Techniques Avancees CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack User Manual Download Page 18

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Data Source Sentinel

The

print document

is copied from your application into a directory. Figure

below illustrates how the Data source sentinel works.

Un ix,

AS4 0 0 ,
PC ,
…

Ap p lic a tio n s

Wind o w s

Station

Network

Se n tin e l

Prin t Pa c k

Network

D a t a

Directory
a c c e ssib l e from
the

Windows

station

1
0
0

C :\

Printer

Print document
is copied in the
specified
directory

Print orders

Figure 3: Functional Diagram

Adding a

Data source sentinel

is the way you define a data source.

The

print document

, whose format matches the format of the data source,

is analyzed by the

Data source sentinel

. The file mode method uses Micro-

soft ODBC 32-bit connections. It requires specifying a data source, so that
an appropriate analysis method can be associated with a file (identified by
its name, path, and type).

The data source will be associated with:

an output printer;

an ODBC data source; and

parameters characterizing the print job.

Data sources may be specified either directly from the

CODESOFT

Senti-

nel

Print Pack

interface, or via the configuration panel of the

Windows

station.

Summary of Contents for CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack

Page 1: ...indows based computer program for label printing Dis cover the simplest and most powerful way to meet your labeling needs CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack combines the user friendliness of a graphical interface with the high powered features of a sophisticated software program Copyright 1997 TECHNIQUES AVANCEES ...

Page 2: ...ms of the license is not authorized No part of the manual may be copied reproduced or transmitted by any means whatsoever unless it is for the purchaser s personal use without the written permission of Techniques Avancées Copyright 1997 Techniques Avancées All rights reserved Windows MS DOS and Paintbrush are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation IBM PC and AT PS 2 are registered trademar...

Page 3: ...ntroduction Chapter 1 Sentinel Print Mode Chapter 2 Sentinel File Mode Chapter 3 Error Files Chapter 4 CODESOFT Sentinel Interface Chapter 5 Appendix 1 Sentinel Print Mode Chapter 6 Appendix 2 Sentinel File Mode Chapter 7 ...

Page 4: ...Introduction Introduction 5 Definition of Concepts 5 How Sentinel Print Pack Works 6 ...

Page 5: ...es in a specified directory Consequently your application must be able to generate a print job on a server or copy a file in a directory that is accessible to Sentinel Print Pack Definition of Concepts CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack employs new concepts specific to the application We will therefore begin by establishing a mini glossary of terms used Print Server a PC running under WindowsTM 95 or Wi...

Page 6: ...etects a print document the module analyzes it transcribes it into print orders for CODESOFT Run Time and deletes it As soon as CODESOFT Run Time receives print orders it starts printing labels Using CODESOFT you will create your label s format background im age by inserting the information you want it to contain variable fields graphics or bar codes CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack interprets and re ...

Page 7: ...cument 9 Syntax for Direct Assignment 9 Syntax Assigned by Table 10 Characteristics of the Print Document 11 Header 11 Label Referred To 11 Delimiters 12 Same Variables 12 Combined Assignment 13 Label Recognition 13 Printing Via Network 13 TCP IP Protocol 13 ...

Page 8: ...onal Diagram By adding a Print sentinel you automatically create a Sentinel printer of the same name on the print server The Print documents stored in the print queue are analyzed by the Print sentinel which transcribes the information into print orders for CODESOFT Run Time The Print sentinel is associated with w a method for analyzing Print documents w an output printer selected earlier in CODES...

Page 9: ...ou can see the Print document duplicates descriptive label informa tion used in CODESOFT In addition to containing information that describes the label text files must employ a specific syntax for the assignment of data to label variables This can be done in two ways w direct assignment and w assignment by table Syntax for Direct Assignment A directly assigned file consists of variables whose valu...

Page 10: ...signment variableN assignment operator value end assignment end label start assignment variable1 assignment operator value end assignment The variables referred to will either be CODESOFT control variables or the label s Import variables Syntax Assigned by Table A file assigned by table organizes the variables into a two part table that consists of w a header specifying the variables associated wi...

Page 11: ... Header To be recognized by CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack files must begin with a header specified using the Sentinel Print Pack interface Example The default header suggested in the interface which is SENTINEL re quires files to begin with the following sequence SENTINEL Label Referred To CODESOFT Run Time print jobs must be associated with a label file name This can be done w either through direc...

Page 12: ...e if you take the trouble to duplicate it Example If the delimiter for the start direct assignment line is start and if a value must be assigned to the CSstart variable defined in a CODESOFT label write start CSstartstart assignment value end assignment Same Variables Same Variables allows you to freeze the value of a variable until a new as signment changes it Thus if a variable s value does not ...

Page 13: ...n end label or end table data delimiter Printing Via Network TCP IP Protocol If you are using TCP IP as the communication protocol to link your sepa rate networks you can use the LPR LPD services to print your print docu ments First you must install and start up the TCP IP print services on the Print Server which in this case must be a WindowsTM NT station When employed using an IBM network the ab...

Page 14: ...ASCII File Sentinel ASCII File Sentinel 15 File Structure 16 ...

Page 15: ...y Print orders Figure 2 Functional Diagram When you add an ASCII file sentinel you specify a directory dedicated to monitoring print documents The print documents stored in this directory are analyzed by the ASCII file Sentinel which transcribes the information into print orders for CODESOFT Run Time The ASCII file is associated with the following w an output printer selected earlier in CODESOFT R...

Page 16: ...s nor start and end of line delimiters However it is essential to enter a hard return CRLF characters at the end of each line in the file Note some delimiters are configured by default the assignment delimiter is defined by the character the data separation delimiter is defined by the character and the end of label delimiter is defined by the END character However all of the above parameters can b...

Page 17: ...Data Source Sentinel Data Source Sentinel 18 Structure of the Print Document 19 ...

Page 18: ...ntinel is the way you define a data source The print document whose format matches the format of the data source is analyzed by the Data source sentinel The file mode method uses Micro soft ODBC 32 bit connections It requires specifying a data source so that an appropriate analysis method can be associated with a file identified by its name path and type The data source will be associated with w a...

Page 19: ...at includes every variable CODESOFT Run Time uses to print labels followed by a group of values to be assigned in turn to the variables Each line of the Print Document corresponds to a label specification Here too the variables can be w CODESOFT control variables or w the label s Import variables Note To be recognized the header must refer to the name of the label to be printed Files appear in tab...

Page 20: ...me value as the pre vious label If not the field will not appear on the label LAB_NAME Code Name FirstName Address City State Zip LAB_QUANTITY identity lab 1969 O Hare Ned 4950 Ave NE Seattle WA 98105 1 identity lab 2001 Bowman Dave 1 Discovery Lane Pueblo CO 2 identity lab 2589 Thompson 2339 Broadway San Francisco CA 94123 1 identity lab 3154 Yee Emerson 2938 42nd Street New York NY 10032 1 ...

Page 21: ...Error Files Error Files 22 Structure of Error Files 22 Error Messages 24 ...

Page 22: ...ftware automatically deletes all errors recorded more than two days be fore Warning We recommend that you check error files regularly to avoid losing information on the functioning of Sentinel Print Mode or Sentinel File Mode modules Structure of the Error File The number of entries in error files matches the number of Sentinel mod ules specified in CODESOFT Sentinel Error files let you know which...

Page 23: ... 58 Label ident0 lab Error in the Print Document 3 in line 15 Unable to load the label in CODESOFT Printer 2 08 20 97 10 35 12 Label identhp lab Error in the Print Document 1 in line 15 Communication error with CODESOFT 08 20 97 10 37 00 Label identhp lab Error in the Print Document 2 in line 11 Line break character at start of the line invalid DSR1 08 20 97 11 29 21 Label identhp lab Error in the...

Page 24: ...abel in CODESOFT The label specified is not found in the directory indicated or in the default directory defined in CODESOFT The variables specified do not match the label variables The variable names indicated in the Print Document are not specified in the label No variable is specified in the CODESOFT label The label specified in the Print Document does not include any variables CODESOFT cannot ...

Page 25: ...haracter at beginning of line not found The line break character must appear at both the end and the beginning of each line break No data in table A table header has been defined but no data follow Line break character at the beginning of line invalid The line break character must appear at both the end and the beginning of each line break End assignment for system variable not found The assignmen...

Page 26: ... at least two identical Delimiters All Delimiters specified in Sentinel must be different Communication error with CODESOFT Check to make sure that CODESOFT has been loaded into memory Printing error The Print Document sent to the Sentinel printer is damaged ...

Page 27: ...ignated Printers Tab Section 34 Default Values Area 35 The Other Tab Section 36 Print Sentinel Area 36 Print Documents Area 37 ASCII File Sentinel Mode 38 The Control Variables Tab Section 39 The Re routed Printers Tab Section 39 The Others Tab Section 39 Data Source Sentinel Mode 39 The Control Variables Tab Section 41 The Re Routed Printers Tab Section 41 Managing Print Documents 41 Print Docume...

Page 28: ... other contains five tab sections where the settings for each in stalled copy of Sentinel Print Pack can be entered The command area enables you both to start up the application and add or remove a sentinel Print sentinel ASCII file sentinel or File sentinel Make your choice simply and quickly by selecting either a printer or a data source w printer Print sentinel w ASCII ASCII file sentinel w dat...

Page 29: ...ter button of the Add area Ä A window opens listing the printers installed on the Print Server and based in the specific printing pilot for the CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack application From the Sentinel Print Pack Printers dialog box you can select a printer already created Confirm button or add a new printer by clicking on the Add button Ä This brings up a Name field in which you can enter the na...

Page 30: ...o eliminate a Print sentinel from the Sentinels window select it then click Remove An analysis method and print settings must then be associated with the Print sentinel The following sections discuss the different tab sections used to configure your print jobs ...

Page 31: ...efine the delimiter identifying each start of direct assignment End of assignment this field uses a character or character string to define the delimiter identifying each end of direct assignment Assignment this field uses a character or character string to define the di rect assignment operator End of label this field uses a character or character string to define the delimiter indicating a separ...

Page 32: ...e start table header End of header this field uses a character or string of characters to define the delimiter for the end table header Start of data this field uses a character or character string to define the delimiter for the start table data End of data this field uses a character or character string to define the de limiter for the end table data Data separation this field defines the delimi...

Page 33: ...hile it is running Labels in the series this field specifies the name of the Series Labels control variable Copies of Each Page this field specifies the name of the Copies of Each Page control variable Copies of Each Label this field specifies the name of the Copies of Each La bel control variable Labels between cuts this field specifies the name of the Number of La bels between cuts control varia...

Page 34: ... Printers Tab Section This tab section can be used to specify the printer default settings number of copies etc and to select the output printer by default on which you want to print your labels Name This scrolling list allows you to specify the default printer on which CODESOFT Run Time will execute your print jobs ...

Page 35: ... of the Reference Manual Labels in the series If the document has no Counter variables this number simply indicates the number of labels to be printed If the document does include a counter this number determines the number of different labels to print that is the number of counter increments Labels between Cuts this number determines the number of labels to be printed between each break Initializ...

Page 36: ...t Documents for the Print sentinel Hyphenation characters CODESOFT Sentinel Print Pack limits the number of characters per line in Print Documents to 400 Depending on your working configuration the number of characters per line may be smaller and the hyphenation character enables you to exceed 400 charac ters by splitting the line into several parts The hyphenation character works in pairs it must...

Page 37: ... the file will enable you to check its validity so that it can be corrected It is up to you to check whether or not the file is present in the ERROR directory created by Sentinel Print Pack Stop if an error occurs if you check this option Sentinel Print Pack will stop automatically when an error occurs Keep the values of the previous label this setting option specifies whether the variable values ...

Page 38: ...directory to be analyzed Click on the ASCII file button of the Add area Ä A window with two print areas displays Name input the name of the ASCII file sentinel of your choice Directory specify the directory to be analyzed To delete an ASCII file sentinel from the Sentinel window select the latter and click Delete ...

Page 39: ...ction This tab section specifies printing variables and selects the printer on which you want to print out your labels see Print Sentinel Chapter p 34 The Others Tab Section This tab section specifies general parameters see Print Sentinel Chapter p 34 Data Source Sentinel Mode The Data source sentinel requires you to supply the name of a data source for use in analyzing print documents The data so...

Page 40: ...urces entered under Print Server From the Data Sources dialog box you can w Select an already created data source Confirm button or w Add or modify a data source Add Modify button Ä This will bring up the 32 bit ODBC management dialog box ...

Page 41: ...CODESOFT control variables see the Print Sentinel Chapter p 33 which can be used in Print Documents The Re Routed Printers Tab Section This tab section enables you to choose print job settings and select the printer on which you want to output your labels see the Print Sentinel Chapter p 34 Managing Print Documents You can check on the status of your print documents at any time during processing P...

Page 42: ... To eliminate print files select them then strike the Delete key on your keyboard Note Your files can be eliminated both while they are in the queue and while they are being processed ...

Page 43: ...Appendices APPENDIX 1 44 Print Sentinel 44 Table Assignments 45 Combined Assignment 46 APPENDIX 2 49 ASCII File Sentinel 49 ...

Page 44: ... Blvd 12 City Indianapolis 13 State IN 14 Zip 46241 15 STOP 32 Code 7425 33 Name Mason 34 FirstName John 35 Address 2421 Prospect Ave 36 City Berkeley 37 State CA 38 Zip 94704 39 STOP Direct assignment labels are defined one after another Header Name of the label to be printed Specify at the beginning of the file Application system variable no delimiters Specification of the label separator STOP N...

Page 45: ...ity State Zip 43 1969 O Hare Ned 4950 Pullman Ave NE Seattle WA 98105 44 2001 Bowman Dave 1 Discovery Lane Pueblo CO 81002 45 2589 Thompson Donald 2339 Broadway Los Ange les CA 94123 46 3154 Yee Emerson 2938 42nd Street New York NY 10032 47 2121 Bowman Dave 1 Discov ery Lane Pueblo CO 81002 48 4789 Thompson Donald 2339 Broadway San Francisco CA 94123 49 5688 Yee Emerson 2938 42nd Street New York N...

Page 46: ... 55 2339 Broadway San Francisco CA 94123 56 2938 42nd Street New York NY 10032 57 Code 1913 58 Name Mason 59 FirstName John 60 Address 2421 Prospect Ave 61 City Berkeley 62 State CA 63 Zip 94704 64 STOP 65 BREAK_LINE Redefining the Hyphenation Character 66 Code Name FirstName Address City State Zip 67 3684 Aberdeen Roxie 15 State Street Dallas TX 75043 68 4158 McDougal Craig 1 Airport Drive Chicag...

Page 47: ...e assignment operator be redefined in the file itself To do so just fill in the right system variable through direct assignment see the table of pairs making sure not to assign the same value to two different delimiters The new assignment takes effect on the next line Table of Pairs direct assignment delimiters start line START_SET end assignment END_SET end label SEP_LABEL table assignment delimi...

Page 48: ...period at the end of the assignment is necessary to indicate that it has ended If you want to specify a delimiter that includes as part of the delimiter one or more periods just double them in the assignment value to make sure they are recognized Example To redefine the start line delimiter just bring it up in the print file Example START_SET After this line all the direct assignments will have to...

Page 49: ...stName Warren Address 3434 Washington Blvd City Indianapolis State IN Zip 46241 END Direct assignment note that it is possible to specify another printer from the ASCII file THT_NAME Tec B572 PC 9719 PRINTER Table assignment each line corresponds to one label Code Name FirstName Address City State Zip 1969 O Hare Ned 4950 Pullman Ave NE Seattle WA 98105 2001 Bowman Dave 1 Discovery Lane Pueblo CO ...

Page 50: ...hange printers with each new label THT_NAME Code Name FirstName Address City State Zip Tec B572 PC 9719 PRINTER 1969 O Hare Ned 4950 Pullman Ave NE Seattle WA 98105 Intermec 3240 400 DPI PC9604 GENTEXTE 2001 Bowman Dave 1 Discovery Lane Pueblo CO 81002 Ubi 91 203DPI 8dots LPT1 2589 Thompson Donald 2339 Broadway San Francisco CA 94123 Note We have deliberately represented the characters CRLF by to ...

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