by clicking OK. You may also manually type in the Username and Password or modify them later on.
Adding a barcode to the document
3.1. Click on the Add Barcode button on the toolbar.
Then, mark a position on the work space by clicking anywhere on the page and drag the mouse pointer until creation of a suitable place for the image. (It is possible to change the position after inserting the image)
In the Add a new object dialog box that appeared, select the suitable Input object Database, to print a barcode with a variable text
In this example, the output object name is Output1, and the input object name is Input 1
3.2 Click on the objects on the left and select input1:
3.3. In the data window on the bottom left, click on the “Advanced” button. Note that the DSN name is <Use Default> which means that this Input Object will perform the link according to the default defined in the previous step. This can be modified and you can define a different ODBC link for each object separately, if needed.
3.4. You can now define the SQL query that will revert the requested data to be fed in the barcode. In this example we define a query that fetches the invoice numbers of Summary type invoices which are a final document and dated 01/01/2018. Obviously, this is a specific query for the database that we use and each database and ERP system requires a different query definition.
SELECT IVNUM FROM INVOICES
WHERE IVDATE > DATEDIFF(minute, ‘19880101’, ‘20180101’)
AND FINAL = ‘Y’
AND TYPE = ‘Y’
ORDER BY IV
After definition of the query, click on OK.
3.5 Click on the objects on the left and select output1:
3.6 In the Properties window that appeared, select the barcode type that you want to use (coding) and if you want to display the text under the barcode or modify the barcode printing direction. It is possible to do this also in this screen.
Setting the page quantity
4.1 Click on the objects tree and select the Main Document again
4.2 Click on the “Quantity” tab and change the selection to “According to ODBC”
Then select the Input Object that will set the number of pages according to the quantity of line returned by the query.
The end result should be like this, and a number of stickers will be printed, according to the query result.
