Crystal Reports Barcode Font Encoder UFL
-
 Easily
create barcodes in Crystal Reports with fonts.
- Enables easy Change To Barcode
functionality.
- Generates many linear barcode types including Code 128, GS1-128, DataBar, Code 39, Code 93, Interleaved 2 of 5, UPC, EAN, Postnet
and Intelligent Mail.
- Compatible with Crystal Reports versions 7 and higher.
- Supports Visual Studio .NET environments.
- Compatible with Windows 95 and greater, including 32-bit and
64-bit versions of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.
- Supports double-byte language settings when used with Databar or Universal
Barcode Fonts.
- Free to use with demo or purchased IDAutomation
barcode fonts.
Functions List | Support
| Native Generator
|
Font Formulas | Integration
Guide |
Barcode Fonts
| “This
is easily the best software I’ve found for barcode printing
in Crystal by a long way -- I must have downloaded 6 or
7 other fonts and packages, but none are as easy to use
as this.” Michael Ainley, IT Manager, UK |
The IDAutomation Crystal Reports Barcode Font Encoder UFL is very easy-to-use when
generating barcodes in crystal reports. This UFL encoder tool supports many linear barcode types including
Code 128, GS1-128, Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5, UPC, EAN, DataBar, Postnet, Intelligent Mail
and more. Advanced 2D
barcode fonts such as Aztec,
DataMatrix,
PDF417,
Maxicode and
QR-Code must
use the UFL supplied with that specific package.
Crystal Reports Tutorial Index
Crystal Reports Version 7 to 11 Barcode Font UFL Tutorial
- Install the IDAutomation demo or purchased
barcode fonts of your choice.
If unsure which font to use, consider IDAutomation's
Code 128
fonts, which are easy to use with this tool.
- When using Code 128 or Interleaved
2 of 5, the
Universal
barcode fonts must instead be used if the character set is not US English, 1252 Latin-1, 1250
European, 1251 Cyrillic, 1253 Greek, 1254 Turkish, 1255 Hebrew or
1256 Arabic.
- This example uses the
Code 128 Barcode
Font Advantage Package. Some font packages also include
Font Formulas, which allow the font-formatting routines to be
embedded in a report without the need for a UFL.
-
Download the Crystal Reports Barcode Font Encoder UFL. After installation is
complete, the barcode functions will show in the formula editor under
Additional Functions.
- For backward compatibility with previous report formulas, IDAutomation also provides the
COM based Crystal UFL. If the earlier version
of the UFL is used, refer to the documentation in that package.
- Choose the Design tab to enter the design mode of the
report.
- Open the Field Explorer. In Crystal 9, select View
- Field Explorer. In versions prior to 9, select Insert - Formula Field.
- Right-click on Formula Fields and select New.
- In the Formula Name dialog box, enter a name to identify the formula
field. In this example, the formula is simply named "Barcode."
- Click OK and select Use Editor if asked. The
Formula Editor should now be open.
- In the Functions column, expand Additional Functions
and expand the IDAutomation section to Select the
appropriate function.
- If the IDAutomation functions do not show
up in the Additional Functions section after installing the UFL,
copy the U25IDAutomation.dll file from the Windows System directory
(for example C:\Windows\System32) to the directory where the Crystal
DLLs are located.
- In Crystal 11 the file may be copied to C:\Program
Files\Common Files\Business Objects\3.0\bin;
- In Crystal 10 and previous
versions the file may be copied to %Windows%\Crystal where
%Windows% is the directory where
Windows is installed.
- Make sure the utilized function matches the font listed in the Font To
Use column. As an example, only use the
IDAutomation_Code128() function
with the IDAutomationC128
font.
- With the cursor positioned between the parentheses of the function,
select the data field that is to be encoded. Data fields used in
this formula must be formatted as text. If the data fields are not
text, use ToText
or cStr for conversion.
- The syntax
of the formula should look similar to the formula below which formats Field1 of
Table1 to a Code 128 barcode font.
IDAutomation_Code128 ({Table1.Field1})
or
IDAutomation_Code128
(cStr( {Table1.Field1},0
) )
- Choose Save and then Close. If a "A string is required"
or similar error appears, convert the
data to a string with the cStr function.
For example:
IDAutomation_Code128
(Str( {Customers.CustNum},0 ) )
- To include a text interpretation of the encoded data below
the barcode, consider creating an additional formula. In this example, the formula is named BarcodeHR to return
the "human readable" text for Table1.Field1:
{Table1.Field1}
- When creating
GS1-128 (UCC/EAN) barcodes which require specific text interpretations,
the appropriate HR function may be used for that purpose.
For example,
to display the text for a GS1-128 barcode, BarcodeHR is created
with a different formula to return the formatted text from Table1.Field1:
IDAutomation_Code128HumanReadable ({Table1.Field1})
- Return to the Field Explorer dialog box.
- Click on the formula field and drag it onto the report.
- Now that the fields have been created in the report,
choose the Preview tab to make sure the data is being retrieved
from the fields and properly formatted to the barcode font. Special characters
will append to the beginning and end of the data from
the fields, which are required for the start and stop characters
in the barcode.
Additional formatting may also be necessary that
scrambles the data which is normal for Code 128,
Interleaved
2 of 5 and all functions in the
Universal
barcode font and
DataBar Font.
The graphic above shows the first field produced
by the @Barcode formula and the second produced by the
@BarcodeHR formula.
- Select the Design tab again and size the barcode formula
field to display the appropriate barcode font in the report.
- Change the formula field to the appropriate
barcode font and set the size to 12 points or another
appropriate size. Ensure the formula used matches the font listed in the Font to
Use column. This is a very important step and the
barcodes will not be properly created if this step is performed incorrectly.
Note: When selecting the font from the pull down menu,
please do not use the fonts that begin with the
"@" Symbol.
Instead, scroll down in the list and select fonts that begin with
"IDAutomation”.
- Select the Preview tab (or File - Print Preview) to view
the barcodes in the report. Print one page of the report and test
with a scanner.
Consider testing with the easy-to-use
IDAutomation USB Barcode Scanner, which reads all popular linear and
GS1 DataBar barcodes. When 2D Data Matrix, PDF417, QR Code, Aztec
or Intelligent Mail symbols need to be verified, IDAutomation suggests
the
IDAutomation
2D Barcode Scanner.
Turning fields into barcodes is a new functionality introduced in Crystal Reports
12. When using Crystal versions
below 12, the standard UFL tutorial
must be followed.
- Install the appropriate
barcode fonts.
If in doubt about which font to use, IDAutomation recommends the
Universal
Barcode Font for the Code 128 barcode.
- Download and install the latest version of
IDAutomation's Crystal Reports UFL. Only versions released March 2008 or
later are compatible with the Change to Barcode
functionality introduced in Crystal Reports 12.
- Add a field to the report that contains the data that will be encoded in the barcode. If necessary, a
formula field may be created
to append text or concatenate fields.
- Select the Preview tab (or File - Print Preview) to confirm
that the correct data appears in the field.
- Right-click on this field, choose Change To Barcode and select
from the list of installed barcode fonts, the type of barcode to
create.
- The barcode should be instantly created in the report. To create
a text interpretation, simply add the same field to the report again
and position it below the barcode as necessary.
- Print one page of the report and test with a
barcode scanner.
Many of IDAutomation's font packages include
Font Formulas, which allow font formatting routines to be embedded
in a report without the need for a UFL. These formulas are saved as
part of the report file (.rpt) and do not have any external dependencies, with the exception of the required barcode font. When distributing
reports, consider this method or try
the Native
Barcode Generator for Crystal Reports, which creates dynamic
embedded barcodes without fonts.
Functions may be easily modified with formulas to combine multiple
fields or append text in a single barcode, as demonstrated in the following
examples:
- This formula appends the text "ECC200",
combines two
fields in a single barcode and places a tab function (which is ASCII
009) between them:
IDAutomation_Code128ApplyTilde ( "ECC200"
& {Table1.DataField1} & "~009" & {Table1.UPC})
- This formula adds in the
GS1-128 Application Identifier (~202) and calculates a MOD 10
check digit.
IDAutomation_Code128ApplyTilde ("~202" & {Table1.DataField1}
& "~m19" )
UFL & Font Distribution with
Crystal Runtime Files
IDAutomation's Formulas for Crystal Reports
require only the applicable barcode font to be installed. IDAutomation's Crystal Reports Barcode UFL is free to use and distribute
in an application with the purchase of any IDAutomation fonts package.
The following runtime files should be distributed with the application.
|
Crystal Reports UFL Files to Distribute
(Consider using an
advanced
installation application to distribute files for Windows) |
|
Type |
File to Distribute |
Notes |
| Font File(s) |
???.ttf |
TrueType
fonts may be distributed with the purchase of a Developer License. |
| Crystal UFL |
U25IDAutomation.dll |
The
IDAutomation
Crystal UFL should be installed in the Windows System
directory (ex. C:\Windows\System32). |
The functions listed below are all available in
the
Crystal Reports UFL download are valid when used with the
barcode font listed in the Font to Use column. The data input type
for all functions is a string.
|
Functions for Standard Barcode
Fonts |
Barcode Type |
Functions
(View
Function Property Descriptions) |
Font to use
|
|
Code 11 |
IDAutomation_Code 11 (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC11 |
|
Code 128 |
IDAutomation_Code128 (DataToEncde)
Recommended for general barcoding purposes. |
IDAutomationC128 |
Additional Code 128 Functions
IDAutomation_Code128ApplyTilde (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Code128ApplyTilde() applies
Code 128 tilde processing to the barcode and is used to
create
GS1-128 or encode
functions.
IDAutomation_Code128A (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Code128B (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Code128C (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC128 |
IDAutomation_Code128HumanReadableTilde (DataToEncode)
This method returns the human readable text for Code 128
barcodes, such as with GS1-128. |
Text Font |
| Code 39 |
IDAutomation_Code39
(DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Code39Mod43
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC39 |
|
Code 93 |
IDAutomation_Code93
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationC93 |
|
Codabar |
IDAutomation_Codabar
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationCB |
| EAN-13 |
IDAutomation_EAN13
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
| EAN-8 |
IDAutomation_EAN8
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
|
Interleaved
2 of 5 |
IDAutomation_I2of5
(DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_I2of5Mod10
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationI25 |
| MSI Plessey |
IDAutomation_MSI
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationMSI |
| UPC-A |
IDAutomation_UPCa
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
| UPC-E |
IDAutomation_UPCe
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationUPCEAN |
|
USPS IntelligentMail |
IDAutomation_IntelligentMail
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationPOSTNET
or IDAutomation_Uni |
|
USPS Postnet |
IDAutomation_Postnet
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationPOSTNET |
|
USPS Planet |
IDAutomation_Postnet
(DataToEncode) |
IDAutomationPOSTNET |
| Not Applicable |
IDAutomation_Mod10
(DataToEncode) |
not applicable |
|
Universal Barcode Font Functions |
| The
functions listed below
are preceded with IDAutomation_Uni_
and should be used with IDAutomation
Universal Barcode Fonts or
IDAutomation
DataBar Barcode Fonts. |
Barcode Type
|
Functions |
Font to Use
|
|
Code 128 |
IDAutomation_Uni_C128 (DataToEncode)
C128() is recommended for general bar-coding purposes.
|
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
Additional Code 128 Functions
IDAutomation_Uni_C128ApplyTilde (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Uni_C128ApplyTilde() applies
Code 128 tilde processing and is used to create
GS1-128 or encode
functions.
IDAutomation_Uni_C128A (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Uni_C128B (DataToEncode)
IDAutomation_Uni_C128C (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
IDAutomation_Code128HumanReadableTilde (DataToEncode)
This method returns the human readable text for Code 128
barcodes, such as with GS1-128. |
Text Font |
| Code 39 |
IDAutomation_Uni_C39
(DataToEncode,
N_Dimension,
IncludeCheckDigit)
Example:
IDAutomation_Uni_C39
("12345678",3,TRUE ) |
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
|
Codabar |
IDAutomation_Uni_Codabar
(DataToEncode,
N_Dimension, StartChar, StopChar)
Example:
IDAutomation_Uni_Codabar
("12345678",2,A,B ) |
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
|
Interleaved
2 of 5 |
IDAutomation_Uni_I2of5 (DataToEncode,
N_Dimension,
IncludeCheckDigit)
Example:
IDAutomation_Uni_I2of5
("12345678",2,FALSE ) |
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
| MSI Plessey |
IDAutomation_Uni_MSI
(DataToEncode,
N_Dimension,
IncludeCheckDigit) |
IDAutomation_Uni
or IDAutomation
DataBar |
|
USPS IntelligentMail |
IDAutomation_IntelligentMail (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation_Uni |
|
USPS Postnet |
IDAutomation_Uni_Postnet (DataToEncode,
IncludeCheckDigit) |
IDAutomation_Uni |
|
USPS Planet |
IDAutomation_Uni_Planet (DataToEncode,
IncludeCheckDigit) |
IDAutomation_Uni |
|
DataBar Functions |
| The
methods listed below
are preceded with IDAutomation_DataBar_
and are only to be used with the
IDAutomation
GS1 DataBar Font. |
Barcode Type |
Functions |
Font to use |
|
DataBar |
IDAutomation_DataBar (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation
DataBar 34 |
|
DataBar Expanded |
IDAutomation_DataBarExpanded (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation
DataBar 34 |
|
DataBar Expanded Stacked |
DataBar Expanded Stacked requires a
custom formula field
to be copied from the sample report provided. |
IDAutomation
DataBar 34 |
|
DataBar Limited |
IDAutomation_DataBarLimited (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation
DataBar 13 |
|
DataBar Stacked |
IDAutomation_DataBarStacked (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation
DataBar 13 |
|
DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional |
IDAutomation_DataBarStackedOmniDirectional (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation
DataBar 34 |
|
DataBar Truncated |
IDAutomation_DataBar (DataToEncode) |
IDAutomation DataBar 13 |
- DataToEncode: a string value
that represents the data being encoded.
- N_Dimension: determines the
width of the wide bars that is a multiple of the X dimension. Valid
values are 2, 2.5 and 3. The default is 2. The X dimension is determined
by the font point size.
- IncludeCheckDigit: a
Boolean value that determines whether a check digit should be automatically
calculated and included for the DataToEncode.
- ApplyTilde:
when ApplyTilde is set to "1" in Code 128 with the Auto character
set, the format ~ddd may be used to specify the ASCII code of the
character to be encoded and
several other tilde options are enabled.
This procedure inserts a formula field for
DataBar Expanded Stacked symbols and is compatible with Crystal
Reports version 9 and up. This is a necessary step to ensure that
DataBar Expanded Stacked symbols are created properly in Crystal
Reports.
- Install the package and open the Crystal Report example provided.
- Choose View - Design to switch to design mode.
- Highlight the
@IDAutomation_DataBarExpandedStacked field and choose Edit -
Copy.
- Open the report choose Edit -
Paste to paste the field where it is desired.
- Highlight the field and choose Edit - Edit Formula.
- Modify the "DataToEncode:="
line of the formula to equal the data that is to be encoded
in the barcode.
- Change the "Segments:= 4;"
line of the formula to equal the number of
segments needed.
The complete formula should look something like this:
stringVar DataToEncode:= {Table1.DataField1};
numberVar Segments:= 6;
stringVar CompleteBarcodeString:="";
numberVar i:=0;
numberVar DataSegments:= ToNumber (IDAutomation_DataBarExpandedStackedSet(DataToEncode,Segments));
For i:=1 to DataSegments Do
(
CompleteBarcodeString := CompleteBarcodeString + IDAutomation_DataBarExpandedStackedGet(DataToEncode,Segments,i);
);
CompleteBarcodeString
- Continue implementation and testing with Step
11 of the tutorial.
Crystal Reports Barcode Font Integration Support
Free product support is available by reviewing the
font
problems and solutions information that IDAutomation has documented and by searching resolved
public
help desk issues.
Pre-sales and existing customer support is available by
contacting
IDAutomation, and additional technical support may be attained with the
purchase of the one year
Priority Support
and Upgrade Subscription.
Common Issues and Notices
2D Crystal Report Barcode Font Integration
Related Products and Information
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