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MaxiCode Font & Encoder User Manual
MaxiCode Font & Encoder User Manual

Specifications and Support
If a barcode scanner is needed to read or verify MaxiCode barcodes for
testing, please consider these
2D Barcode Scanners
and Imagers.
MaxiCode Font and Encoder Package Overview
Extract the files provided with the product and run the installation
executable to install the files needed
in the application folder under Program Files. The following items are included
in the package:
-
MaxiCode Encoder provides
an easy method for users to create MaxiCode barcodes and print
or paste them into other applications.
- TrueType Font is named "IDAutomation Maxicode"
and should be printed at 6 points.
- Crystal Reports UFL allows use
of the MaxiCode fonts from Crystal Reports, compatible with
version 9 and above.
- ActiveX Control is a graphic encoder for
use in Access, Excel, Visual Basic and C++.
- Windows DLL
is installed in the Windows System32 folder and is used as the
font encoder for Windows applications.
-
Signed ActiveX CAB File may be used with InfoPath, Internet Explorer and FrontPage.
- VBA Module
may be used in Visual Basic, Excel or Access.
- Visual Basic Source Code
used to create the MaxiCode Font and Encoder for Windows is also supplied.
- Microsoft Office Examples
are provided for Word mail-merge
and Access. To generate
barcodes in Excel or Access, consider using the ActiveX Control or Word
Mail-Merge.
Importing the VBA Module
into VB, Excel or Access
The VBA module is required when using font encoders in VB 6. The
module that accesses the ActiveX DLL for the encoder function is
IDAutomation_Maxicode_Macro.bas. The installation executable provided in
the package should be installed on each computer using this module
for proper operation.
Importing the Module
- Extract the files provided with the product.
- Open VB, Excel or Access.
- If Excel or Access is being used, select Tools - Macro
- Visual Basic Editor to open the VB editor.
- If the IDAutomation_Maxicode_Macro.bas
module should be imported, run the installation executable first. In the Visual
Basic Editor, select File - Import File,
browse to the Program Files/IDAutomation.com MaxiCode Font and
Encoder folder and select the .bas file.
- In the Visual Basic Editor, if the Project Explorer is not
on the left hand side, click on View, and select Project
Explorer.
- Expand the Modules folder and double click on
IDAutomation_Maxicode_Macro
- Go to Tools - References and select IDAutomation MaxiCode,
click OK.
- If Excel or Access is being used, choose File - Close
to close the VB editor and choose File - Save.
- After the file is imported, the EncMC function may be called
according to the chart below.
IDAutomation_Maxicode_Macro.bas |
EncMC(DataToEncode
as String, Optional
EncodingMode as Int)
The default Encoding Mode is 2 |
Example: =EncMC([Test Data.data]) or =EncMC([Test Data.data],3) |
Microsoft Access Implementation
When
MaxiCode fonts are used in reports and forms, the graphic encoder option may be the
easiest product to use.
Graphic Encoder Implementation
- Run the installation executable in the package and follow
the instructions to complete the installation.
- Open a report in Design Mode.
- Select Insert - ActiveX control and choose the IDAutomation
MaxiCode control.
- Move and size the control as necessary. To change the properties
of the control such as height and symbology type, right-click
on the control and choose Properties.
- To bind the control to a data source, enter the table and field or formula
in the control source field. The proper barcode will show up after the report is
saved and executed. It is a good idea to ensure that the data is properly
formatted when encoding
MaxiCode
symbols for UPS.
Other options for MaxiCode font implementation in Access using a graphic
encoder are provided in the
ActiveX
Barcode Control Manual.
Font Implementation
- Run the installation executable file in the package and
follow the instructions to complete the installation.
- Import the VBA module into
the database.
- Open a report in Design Mode.
- Add a text field to the report that will contain the barcode.
Size it appropriately, to be large enough to contain the symbol.
Change the font point size of the field to 6 points.
- Right-click on the text field and enter the function call as a formula in
the control source property. IDAutomation recommends encoding the data using
tilde commands to format RS, GS and EOT functions with the "&"
symbol to combine multiple fields and static text. For example:
=EncMC("[)>~03001~02996" & [table1.zip] & "~029840~029002~029"
& [table1.track_num] & ... )
- Save the report and run it; several letters should appear
in the text field. This is the data that will create a correct
barcode when combined with the MaxiCode Font.
- Open the report in design mode and select the IDAutomation
MaxiCode Font at 6 points for the text field.
- Save the report and run it; a correct symbol should appear
in the text field.
Word Mail-Merge Implementation
MaxiCode barcodes may be created from fonts in Word mail-merge with the
following procedure, when Excel is used as the data source:
- Extract the files provided with the product.
- When using Windows, run the installation executable in the
package to install the IDAutomation Maxicode font. Macintosh
users should follow the
Mac Font Installation Procedures to install the IDAutomation
Maxicode font.
- Import the VBA module into
the Excel spreadsheet that will be used as the data source.
- Place a title in each column of the spreadsheet on row 1
that will contain the data, and then import the data into the
Excel spreadsheet.
- Select a blank column on row 1, to the right of the last
populated column in the spreadsheet, and title it Barcode.
- Add a formula on row 2 of the Barcode column that calls
the function as a formula.
- For example, the following formula adds columns A and
B to the barcode:
=EncMC(A2&B2)
- Ensure that the data is properly formatted when encoding
MaxiCode
symbols for UPS.
- Highlight the cell with the formula in it and select Edit - Copy.
- Select the entire range of cells to paste this formula into
in the Barcode column and choose Edit - Paste.
- Follow the procedures in Word to add this spreadsheet as
the data source the mail merge.
- Add the mail merge field of Barcode to place the
barcode in the document.
- Highlight the «Barcode» merge field and select the
IDAutomation Maxicode font.
- After the mail-merge is performed, the barcodes should appear
in the merged documents.
- A working example is provided in the
Word Mail-Merge.doc file included
with the install package.
Crystal Reports Integration
IDAutomation provides a high-speed Crystal UFL for the font encoder
function. When distributing the report, both the ActiveX DLL and
the Crystal DLL must be installed and registered.
How the Font and Encoder Works with Crystal Reports
After installing the
MaxiCode Font
and Encoder, the encoder functions will be available
in Crystal Reports.
- The IDAutomationMCMaxiCodeEncoderMCSet
function returns the number of data segments contained in the
barcode and sets up the barcode for retrieval. All fields passed
to the encoder set function must be text fields or they must
be converted to text.
- The IDAutomationMCMaxiCodeEncoderMCGet
function returns a string for the designated data segment. A
correct barcode string is achieved when all data segments are
combined.
- When the barcode string is combined with IDAutomation's
MaxiCode font at 6 points, it will produce a readable MaxiCode symbol.
How to Create a MaxiCode Barcode with Crystal Reports
- Open Crystal Reports 9 or greater. Versions prior to 9 are
not compatible with the MaxiCode UFL.
- Choose View - Field Explorer. Select Formula Fields. Right
click and select New. Enter a name to identify the formula created
and choose OK.
- The Formula Editor should now appear.
- Copy and paste the code below into the Formula Editor
dialog box. The Crystal Reports
Example.rpt file is provided in this package
as an example, and may be referred to for troubleshooting
purposes:
stringVar DataToEncode:= {Table1.Field1};
stringVar CompleteBarcodeString:="";
numberVar i:=0;
numberVar Segments:= IDAutomationMCMaxiCodeEncoderMCSet(DataToEncode,2);
For i:=0 to Segments Do
(
CompleteBarcodeString := CompleteBarcodeString + IDAutomationMCMaxiCodeEncoderMCGet(i);
);
CompleteBarcodeString
- Change the DataToEncode = section
of the formula so it encodes fields from a database. While there are
a number of ways to
format encoded MaxiCode data, IDAutomation suggests using
tilde commands to format RS, GS and EOT functions with the "&"
symbol to combine multiple fields and static text. For example:
stringVar DataToEncode:= "[)>~03001~02996"
& {table1.zip} & "~029840~029002~029" & {table1.track_num}...";
-
The field where the barcode will live on the report
must allow multiple lines, because the formula draws the
symbol line-by-line. Format the field so that all borders
are removed, as borders will usually cause scanning problems.
Size the field so that it is large enough to contain the
barcode.
-
Choose File - Print Preview or the Preview tab. A series
of many characters will be visible in the text field; this
is normal.
-
After the font of the field is changed to the MaxiCode Font
(IDAutomation Maxicode) at 6 points, a correct symbol will
be created.
ActiveX COM DLL Font Encoder
Install the Font and Encoder by running the .exe
file provided in the package. Upon execution, this file installs
the TrueType font, implementation examples and registers the Crystal
and ActiveX DLLs. To register the DLL manually, perform the following:
- Copy the DLL to the \System directory.
- Register the DLL
by going to the command prompt, change to the \system directory,
and type the following command:
REGSVR32 "IDAutomationMaxicode.DLL"
After the DLL is installed and registered, it may be accessed by
any application that can retrieve a text string or graphic object
from a COM DLL.
When using the COM DLL as a graphic encoder, refer to the instructions
in the
ActiveX Barcode Control User Manual. When using the COM DLL as a font encoder,
the FontEncode function is used to convert the data to encode into
a string, that when combined with the MaxiCode font, will create
a correct barcode. The following is Visual Basic 6 code that places
the result in the "PrintableBarcodeString"
variable:
Dim MCFontEncoder As IDAMaxicode2Lib.IDAMaxicode
Set MCFontEncoder = New IDAMaxicode
MCFontEncoder.FontEncode DataToEncode, EncodingMode, PrintableBarcodeString
A Visual Basic project example is included with the package. These
files are placed in the destination directory upon installation.
ActiveX Encoder
Parameters |
FontEncode (BSTR DataToEncode, int
EncodingMode, BSTR *ReturnVal) |
ActiveX Encoder
Advanced Parameters |
FontEncodeAdvanced (BSTR DataToEncode, int ApplyTilde,
int
EncodingMode, BSTR Country, BSTR ServiceClass, BSTR
ZipCode, BSTR *ReturnVal)
NOTE: Generally FontEncodeAdvanced is not necessary because
when the DataToEncode begins with [)>~, the Country, ServiceClass
and ZipCode are
automatically populated. |
Java Encoder Integration
The Java class file was compiled with the Sun JDK 1.3 and is
compatible with Windows, Mac, Unix, Linux and other systems supporting
the Java Virtual Machine. To enable the encoder class library, copy the jar file in
the package to the system's classpath. Consult the Java documentation
or the organization that provides the Java virtual machine for assistance.
Integrate the FontEncode Method
After the directories are copied to the classpath root, the
method of
formatting data to UPS specifications to the font can then be called from a method in
a Java application as in this example:
import java.io.*;
import com.idautomation.fontencoder.maxicode.*;
public class MaxiCodeTest
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
char GS = (char) 29;
char RS = (char) 30;
char EOT = (char) 4;
String dataToEncode = "[)>" + RS + "01" + GS + "96336091062" + GS +
"840" + GS + "002" + GS + "1Z14647438"
+ GS + "UPSN" + GS + "410E1W" + GS + "195" + GS + GS + "1/1" + GS + GS + "Y" + GS + "135Lightner"
+ GS + "TAMPA" + GS + "FL" + RS + EOT;
MaxiCode mce = new MaxiCode();
System.out.println(mce.fontEncode(dataToEncode));
}
}
The data string returned by the fontEncode method will create
a proper symbol when combined with the MaxiCode font.
To install the font
on an operating system, consult the OS documentation or follow these
font installation procedures.
Unique formatting is required to encode MaxiCode symbols for UPS, and the output should
be always be checked for encoded data verification,
symbol quality
and bull's eye size. The following methods are provided:
ProcessTilde:
boolean getProcessTilde()
void setProcessTilde(boolean pt)
Mode:
void setMode(int m)
int getMode()
Zip Code:
void setZipCode(String zp)
String getZipCode()
Service Class:
void setServiceClass(String s)
String getServiceClass()
Country:
void setCountry(String c)
String getCountry()
Data To Encode:
void setData(String d)
String getData()
Number of Codes:
setNumberOfCodes(int n)
getNumberOfCodes()
void fontEncode(String DataToEncode)
MaxiCode Barcode Support
and Troubleshooting
While the below issues may relate to troubleshooting and support for the Data
Matrix Font and Encoder Packages, the resolutions are identical to MaxiCode and
thus can be used.
Alternative Implementation Options
In the event that the font encoders
and graphic encoders included in the
package are not supported in the desired application, consider the following
options for integration.
- MaxiCode may be printed on an unsupported system by using
a font encoder on a supported system to populate
a database with the "text string to print," then by accessing
the database from the unsupported system, which will have the font installed.
- The source code for any single encoder may be provided by request after the
purchase of an Unlimited Developer License.
- The IDAutomation
Barcode
Label Software Pro is a stand-alone
label design application with VB scripting support and database
connectivity.
- IDAutomation
Image Generators
create individual barcode images on Windows systems, with command line
options also available.
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