background image

User

 - The User format allows data to be written in a non-standard format.   The 

data density and bits per character are defined in the Setup Window.   The bits per 
character include a parity bit.   See Setup section for additional information.   The SS & 
ES characters, density, parity, and BPC are selectable in the Setup Window for the 
User Card type.   Information written in this format may not be readable by ISO 
standard reading devices (MagStripe readers), as the User format chosen may not 
meet the ISO standards requirements. 

RAW

 - This is not a true “Card Type”.   This is a data decoding & display format for 

the three tracks.   The text boxes display data in “raw binary” using the hexadecimal 
number format.   Data read from a card is decoded into binary starting with the first 
“binary one” bit (usually the first bit of a start sentinel).   All the bits (in Hex) are 
displayed and including approximately fifteen trailing zero bits at the end of the 
track data.   Writing to a card in this mode is not recommended except for special 
purposes.   When writing in this mode the data density and the number of leading 
zeros is controlled by the selections in the Setup Window.   Information written in 
this mode may not be readable by ISO standard reading devices (MagStripe 
readers), as the RAW format chosen may not meet the ISO standards 
requirements. 

Setup 

Setup is used to specify the track formatting used when reading or writing.   Two fixed 
track parameters are the track locations and the data encoding method.   Track locations 
are track 1 at the top side near the card edge, then track 2 and track 3 toward the middle. 
The data encoding method is F/2F.   These cannot be changed.   The track longitudinal 
redundancy check (LRC) character is automatically calculated by WorkShop and added 
to the end of track data.   Listed below are format parameters that can be changed: 

EzWriter format selections include: 

o

  The Data density can be selected as either 75 or 210 bits per inch. 

o

  The Start Sentinel (SS) location from the card edge is selected. 

o

  The limited selection of SS characters for each track. 

o

  The limited selection of End Sentinels (ES) characters for each track. 

The number of bits per character can be selected from 4 BPC to 7 BPC 

The character parity bit logic selection 

In addition to the formatting selections, selection of writing Lo-Co or Hi-Co type cards is 

provided.   Click the Setup button for the Setup window.   Two folder tabs are available. 

There are “default” buttons in each tab window; these default buttons force the format 
settings in the window to be reset to the standardized ISO settings.   See Appendix B for 
additional technical information. 

Note:

     Always use the Default Setup settings (unless there is a known, specific, and 

understood reason for not using the default settings). 

B & C Data Systems *  (541) 601-8282 * http://bcdata.com

16 of 42

Summary of Contents for EzW

Page 1: ...o communications Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user is required to correct the interference at his expense FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT This reader complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules Operation of this reader is subject to the following conditions this reader may not cause harmful interference and this reader must accept ...

Page 2: ... to obtain a Return Material Authorization RMA number instructions for returning the product THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE THERE ARE NO OTHER WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED OTHER THAN THOSE HEREIN STATED THIS PRODUCT IS SOLD AS IS IN NO EVENT SHALL MANUFACTURER BE LIABLE FOR CLAIMS BASED UPON BREACH OF EXPRESS OR ...

Page 3: ...uential Write 21 Read To File 21 Write From File 22 Database Application 22 EzWriter Technical Reference Guide 26 Introduction 26 Description 26 Accessories 26 Terms Related documents 27 Specifications 28 Environmental 28 Electrical 28 Mechanical 28 Performance 28 Durability 28 Agency Approvals 29 Interface 29 RS 232 29 USB 30 Command Response Introduction 31 Command Set 31 Data Formats 36 Mainten...

Page 4: ...EzWriter MagStripe Reader Writer B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 4 of 42 ...

Page 5: ... either RS232 or USB available through an attached six foot cable A separate power adaptor is required to supply the power needed for writing cards There are three sections to this document The first section provides Quick Start information covering EzWriter installation and installation of the WorkShop Utility Application software WorkShop operates with both RS232 unit and USB units and provides ...

Page 6: ...ocated in the card slot and must be removed prior to Reader Writer operation Remove the protective strip at any time by lifting it straight up and out of the slot The 24 VDC power adaptor is provided The adaptor input voltage range is 100 to 240 VAC and can be used in most countries The line power plug may need to be adapted to the power outlet connector Remove the power adaptor from the packing b...

Page 7: ...eated into the jack Connect the power adapter output to the power connector on the USB cable Finally connect the power adaptor to the AC line power outlet When power is applied the LED is orange for a moment and then becomes green If the USB connector is unplugged the LED will turn off If the LED does not light check the connections and the availability of power from the power outlet When the USB ...

Page 8: ...e and close the open windows If the port number is greater than 10 the port number must be changed to a number between 1 10 The new port number is set in the properties Right click ID TECH USB CDC MagStripe Reader and Writer COM x select Property select Advanced and select a number in COM Port Number menu box that does not conflict with another COM Port setting click OK and close the open windows ...

Page 9: ...p window appears when the communication link is verified If there is an error check the Reader Writer LED for a Green power on condition and verify the communication connections The initial WorkShop Window is shown above with the firmware version shown in the Message text box B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 9 of 42 ...

Page 10: ...n on each track of an ISO formatted card Entering more characters than allowed for the track or entering alpha characters into a numeric characters only track causes an error Track Number of Characters Type 1 76 Alphanumeric Characters 2 37 Numeric Characters 3 104 Numeric Characters Enter some characters to be written on the card into the track text boxes For example enter your name in the Track ...

Page 11: ...ter One is a Lo Co type and the other is a Hi Co type Either one or the other can be used The coercivity in the Setup window must be set to match the card used Click on the Write button The Write Card window appears Caution When the Please Swipe a Card window has a yellow background color and when the card is swiped through the slot the EzWriter changes data on the magnetic stripe When there is no...

Page 12: ... write operation when writing cards When a card is swiped the card passes over the write head first and then the read head This read after write feature is how the EzWriter determines a Write OK or a Write Error condition Reading a Card Quick Start When the Read button is clicked and a card is swiped through the card slot the EzWriter reads all tracks When reading a card the coercivity of the magn...

Page 13: ...andard ISO Selects 7811 ISO Standard card format AAMVA Selects AAMVA standard based on ISO Standards USER Selects the card format from settings in Setup USER tab RAW Reads writes data and displays in a Hexadecimal format Setup Provides selections settings of USER or RAW formats Leading Zero Sets number of leading zeros before the Start Sentinel BPI Setting Selects individual track data density 75 ...

Page 14: ...t for reading or writing a magnetic stripe This is the only box with a pull down menu More information is provided in a following section The next three boxes are text boxes there is one for each track Either the text boxes provide a display of the data characters to be written to a stripe or the data read from a stripe depending on the current function being performed If there is no data in a tex...

Page 15: ...ter include a parity bit The number of Data Characters given does not include the Start Sentinel SS the End Sentinel ES or the Longitudinal Redundancy Character LRC The SS ES LRC are automatically inserted into the data when writing to the card tracks Track Density Bits per Character ISO Maximum number of Data Characters 1 IATA 210 7 bits per character 76 Alphanumeric 2 ABA 75 5 bits per character...

Page 16: ...quirements Setup Setup is used to specify the track formatting used when reading or writing Two fixed track parameters are the track locations and the data encoding method Track locations are track 1 at the top side near the card edge then track 2 and track 3 toward the middle The data encoding method is F 2F These cannot be changed The track longitudinal redundancy check LRC character is automati...

Page 17: ...Format Tab View User Tab View B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 17 of 42 ...

Page 18: ...heck character LRC following the end sentinel The LRC is used for error checking the data bits The LRC is calculated by WorkShop and added automatically when writing to a card There are trailing zeros following the LRC Bits per Character The bits per character can be selected from 4 BPC to 7 BPC The standards are 5 BPC for numeric characters including the parity bit or 7 BPC for alphanumeric chara...

Page 19: ...a card is swiped This function is useful for checking cards to a standard card When the Compare button is clicked the user is prompted to swipe the card having the initial comparison data After the initial data is read the prompt changes and the user is prompted to swipe cards these cards are read and their data compared with the first initial card data The result of each comparison is shown in th...

Page 20: ...ection of the number of cards to be written Click OK to insert the starting number value WorkShop prompts the user to swipe a card to write After each swipe WorkShop displays the result If successful WorkShop increments the sequential number and prompts for writing the next card If there is a failure WorkShop gives a warning and prompts for writing the same number When the number of cards to be wr...

Page 21: ...reated using Excel the Excel file was saved as a csv type Any application program that can be used to create the rows and columns of information to be written to cards can be used to produce the WorkShop Database file The final database file must be saved as a csv type file for WorkShop database operations The Usage file in this example was created using Notepad The Usage file has two functions it...

Page 22: ...he default The DATA definition specifies the data to write on the three tracks When there is no data specified for a track the track is not written The csv file has 10 rows therefore ten cards can be written Each card is written with variable data from one of the ten rows starting with row one The data written on the first card is shown The number in brackets indicates the card track number 1 SLAM...

Page 23: ...VA In the next 3 lines the ISO default BPI is shown Change settings only if needed The tracks can have any mix of 75 or 210 value Only 75 or 210 is a permitted value BPI1 210 BPI2 75 BPI3 210 Use the following settings ONLY when CARDTYPE USER is selected Adjust the parameters to specific values for the application The ISO CARDTYPE format setting is shown as the example Only a specific limited set ...

Page 24: ...v means a comma delimited text file As seen in Notepad above and like in the Excel example each row is one record of variable information written on one card Commas separate each row into columns Each row must have the same number of columns Most text editors can create view or edit a CSV file B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 24 of 42 ...

Page 25: ...acent to the write head is an optical encoder which provides timing signals for writing to cards at data densities of 210 and 75 Bits per Inch BPI The encoder has a rubber roller that is moved by the card when the card moves past the write head The metal housing has an operation LED The LED is a single lens capable of generating three colors red orange and green See the operation section for the d...

Page 26: ...ncy Check a form of error check character MSR Magnetic Stripe Reader PC Personal Computer see Host PCA An assembled Circuit Board RS232 Reference Standard for serial asynchronous communication Slot The card path opening for passing a card through an EzWriter Swipe The operation of moving a card through the EzWriter slot USB Universal Serial Bus a high speed connection to the host WorkShop Trademar...

Page 27: ... track reading writing High Coercivity External switched power 24V 2 5 Amp regulated 2 1mm power jack center Positive RS232C 6 0 cable DB 9 female connector with a 2 1 mm power jack in the DB 9 housing USB 6 0 cable Serial A Plug with a 2 1 mm power jack in a pigtail extension to the cable 2 64 X 2 52 X 8 03 6 7cm X 6 4cm X 20 4cm 3 0 lbs 1 36 kg Die cast metal housing Zamac pearl white color 0 00...

Page 28: ...le connector and 2 1 mm power Jack are molded into the DB 9 housing The following is signal pin out of the connector DB 9F RS 232 connector PIN Signal Direction 1 Not Used 2 TXD Out 3 RXD In 4 Not Used 5 Signal Ground 6 Not used 7 CTS In 8 RTS Out 9 Not used CASE Chassis ground Connected to the die cast cover POWER JACK Center pin 24VDC In Ring Signal Ground Table 1 RS 232 cable Pin Outs B C Data ...

Page 29: ...olded into a pigtail of the cable The following is signal pin out of the connector USB connector PIN Signal Direction 1 USB 5V Not connected 2 Data In out 3 Data In out 4 Ground CASE Chassis ground Connected to cover POWER JACK Center pin 24VDC In Ring Signal Ground1 Table 2 USB cable 1 The power jack ground is connected to the USB connector ground B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 29 ...

Page 30: ...ver and an ID TECH supplied INF file There is no protocol envelope The commands are sent and responses received The Host software must deliberately take care with the timing and order of the communication process Command Set The EzWriter supports the following commands The responses are provided Command RESET BUFFER Command code ESC a Hex code 1B 61 Response none Description This command reset the...

Page 31: ... Hex code 1B 83 Response none Description This command is used to turn on the Green LED Command YELLOW LED on Command code ESC 84 Hex code 1B 84 Response none Description This command is used to turn on the Yellow LED Command RED LED on Command code ESC 85 Hex code 1B 85 Response none Description This command is used to turn on the Red LED 10 Command Sensor test Command code ESC 86 Hex code 1B 86 ...

Page 32: ...o 3D 16 TK1 TK3 3D means leading zero 61 TK2 16 means leading zero 22 Command Check leading zero Command code ESC l Hex code 1B 6C Response 1B 00 ff 00 ff Description This command gets the current setting number of leading zeros The first byte is for 210 BPI track s and the second byte is for 75 BPI track s Command Erase card Command code ESC c select byte Hex code 1B 63 select byte Response ESC 0...

Page 33: ...and is used to select the density of TK 3 D2 TK3 BPI 210 4B TK3 BPI 75 Command Read raw data Command code ESC m Hex code 1B 6D Response Raw Data Block ESC status byte Description This command requests the EzWriter to read a card swipe but send without ASCII decode Refer to Raw Data Block Raw Data Format Command Write raw data Command code ESC n Raw Data Block Hex code 1B 6E Raw Data Block Response...

Page 34: ...de ESC o tk1bit tk2bit tk3bit Hex code 1B 6F 05 08 05 08 05 08 Response ESC 30 tk1bit tk2bit tk3bit Description This command is used to set the bit per character of every track Command Set Hi Co Command code ESC x Hex code 1B 78 Response ESC 0 Description This command is used to set the Reader Writer status to write Hi Co card Command Set Low Co Command code ESC y Hex code 1B 79 Response ESC 0 Des...

Page 35: ...Invalid card swipe in write mode 34 9 Raw Data Block format Start Field EzWriter Data Ending Field Field Command ESC s Raw Data FS Code Hex code 1B 73 Raw Data 3F 1C Raw Data format Raw Data Char Code ESC 1 L1 string1 ESC 2 L2 string2 ESC 3 L3 string3 Hex Code 1B 01 L1 string1 1B 02 L2 string2 1B 03 L3 string3 Note L1 L2 L3 is the length of string1 string2 string3 None available or none data on tr...

Page 36: ...ode Reset ESC a HEX code 1B 61 WRITE DATA Example HOST Direction Command code ESC w ESC s ESC write command 01 01 ESC 02 23 ESC 03 45 FS HEX code 1B 77 1B 73 1B 01 30 31 1B 02 32 33 1B 03 34 35 3F 1C status ACK EzWriter Wait until swipe card Command ACK ESC status HEX code 1B status Status 30 no error Status 31 3F if error B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 36 of 42 ...

Page 37: ...X code 1B 72 status ACK Wait until swipe card Command ACK ESC s ESC 01 01 ESC 02 23 ESC 03 45 FS ESC status HEX code 1B 73 1B 01 25 30 31 3F 1B 02 3B 32 33 3F 1B 03 3B 34 35 3F 3F 1C 1B status Status 30 ok Status 31 3F if error B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 37 of 42 ...

Page 38: ...n five to ten times with the solvent side opposite the heads The cleaning cards may not remove all the debris In the case of debris such as dust and card particles in the slot use an aerosol can product having clean compressed air The clean air can be used to blow debris from the slot Direct the stream of air at a low angle into the slot and run the nozzle along the slot Direct the air in the dire...

Page 39: ...Appendix A Outline drawings B C Data Systems 541 601 8282 http bcdata com 39 of 42 ...

Page 40: ... 0 1 1 3 2 3 C S 0 1 0 0 4 4 D T 0 1 0 1 5 3 5 E U 0 1 1 0 6 1 6 F V 0 1 1 1 7 1 7 G W 1 0 0 0 8 8 H X 1 0 0 1 9 9 I Y 1 0 1 0 10 1 1 J Z 1 0 1 1 11 1 1 K 4 1 1 0 0 12 1 1 L 4 1 1 0 1 13 1 M 4 1 1 1 0 14 1 N 3 1 1 1 1 15 3 O DEL 1 1 These characters are for hardware control purposes only 2 This character is reserved for optional additional graphic symbols 3 These characters have the following mean...

Page 41: ... 0 1 13 3 0 1 1 1 0 14 1 1 1 1 1 1 15 4 1 These characters are for hardware control purposes only 2 Start sentinel 3 Field separator 4 End sentinel AAMVA Table 2 AAMVA Card Format Track Density Bits Total Character Set Start End Field bpi Char Characters Sentinel Sentinel Separator 1 210 7 82 Alphanumeric 2 75 5 40 Numeric only 3 210 7 82 Alphanumeric Includes ODD parity bit Includes Start Sentine...

Page 42: ...42 of 42 ...

Reviews: