Datamax 123 Print v1.1x User Manual

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Visualize · Mobilize · Realize MCL-Collection

123 Print v1.1x

User Manual

Visualize…printers with intelligence

Realize…123 Print

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i. Preface

Background

123 Print is developed by MCL Technologies to bring intelligence to Datamax printers.

123 Print v1.1x User Manual

DATAMAX is a registered trademark of Datamax Bar Code Products

Corporation. Seagull and BarTender are trademarks or registered

trademarks of Seagull Scientific, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows XP,

Windows 2000, and Windows 98 are trademarks or registered

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All specifications, terms and descr iptions of products and services are subject to change without notice or recourse.

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1. Primer

Overview

Document

introduction

Chapter 1

introduction

Topics This chapter covers the following topics:

Chapter 1 : Primer

This document is a User Guide for 123 Print V1.x. It is divided into several chapters to give you a thorough understanding of the use of 123 Print.

Chapter 1 – Primer Chapter 2 – Getting Started Chapter 3 – Creating a Project Chapter 4 – Designing a Label Chapter 5 – Using Processes Chapter 6 – Simulating Your Project Chapter 7 – Deploying a Printer Project

Accompanying appendices provide supplementary information.

This chapter is a Primer that explains the basic concepts of 123 Print and introduces you to its purpose and the philosophy behind it.

The goal of this Primer is to give you an understanding of the:

General capabilities of 123 Print Kinds of labels you can print using 123 Print General project flow behind the creation of static and dynamic

labels

Topic Page

1.1.

1.2

1.3

123 Print Purpose The purpose of 123 Print is to help you create and deploy simple

printing applications for your Datamax Printers. 123 Print manages one printer at a time. Compatible with Seagull’s BarTender V7.72 and above, it also allows you to easily create a nd integrate new printer labels into your application.

What is 123 Print Sample Labels Project Flow

6 7 9

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Chapter 1 : Primer

1.1. What is 123 Print

General introduction This section gives an overview of 123 Print, its purpose and its benefits.

123 Print 123 Print is a design environment to create simple, stand-alone

Purpose The purpose of 123 Print is to:

Benefits 123 Print:

applications that run on Datamax printers. 123 Print is an all-in-one product for:

Label design through integration with Seagull Scientific’s BarTender Data capture design Application simulation and debugging Application deployment to drive the printing process

123 Print lets you create printer applications that can initiate an interactive screen dialogue with the user. This allows the user to input variable data that is then merged with the labels you print.

123 Print is integrated with Seagull’s BarTender for easy addition of multiple BarTender labels into your printer application.

Note: If you are interested in connectivity with host systems or database access to BackOffice or ERP systems from your printer application, consider using MCL-Designer for Datamax printers. As a component of MCL-Collection, MCL-Designer allows you create printer applications with easy host integration.

Make your Datamax printers intelligent Quickly and easily create simple applications to run on your

Datamax printers

Provide a full application creation environment including label

design through integration with Seagull’s BarTender

Intelligence is in the printer thereby eliminating the need for an

intermediate PC application server to create and send labels to your printers.

Inputs from barcode scanners, weight scales, etc. are handled

directly on the printer.

Variable input data from, for example, barcode scanners can be

inserted into labels and printed directly from the printer.

Integration with BarTender means you can quickly create new

labels or import existing BarTender labels into 123 Print for use with your 123 Print projects.

Multi-purpose, multi-label projects for your Datamax pr inters with

up to 50 screens per selected label.

Ability to create friendly printer user interfaces easily.

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Chapter 1 : Primer

1.2. Sample Labels

General introduction This section shows some sample labels to give you an idea of the

Sample labels The sample labels shown here were designed using Seagull’ s

kinds of labels you can print using 123 Print projects on Datamax printers.

BarTender label creation software. 123 Print provides the capability to associate and print variable data

on labels. Consider the sample labels shown below. The labels on the left are

templates that would be saved on your printer with your 123 Print project. The labels on the right show the actua l label that will come off the printer after the 123 Print project inserts the variable data into the template and initiate s a print of the completed label.

Your 123 Print project can receive variable data from many sources—barcode scanner input, weight scale input, user keyboard input, lookup files, etc.

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Chapter 1 : Primer

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Chapter 1 : Primer

1.3. Project Flow

General introduction 123 Print structures your project flow using a combination of screens

User Interface Every 123 Print project follows a pre-defined screen flow. You configure

and processes that you create via 123 Print’s User Interface and Labels.

This section gives a high level view of the flow and interrelation ship between the screens that are created via the User I nterface and those created via Labels.

With User Interface, you can print any static label you want. With Labels, you can change a static label into a dynamic label by

merging in variable data from data collection, user screen prompts, and processing logic.

Please reference Section for detailed information about these functions.

these screens through the User Interface function. This is the only screen flow function you need if you want to print static labels.

This core flow is depicted here.

3.2 – User Interface and Section 3.3 – Labels

Your Project Name

Ver 1.00

1

Select Label:

2

3

Qty to Print:

The first screen 1 is a Welcome screen.

The second screen is the Select Label screen.

The third screen 3 is the Quantity to Print screen.

These screens are displayed in a black font on the Datamax printers. When your 123 Print project is run on the printer, it first displays the

Welcome screen. It then goes into a lo o p alternating display between the Select Label screen and the Quantity to Print screen.

Your application will loop infinitely between the second and third screens until you press the Menu (ESC) button on the front panel of the Datamax printer.

As you design your project in 123 Print, you have the option to customize the Welcome screen. By default 123 Print proposes your project name for the Welcome screen.

You then add the labels you want to be able to print from your project. When your project is run, this list of labels is presented on screen (2).

The user presses the Fwd ↑ and Rev ↓ buttons on the printer’s front panel to scroll through the list of available labels and, by pressing the Ent ↵ button, selects the label that is required for a given operation.

Here is an example of what screen (2) might look like on a printer when the fourth label in your project is a label f or pallets:

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Chapter 1 : Primer

Select Label:004

▼▲

Pallet Label

2

In this case, the third screen will look like the scr een below. Notice that

the label name, Pallet Label, from screen (2) has au tomatically been displayed on the first line of screen (3).

Pallet Label Qty to Print:1..

The user presses the Fwd ↑ and Rev ↓ buttons on the printer’s front panel to increment or decrement the quantity of the label to be printed. The user then presses the Ent ↵ button on the printer’s front panel to initiate the printing. The label is printed in the quantity specified. The project then loops back to display screen (2) again. The user can select the same label for printing again, or may select a different label to print.

This is useful in pallet building, for example. You may want to print many item labels. Then, when all the items on the pallet have been labeled, you can print a label for the e ntire pallet. In this case, the user selects the item label many times and then finally selects the pallet label once. The user then returns to printing item labels for the next pallet build.

A fourth standard screen of the 123 Print application logic but rather is displayed by the Datamax

printer whenever a print error occurs after The default print error screen is as shown here

4

, a Print Error screen, exists. It is not part

3

above has been initiated.

3

▼▲

Print Error

4

Exit Retry

This message will be displayed, for example, if the label roll is out of

labels. The User Interface function allows you to customize this error message.

Labels If you are only concerned with static labels, you only need to use the

Labels function to identify the static labels you want to include in your project.

If, however, you want to create dynamic labels, you will want to take advantage of the full capabilities provided in the Labels function.

The flow described above under User Interface is not sufficient to include variable data on the label. Consider an item label, for example. You want to print an item label with an item barcode, an item description, and an item weight. However, you do not know in advance which item, the item description, or the item weight (fruit, meat, etc.) for the label to be printed. You want to collect this information and merge it with your label format at the moment you print the label.

123 Print allows you to design this capability into your project. It allows you to create a series of screens for user interaction, and implement a series of processes for data manipulation or peripheral communications. Since each label may involve a different set of variable data, these screens and processes are associated with the given label in what is called a label program.

Using the Labels function, you can design a series of screens and processes to collect data that you then merge as variables into the label to be printed.

The following diagram depicts the relationship between User Interfa ce created screens and flow, and Labels created screens and flow.

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Chapter 1 : Primer

User Interface:

Core screen flow

Select Label:003 Item Label

Item Label Qty to Print:1..

▼▲

Labels:

Label program

2

Enter Item Code _____________

Process:

Get Item Descripti on

from Lookup File

Item on Scale? Y/N _

Process:

Weigh Item

Map variables into

label format

3

C

Item Code

A

D

Item

X

Description

B

E

Item’s Weight

Y

Z

Label printed

with item

code, item description and weight

merged in

User Interface:

 The left-hand side of the diagram shows the core flow created

by User Interface. User input is required on screens

Labels:

 The right-hand side of the diagram shows the flow of a label

program to capture the variable data needed to complete the item label selected at

 User input is required on screens at  The item code entered in  A process at

X

is used to browse through a lookup file to get

the item description for the item code entered in

 The item description is saved in a variable at  When the user indicates at

weighed, a process at save the item’s weight in a variable at

 Label Mapping is used at

C

in

, D and E with the label format for the item label

 The variable label information is then passed back to the User

Interface function at

User Interface and Labels relationship:

 The selection of the item label at

program depicted on the right-hand side of the diagram

 When the label program is finished, it passes control back to

the User Interface at

A

and B

A

is saved in a variable at C

A

D

B

that the item is ready to be

Y

is used to read the weight scale and

E

Z

to merge the variable data saved

3

for printing

starts the related label

3

to print the label

and 3

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2. Getting Started

Overview

Chapter 2

introduction

Topics This chapter covers the following topics:

This chapter describes the installation and setup of 123 Print.

Topic Page

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

2.1.

2.2

2.3

Installation Activation General Setup

2.3.1 DPL Connection

2.3.2 MCL Connection

2.3.3 Local Settings

2.3.4 Others

13 17 25

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2.1. Installation

General introduction This section describes how to install 123 Print.

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

Installation

1 Double-click on the 123 Print installation executable which you

have downloaded. The default folder in which 123 Print is installed is C:\123Print

A welcome screen is displayed as shown below

2 Click Next to proceed with the installation

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

An end-user license agreement is displayed as shown below

To accept the license terms and proceed

3 Click Yes

As shown below, a screen is displayed prompting you to enter the location where you want to install 123 Print.

4 Click Next to use the default folder for your installation, or 5 Edit the entry or browse for the folder where you want to install

123 Print

6 Click Next

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As shown below, a screen is displayed to show you the progress of the installation

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

The following is displayed when installation is completed

7 Click Finish

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Starting 123 Print Once 123 Print is installed, start it by:

1 Double click on the 123 Print shortcut icon on the Windows

desktop

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

The 123 Print splash screen is superimposed on the 123 Print environment

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

2.2. Activation

General introduction This section describes the activation process for 123 Print.

During the activation process you will be prompted to choose between a Software Activation and a Hardware Activation for your 123 Print license. Be sure to understand the benefits of each method and the consequences of choosing one method over the other.

Be sure to make your choice carefully. The activation method you choose cannot be changed at a later stage.

Activation The first time you run 123 Print, you will be prompted to Activate the

software. To do this, you will need to have the License Certif icate ready which you have received, by email, when you ordered 123 Print.

1 Get out your 123 Print License Certificate. Please see Appendix A

for a sample certificate.

2 Click Next to begin the Activation Process.

Note: No activation is requir ed to run the software in demo mode.

However, 123 Print has reduced capabilities when it is run in demo mode. For example, you cannot download a project or execute a script.

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

3 Enter the License Number found on your License Certificate

4 Click Next

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End-user license

agreement

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

MCL’s End-User License Agreement is displayed as shown below. Before

proceeding, you must read and accept these license terms.

5 Read and scroll down to the bottom of the terms 6 Check the checkbox to accept the license terms 7 Click Next

The 123 Print software registration form is displayed

8 Enter the details of the company to whom the License should be

registered

9 Click Next

Note: Only Organisation and Country are compulsory fields. However, the more details you provide, the easier it will be for MCL Technologies to provide technical assistance in the future, should assistance be necessary.

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Software versus

hardware activation

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

The next step is to choose between Software Activation and Hardware

Activation.

This choice is very important as it cannot be changed at a later stage.

Software Activation: Using this method of activation, 123 Print

computes a Serial Number from various components on your PC. 123 Print then ties your license number to this computed Serial Number. Thus, your software becomes PC Dependent. You will not be able to transfer your licensing details over to a different PC if you want to install and run 123 Print on a different PC.

Hardware Activation: This method of activation requires the

purchase of a Hardware Serial Number Key. Using this method of activation, 123 Print ties your license number to the serial number of your Hardware Key. Thus your software becomes PC Independent. This means you can install and run 123 Print on a different PC at anytime, providing you are able to plug your Hardware Serial Number Key into the other PC. The Hardware Key must be present for the software to run.

Once you have made your choice between Software and Hardware

activation:

10 Check the appropriate checkbox 11 Click Next

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You are prompted to confirm your selection as shown below

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

12 Click Next to confirm and proceed

The Activation mode screen is displayed as shown here

Indicate if you want to use on-line or off-line activation

13 Click the appropriate radio button 14 Click Next

Your system needs internet access for on-line activation to be possib le. This example uses on-line activation. Consequen tly, the On-Line

Activation screen is displayed as shown below. The off-line activation mode will step you through the activation process

in a similar fashion.

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

15 Enter the Password found on your License Certificate 16 Click Next

You are prompted to confirm that your registration information is accurate

17 Click Next to confirm the details you entered on the previous

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screens.

123 Print now connects to MCL’s Licensing Server and records your details on the server. The Licensing Server then returns an Activation Key. When the Activation Key is received, your software is ready to be used.

An Activation successful screen is displayed as shown below.

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18 Print this information and keep it in a safe place for later use in

case of disaster recovery.

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

19 Click Next to validate your activation.

You are now prompted to save a backup of your License Key. It includes your license number, serial number and activation key.

20 Edit the entry or browse to the location where you want your

License Key backed up

21 Click Next

Note: It is very important for you to record and save a backup of your license key. This is the only way MCL Technologies can help you recover your 123 Print license in the event of a disaster.

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A successful backup screen is displayed as shown here.

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

Starting 123 Print When the activation is completed, 123 Print is started automatically. To

22 Click Finish

start 123 Print again in the future, double click on the 123 Print short cut on the Windows desktop

The main 123 Print window is displayed as shown here

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

2.3. General Setup

General introduction This section describes the setup of 123 Print to allow it to operate in

Setup To enter 123 Print’s setup, on the menu bar:

your environment. This setup involves the settings that are required by 123 Print to work with your printer, simulate your project, and integrate with BarTender.

1 Click Tools 2 Click 123 Print Settings

The Setup dialogue box is displayed as shown here

Before you can do anything using 123 Print, you need to set up 123

Print for initial communicat ions with your printer for DPL Mode and MCL Mode where:

DPL Mode refers to the mode in which 123 Print communicates with

the printer using DPL commands. DPL is the Datamax language used to print a label and control the

printer. These are commands like <STX>F. Please refer to your Datamax manual for more information.

DPL Mode is a one-way communication between 123 Print and the printer.

MCL Mode refers to the mode in which 123 Print communicates

with the printer using MCL commands to direct the printer and run MCL applications.

These are commands like NO|001|TF|INVENTORY.DAT|AA.DAT. Please refer to your MCL-Link manual for more information.

MCL Mode is a two-way communication between 123 Print and the printer. For example, 123 Print may ask for a parameter and receive values in return, or 123 Print may send a file and receive an acknowledgement upon the successful completion of the transmission.

123 Print determines which mode to use—DPL Mode or MCL Mode.

123 Print always tries to use MCL Mode as the default mode. However, if it cannot establish communications using MCL Mode, then 123 Print reverts to using DPL Mode. This will occur if the printer settings and 123 Print settings do not match for the values given in Section

Connect/Disconnect Printer

2.3.2 – MCL Connection and Section 7.1 –

.

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2.3.1. DPL Connection

DPL Connection Setup your printer interface fo r DPL Mode communications. In the

Setup dialogue box:

1 Click on the DPL Connection tab

If you want to use network communications for your DPL commands :

2 Edit the Printer TCP port with the appropriate port number

(typically 9100 or 3000).

If you want to use serial communications for your DPL commands:

3 Edit the Serial settings with values appropriate for your printer

These values may be found through the menu on your printer or in your Datamax printer manual.

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

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Chapter 2 : Getting Started

2.3.2. MCL Connection

MCL Connection Next setup yo ur printer interface for MCL Mode communications. In the

Setup dialogue box:

1 Click on the MCL Connection tab

The MCL Connection options screen is displayed as shown here

MCL Group ID can be any number from 001 to 255.

In the MCL Group ID setting, enter the value of the Group ID you assigned to the printer to which you want to connect.

Think of the Group ID as a way of segmenting your printers similar

to a subnet segmentation of network devices.

Each printer is identified by 123 Print by combining Group ID +

MCL ID. (See Section

If you have, for example, 750 printers on your network, segment

your printers into 3 groups of 250 printers each. Assign each of the 250 printers to the same group and assign a Group ID of 001, 002 or 003, for example, to those printers. Then assign a unique MCL ID such as a number from 001 – 250 to each of the printers within the group.

These assignments will allow you to uniquely identify all 750 printers on your network.

MCL Host ID can be any number from 001 to 255. It is typically set to

099. This ID is used by the MCL protocol for communications between the Datamax Printers and 123 Print. The MCL Host ID is used to identify 123 Print as the host for these printer communications.

UDP Port is typically 5000. Comm Port is the port that 123 Print should use on its own platform to

communicate serially with a printer. Speed is the baud rate of the serial port as determined by the printer.

Please reference your Datamax manual for information about serial comm speed.

7.1 – Connect/Disconnect Printer).

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2.3.3. Local Settings

Local Settings Next, setup project simulation options. In the Setup dialogue box:

1 Click on the Local Settings tab

The Local Settings screen is displayed as shown here

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

The project you run on a printer may require inputs from peripherals such as a barcode scanner on printer port 1 and weight scale on printer port 2.

Therefore, when you simulate your project in 123 Print, you will want to emulate the input these peripherals give or connect directly to the given peripheral to receive its input on your development PC. (See Chapter 6

– Simulating Your Project).

This Simulation setup lets you define the source—emulation or peripheral connection to a port on your PC—of these inputs for your simulation.

Assign Com 1 Printer Port To

 This option lets you indicate from where the simulator should

fetch the port 1 input in simulation. This is to simulate what the final project will receive from printer port 1 when th e project is running on a printer.

 If this is a barcode scanner, you can choose to emulate the

scanner input, or you can connect the scanner to any port on your PC. Indicate the port to which the barcode scanner will actually be connected on your PC. The 123 Print simulator will map this port as port 1 input.

2 Select the desired option for printer port 1 simulation.

The com 1 simulation setting options are as shown below

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Assign Com 2 Printer Port To

 This option is identical to the Assign Com 1 option. This option

simply lets you simulate a peripheral, such as a weight scale, that would normally be connected to port 2 on the printer.

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

3 Select the desired option for printer port 2 simulation

Assign Internal Printer Port To

 This option allows you to simulate label printing when you are

running your project in simulation.

 You can emulate the label print or send the label as output to a

port on your development PC.

 The output may be sent to a serial com port, an LPT (parallel)

port, or to a file. Sending the output to a file is useful if you want to see the DPL code your project is using to print labels

The internal printer port simulation options are as shown below

on your printer.

4 Select the desired option for label printing simulation 5 Click OK

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2.3.4. Others

Others Set up the values for 123 Print’s integration with BarTender or DPL

labels. In the Setup window:

1 Click the Others tab

The Others dialogue box is displayed as shown here

Chapter 2 : Getting Started

If BarTender is installed and activated on your system:

2 In the Printer Name field, identify the default printer to be used for

your project. 123 Print passes this printer model to BarTender to use as the default printer for label design for your project when you invoke BarTender from the 123 Print toolbar while creating your project.

3 In the BTW Folder field, navigate to the folder you plan to use as

your common folder for your BarTender labels.

By default if BarTender is installed on your system, 123 Print assigns MyDocuments/BarTender/Formats for your BarTender labels. This is the default path BarTender uses when saving labels.

If BarTender is not installed on your system, 123 Print expects your labels to be DPL labels. It assigns a default path of C:\123Print\Label as the location of your DPL label folder.

4 Click OK to use this path or navigate to the folder you want to use

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Datamax 123 Print v1.1x User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

123 Print v1.1x

i. Preface

Background

Table of Contents

1. Primer

Overview

1.1. What is 123 Print

General introduction This section gives an overview of 123 Print, its purpose and its benefits.

Purpose The purpose of 123 Print is to:

Benefits 123 Print:

General introduction This section shows some sample labels to give you an idea of the

Sample labels The sample labels shown here were designed using Seagull’ s

General introduction 123 Print structures your project flow using a combination of screens

User Interface Every 123 Print project follows a pre-defined screen flow. You configure

Labels If you are only concerned with static labels, you only need to use the

2. Getting Started

Overview

2.1. Installation

General introduction This section describes how to install 123 Print.

Installation

Starting 123 Print Once 123 Print is installed, start it by:

2.2. Activation

General introduction This section describes the activation process for 123 Print.

Activation The first time you run 123 Print, you will be prompted to Activate the

Starting 123 Print When the activation is completed, 123 Print is started automatically. To

2.3. General Setup

General introduction This section describes the setup of 123 Print to allow it to operate in

Setup To enter 123 Print’s setup, on the menu bar:

2.3.1. DPL Connection

DPL Connection Setup your printer interface fo r DPL Mode communications. In the

2.3.2. MCL Connection

MCL Connection Next setup yo ur printer interface for MCL Mode communications. In the

2.3.3. Local Settings

Local Settings Next, setup project simulation options. In the Setup dialogue box:

2.3.4. Others

Others Set up the values for 123 Print’s integration with BarTender or DPL