Sun StarOffice & OpenOffice Tutorial
This tutorial describes how to use IDAutomation's barcode fonts in
Sun StarOffice and OpenOffice. The solutions described here are compatible
with Star Office 8 and Open Office 2.0 and should be compatible with
later releases.
The following will prepare OpenOffice applications such as Calc,
Base or Writer for use with IDAutomation's barcode fonts.
- The default method Star Office and Open Office uses to display
font names is to list them in their own font as a preview. This
works well for text fonts; however, barcode fonts cannot be viewed
this way because their names cannot be chosen. To allow viewing
of barcode font names in Calc, Base or Writer choose Tools - Options
- View, deselect the "Show Preview of Fonts" check
box and choose OK.
- The additional items below do not have to be performed when
using the Code
39 Barcode Fonts. If a checksum is required for Code 39 or another
barcode type is needed, perform the steps below to install the macros.
These macros will reformat the data to the barcode fonts and handle
any required checksum calculations.
- Choose Tools - Options - Security - Macro Security and set the
level to Medium and choose OK.
-
Download and extract the IDAutomationVB.bas file.
- Choose Tools - Macros - Organize Macros - OpenOffice.org Basic.
- In the macro from area, click on the name of the desired
file and choose New. This will embed the macros and Visual
Basic source code into the file.
- Remove the Sub Main and End Sub lines that are automatically
added.
- Click on the Insert Basic Source button and choose the file
IDAutomationVB.bas provided in the
download.
This will automatically add the code into the editor window.
- Choose File - Save and File - Exit to exit the VB editor.
- Shut down all OpenOffice applications and install the IDAutomation
barcode fonts. If unsure of what barcode font type to use, IDAutomation
recommends the
Code 128 Barcode
Fonts.
- If the tasks in the Prepare OpenOffice
section have not been completed, do so now.
- Open Calc and Create an area in the spreadsheet column for the
barcode.
Video Tutorial
- Size the column to make sure it is wide enough to contain the
entire barcode.
- Format the column so that any text appearing in it will be centered.
This is necessary to create the white space (often called the quiet
zone) before and after the barcode.
- Enter the formula in the cell that will format the data to the
barcode font - this is where the barcode will appear. For use with
the Code 39
font, enter the formula of ="*" & A1 &
"*" in the cell. If unsure of which function or barcode to
use, IDAutomation recommends using the
Code 128 fonts,
using the formula =Code128(A1;0;0)
where A1 refers to the cell location
of the data to be formatted and encoded in the barcode.
After entering the formula, the modified text that is to be formatted
and encoded for the barcode font should appear in the cell with
the formula.
- Apply the applicable barcode font to the cell and size the cell
so there is at least 4 times the white space before and after the
barcode based on the thickest bar in the barcode.
- To create barcodes for other cells in the column, select the
original cell and choose Edit - Copy and select the new cell or
cells, then choose Edit - Paste.
- To allow for easier scanning of barcodes in cells, select the
bar-coded cells and choose Format Cells - Borders and set the spacing
to 4 points.
Barcode
Creation
in Base
This section is currently under construction. In the interim, consider
IDAutomation's easy-to-use
Barcode Label Software
or Barcode Image Generator
products. To assist with information that would be beneficial to this
section, please
contact IDAutomation.
To create barcodes in an OpenOffice Writer mail merge using macros,
it is necessary to use Calc as the data source. The field used for the
data source in Writer should be the column in Calc where the formula
has been applied, which is used to format the data to the barcode font.
IDAutomation suggests using the last column of the spreadsheet in order
to avoid any merging problems. To set up the Calc spreadsheet with the
macros, please refer to the Calc Tutorial.
- Calc requires a medium security setting to run macros. Open
Calc, set the security level to medium by choosing Tools - Options
- Security - Macro Security, set the level to Medium and
choose OK.
- To begin the mail merge go to Tools - Mail Merge Wizard.
- First, select the starting document for the Mail Merge. In this
example, the current document will be used. Click Next.
- The following screen will default to Letter. Click Next.
- On the Insert Address Block screen, click Select Different Address
List. The next screen will list the available Calc spreadsheets
available to use.
- Select the Name and Table from the list provided or choose data
from a different location by clicking Add. A new table may also
be created by selecting Create. Once the selection has been made,
click OK.
- On the Insert Address Block screen, select "This document shall
contain an address block" and click Match Fields.
- Start with the first 'Address elements' field and match the
fields wanted to the spreadsheet attached. Click OK.
- Now click on More and select Edit.
- Remove the address elements not mapped to the spreadsheet. Click
OK twice, then click Next.
- The salutation should be disabled on the next screen.
- Skip Adjust Layout because it will be easier to move the barcode
area on the next Edit Document screen, where the text box created
may be manually aligned on the original Writer document. This will
also be the time where the barcode font will be applied to the encoded
data as well as adding any additional information to the document
such as data fields if needed.
- Click Next and the mail merge will be completed. If specific
notes need to be applied to individual pages in the merge, the Personalize
Document screen will allow users to add notes to single pages.
- The Print screen will save the document or print out directly.
- After the merge is performed, print and scan the barcode(s)
to verify the correct data is encoded. If a scanner is needed to
verify barcodes, IDAutomation suggests the easy-to-use
USB
Barcode Scanners.
- When distributing the mail-merge, the font should be embedded
in Writer and the Calc data source must be accessible.
The Following
Barcode Macros are Available:
The barcode macros listed below are supplied in
the file named "IDAutomationVB.bas" which
is provided in the
download package.
For all functions listed below, the DataToEncode
is the string data type. Other data types, such as numbers or dates,
may need to be converted to the string data type to be properly encoded.
All parameters are required. For example, use Code128("123456"; 0;
0) instead of Code128("123456"). For all number symbologies, such
as POSTNET and UPC, dashes or spaces may be imputed for easier readability,
the dashes and spaces will be filtered out before the barcode is generated.
For UPC-A, UPC-E & EAN-13, the +2 and +5 add-on codes may be created
by adding the data to the end of the string.
| Function |
Font to Use |
Notes |
Code128(DataToEncode;
ReturnType;
ApplyTilde) |
IDAutomationC128 |
If unsure which Code 128 set is for an application,
then use this one. This "Code 128 Auto" function that will automatically
encode any DataToEncode from ASCII 0 to ASCII 127. It will automatically
switch to character set C for numbers also. Data may be easily
encoded without any options. For example, the formula Code128("123456")
will encode the numbers 123456.
It may be necessary to use the ReturnType
and ApplyTilde for special purposes.
- If ApplyTilde is set to True, the tilde
will be processed as described here.
ApplyTilde is False by default.
- To encode alpha-numeric UCC/EAN-128,
ASCII 202 or character Ê is entered as the FNC1 before each
AI. For example, the UCC number of (8100)712345(21)12WH5678
should be entered as: Ê8100712345Ê2112WH5678.
More information about
AIs and UCC/EAN-128 is located here.
(DataToEncode; 0; 0) formats barcode output string to the
Code
128 barcode fonts.
(DataToEncode; 0; 1) formats barcode output string for the
Code 128 barcode fonts with ApplyTilde enabled.
(DataToEncode; 1; 1) returns the human readable text.
(DataToEncode; 2; 1) returns only the check digit.
|
| Code128a(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC128 |
Caution: Entering a lower case character
will create a function. Use the
character values 64 through 95 from set A to print characters
not on the keyboard; the scanner will recognize these functions
as from set A. Formats output to the
Code 128
barcode fonts. |
| Code128b(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC128 |
Returns codes formatted to the Code 128 character
set B. Formats output to the
Code 128
bar code fonts. |
Code128c(DataToEncode;
ReturnType) |
IDAutomationC128 |
This code128 function "interleaves" numbers
into pairs for high density.
(DataToEncode; 0) formats output to the
Code 128
barcode fonts.
(DataToEncode; 1) returns the human readable text with the check
digit included.
(DataToEncode; 2) returns only the check digit. |
| Code39(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC39
or
IDAutomationHC39 |
Formats the output to print using
Code 39
fonts. |
Code39Mod43(DataToEncode;
ReturnType) |
IDAutomationC39
or
IDAutomationHC39 |
(DataToEncode; 0) performs the mod43 checksum
calculation for increased accuracy and then formats the output
to print using
Code 39
fonts. The mod43 checksum is usually required for LOGMARS
and HIBC applications.
(DataToEncode; 1) returns the human readable data with the check
digit included.
(DataToEncode; 2) returns only the check digit. |
| Code93(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC93 |
Formats the output to print with the 2 required
check digits using
Code 93
fonts. |
| Codabar(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationCB |
Formats the output to print using
Codabar
fonts. |
| Code11(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC11 |
Formats output to the
Code11 barcode
fonts. Only the "C" check digit is calculated which is the
standard when encoding 10 digits or less. |
| EAN13(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
DataToEncode is a number string of 12, 13,
14, 15, 17 or 18 digits with or without a check digit, add-ons
are supported. Formats output to the
UPC/EAN
barcode font. Entering incorrect data will create a barcode
containing all zeros. |
| EAN8(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
DataToEncode is a number string of 7 or 8
characters (EAN-8 without the check digit). Formats output to
the UPC/EAN
barcode font. Entering incorrect data will create a barcode
containing all zeros. |
| I2of5(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationI25
or
IDAutomationHI25 |
This function "interleaves" numbers into
pairs for high density without check digits and formats the
return string to the
Interleaved 2 of 5 font. |
I2of5Mod10(DataToEncode;
ReturnType) |
IDAutomationI25
or
IDAutomationHI25 |
(DataToEncode; 0) performs the mod10 checksum
calculation for increased accuracy and formats the return string
to the
Interleaved 2 of 5 font. MOD 10 checksums are required by
USPS for special services and for SSC-14 when using Interleaved
2 of 5 for that purpose.
(DataToEncode; 1) returns the human readable data with the MOD10
check digit included.
(DataToEncode; 2) returns the MOD10 check digit. |
| MOD10(DataToEncode) |
not applicable |
Returns the MOD 10 check digit for a given
string of numbers according to the UCC/EAN method. |
MSI(DataToEncode;
ReturnType) |
IDAutomationMSI
or
IDAutomationHMSI |
(DataToEncode; 0) formats output to the
MSI barcode
fonts.
(DataToEncode; 1) returns the human readable data with the check
digit included.
(DataToEncode; 2) returns only the check digit. |
Postnet(DataToEncode;
ReturnType) |
IDAutomationPOSTNET
or
IDAutomationPLANET |
Enter a single string of Zip, Zip + 4 or
Zip + 4 + Delivery Point or any number of digits for the planet
code. The DataToEncode must be a number and can include dashes
and spaces.
(DataToEncode; 0) formats output to the
POSTNET
barcode fonts.
(DataToEncode; 1) returns the human readable data with the check
digit included.
(DataToEncode; 2) returns only the check digit.
This function will not create
the
Intelligent Mail Barcode. |
| RM4SCC(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationRM |
Formats the output to print using
RM4SCC
fonts. Checksum calculated according to the mail sort customer
bar-coding specification. |
SpliceText(DataToEncode;
SpacingNumber; ApplyTilde) |
Text font |
Returns text with a space inserted every
SpacingNumber of digits to improve readability. If ApplyTilde
is set to True, the tilde will be processed as
described here. |
| UCC128(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC128 |
This symbology option calls the Code128()
method with the Tilde option enabled and the FNC1 character
in set C as required. It is often an easier method to use when
encoding an even number of number digits. For example, to encode
an SSCC-18 barcode, enter 00000123455555555558 as the data input.
For more information, please visit
here. Formats output to the
Code 128
barcode fonts. |
| UPCa(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
DataToEncode is a UPC-A number string of
11, 12, 13, 14, 16 or 17 digits with or without a check digit,
add-ons are supported. Formats output to the
UPC/EAN
barcode font. Entering incorrect data will create a barcode
containing all zeros. |
| UPCe(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
DataToEncode is a UPC-E number of 6, 7 or
8 digits or a UPC-A number string of 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 or 17
digits with or without a check digit, add-ons are supported
only with 13, 14, 16 or 17 digits. Formats output to the
UPC/EAN
barcode font. Entering incorrect data will create a barcode
containing "00005000000". UPC-E1 is supported when the first
character is "1" instead of "0". |
* NOTE: Interleaved 2 of 5 fonts dated May 1, 2001
or later must be used for Interleaved 2 of 5 functions. Code 128 fonts
dated December 2000 or later MUST be used for Code 128 functions.
IDAutomation
offers a free, fully functional
Code 39 barcode font.
This product may be freely used by individuals and organizations that
have gross annual revenue of less than $500,000 USD or are classified
as nonprofit for tax purposes excluding government and military organizations.
This product may also be freely used by educational organizations such
as schools and universities. Any other use requires a purchase of IDAutomation's
Code 39 Font Advantage
Package to be properly licensed. IDAutomation also offers fully
functional demo versions of their products available for
download.
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