08/03/01 Zebra Technologies – Bar-One 6 Tutorial Rev 3 1

Barcode Label Design and Printing usingBAR-ONE 6

Tutorial

August 3, 2001

Rev 3

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Table of Contents

Introduction to Tutorial…………………………………………………………………………...3Learning the Interface…………………………………………………………………………….4Setting your program Options…………………………………………………………………….5Setting up your printer…………………………………………………………………………….7Starting a new label……………………………………………………………………………….9Adding a box to the label………………………………………………………………………...11Add a line to the label……………………………………………………………………………13Adding Fixed Text to the label…………………………………………………………………..14Creating A Database Query……………………………………………………………………...18Adding an ODBC text field to the label……………………..…………………………………..22Adding an ODBC graphic field to the label…..…………………………………………………23Adding a Counter (Serial Number) field………………...………………………………………25Adding a Formula………………………………………………………………………………..27Creating a Barcode on the label……………………………………………….…………………30Adding a Date & Time to the label………………………….……………….……………….…32Adding a Print Time Question Field..……………………….…………………………………..36Printing your label……………….………………………….…………………………………...39Printing Selected Records………..………………………….…………………………………..40

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Bar-One 6 Tutorial IntroductionThis document will take you through the process of creating a basic label in Bar-One v6. The label will use varioustypes of fields, including counter fields and fields connected to a database. The final label will look like this:

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Learning the Interface Bar-One v6 offers a new interface designed to simplify label design. Here some of the features:

Data Sources: displays the data sources and variables available for use on your label design. It allows you to createlabel fields based on variables by simply dragging and dropping them onto the design. You can also add, remove andmodify the variable properties by right clicking on them.

Document: is the frame showing the physical limits of your label design.

Workspace: is the central part of the window, situated between the Graduated rulers and the Scroll bars. It containsthe Document frame, as well as a non-printable area for inserting comments and objects that you do not wish toprint.

Objects: displays the number of objects created by type, and their properties such as position, height and width.From this tab, you can select an object and change its position.

Toolbars: These toolbars (along the top and left sides of the Document frame) allow you to carry out common taskswith a single click. Bar-One offers the ability to customize the toolbars. You can move, hide and show toolbars - aswell as add or remove buttons as needed.

Graduated rulers: These help you place the objects that make up a label with precision. They can be set in eitherinches or millimeters.

Data Sources

Document Workspace

Objects

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Setting your program OptionsBefore we create a label you may want to alter some of the program Options. Go to the Tools menu and chooseOptions. The Document tab will appear. Check the options for:

Load the printer settings saved in the document.Load the printer saved in the document.Open merge database with the document.

Click on the Display tab; set the Units definition to Inches.

Click on the Printing tab.

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Uncheck the Hide Cancel Print Dialog box option.

Check the Enable test printing option. Click OK when you are done.

Next, click on the View menu, choose Toolbars and then select Placement. The Placement toolbar will appear inthe upper right hand of your screen. You can drag the Placement tool bar below the Creation toolbar (the verticaltoolbar the “T” button). To have the best chance to see all available toolbars, make sure BAR-ONE 6 displays asthe full screen size.

Finally, click on the View menu again, choose Mode and select Content. This ensures that the program displays theactual data in your fields and not just their field names or sizes.

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Setting up your printer

To create your printer definition, go to the File menu and choose Select Printer.

The Add Printer screen will open:

Click the Add… button. Choose your model from the list.

Then select the Port your printer is connected to.

When done, click the OK button. This selects your new printer definition. If you are running NT, you will want touncheck “Direct access.” It may cause problems printing due to the way NT takes control of ports.

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Click Settings… to configure your printer.

On the General tab, set the Paper Feed Mode to Tear off and check the Back feed off option.

Click OK when you are done. Click OK again on the Printer screen. This will return you to the Design screen.

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Starting a new label.To adjust the label size go to the File menu and choose Page Setup.

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The Page Setup screen will appear, displaying the Stock tab.

At the Type prompt choose Zebra Trans Matte 2000.Set the Name to 72294.

Click Ok to return to the design screen. Your blank label should appear on the screen.

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Adding a box to the label

Click on the Rectangle Drawing tool icon.

Your arrow pointer will turn into a crosshair when you move it over the label. Position the crosshair in the upper leftcorner of the label. Then click and drag the pointer to the lower right corner of the label. Release the mouse button.

Click on the Vertically align button –

Click on the Horizontally align button –

The box must be selected for the alignment buttons to be available. Depending on the size of your monitor, they stillmay not appear. Any toolbar can be moved to within the design area of a label to make them visible and more

easily accessible. Click the 2 bars on the left hand side of the toolbar then drag and drop wherever you

wish for it to appear. The Placement toolbar could be positioned next toyour label while you design. You can also uncheck toolbars you may not need to be sure all needed options appear.

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To adjust the thickness of the boarder, double click on the line. The Shape dialog box will appear. Set the Lineswidth to ". 030. Click OK when you are done.

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Add a line to the label.

Click on the Line drawing icon -

Your arrow pointer will turn into a crosshair when you move it over the label. Position the crosshair at the 3" markusing the ruler on the label on the left side of the label. Then click and drag the cursor across the width of the label tothe right side of the label. Release the mouse button.

Click on the Horizontally align button –

To adjust the thickness of the boarder, double click on the line. The Shape dialog box will appear. Set the Lineswidth to .030. Click OK when you are done.

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Adding Fixed Text to the label.

Click on the Text generation button -

Place your cursor at the top of the label and click. A text box will appear. Click once in the box and type"Instruments Unlimited".

Click on the Horizontally align button –

Then right-click on the Instruments Unlimited field. Choose Properties.

The Text dialog box will appear, displaying the Character tab. Click on the Printer selection. This will display thefonts that are built into the printer.

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Change the Units pull down box to point size. Choose TRIUMVIRATE COND. for the Font and 16 for theHeight. The point size available may vary depending on which printer you are using.

Units

Height

Font

Click on the Paragraph tab and choose Centered for Alignment.

Click OK when you are done.

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Now let's add two more lines of fixed text. Click on the Text generation button:

Place your cursor slightly below the horizontal line you created earlier and click. A text box will appear.

Click in the Text Formatting control panel and choose 12 for the font size.

From the Placement Tool Bar click the Left Align button

Click once more in the new text box and type "Model:"

Now, lets add one more text field.

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Click on the Text generation button -

Place your cursor below the "Model:" field and click. A text box will appear.

Click once in the box and type "Serial #: in the box. Notice that this field automatically used the Font settings fromthe last field.

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Creating A Database Query.

We will now create a database query. This query will be providing data for fields that we will create later on.Click on the Merge menu and choose Create/Edit Query. The ODBC Query definition screen will appear:

Click on the drop down arrow for Select a data source and select MS Access 97 Database.

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The Select Database dialog screen will open.

Navigate to the C:\Program Files\BAR-ONE 6 Platinum\Tutorial\Data directory. Click on the VolMusic.mdbfile. Click OK when done.

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Click on volumes and then click on instrument and Picture.

Click the Save the query button

The Save As dialog will appear. Name the query Music and then click Save. When the ODBC Query definitiondialog re-appears, click OK.

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Notice that the Database variable now indicates it holds two items. Click the plus sign to display the itemsinstrument & Picture:

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Adding an ODBC text field to the label:

Place the cursor on the word Instrument under Database in the Data Sources. Click and drag the word onto thelabel design – to the right of the word “Model:" The Field selector tool will appear.

Select Text.

The field will appear on the label, displaying the data.

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Adding an ODBC Graphic field to the label.

Place the cursor on the word Picture under Database in the Data Sources. Click and drag the word onto the labeldesign – below the words “Instruments Unlimited”. The Field selector tool will appear.

Select Image.

The field will appear on the label, displaying the name image. Click on the Horizontally align button –

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Double-click on the new field. The Image screen will appear. Click on the Options tab.

Click the Other Folder radio button. Set the path to C:\Program Files\BAR-ONE 6 Platinum\Tutorial\Images andclick in the radio button for Proportionally adjust the size of the image. This tells the program where your imagefiles are and that you want them all displayed at the same size.

Click OK when you are done. The image should appear on the label.

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Adding a Counter (Serial Number) Field.

Right click over Counter in the Data Sources. Choose Add. A new variable called Counter0 will appear.

Double-click on Counter0. When the dialog box opens, enter the following settings:

Type: DecimalStart Value: 1000Reset the counter to: 1000After: 9999Increment after Having Printed: +1

The settings on this screen mean that the program will advance the serial number one time from each label - from1000 to 9999 - and then reset automatically back to 1000. Click OK when you are done.

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Place the cursor on the word Counter0 in the Data Sources. Click and drag the word onto the label design – to theright of the word: “Serial#”. The Field selector tool will appear:

Select Text.

The new field will appear on the label, displaying the value 1000.

This type of counter will not retain the last serial number printed if the label file is not saved when you exit theprogram or Close the label. It will maintain the serial number if multiple batches are printed while the label remainsopen. If you do want the serial number to start at “Reset counter to” value prior to reaching the “After” value youcan close and re-open the label without saving. An "Shared" Free field Counter that will retain a serial numbervalue with your label file is planned for later versions of BAR-ONE.

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Adding a Formula.

Formulas allow you a great degree of control over how data is displayed. Bar-One v6 offers many Operators thatenable you to combine and alter your data before it is even placed on the label design. It is possible to performcomplex calculations based on your data. We will construct a simple Formula that combines your Model and Serialdata into one string of information.

Right-click over Formula in the Data Sources and choose Add. A new variable called Formula0 will appear:

Double-click on Formula0. The Forumla0- dialog will appear. Notice the list of Operators displayed in the lowerleft corner:

Operators

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Go to the bottom of the list of Operators and click on Variables. This will display a list of standard variables thatcome with the program, as well as the variables you have created on your label (Counter0, instrument andPicture).

To create the formula, type the following in the white box: instrument & "-" & Counter0

You can click the Test button to check your work. If you get an error message, check your syntax. If you do not getan error, click on the Output tab.

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Set the Maximum length to 20. This is done to allow for the total number of characters in the combined instrumentand Counter0 fields. Click the OK button when you are done.

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Creating a Barcode on the label.

Place the cursor on the word Formula0 in the Data Sources. Click and drag the word onto the label design – belowthe word: “Serial#”. The Field selector tool will appear:

Select Barcode

The new field will appear on the label. Double-click on the bar code. The Barcode dialog will appear.

Click the Printer radio button and then change the following settings:Symbology: Code 128.Height: .0.495Narrow Bar Width: 2Type: BRotation: 0Click the OK button when you are done.

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Your bar code should appear on the screen. Click on the Horizontally align button –

You can scroll through your records by using the Find/Records buttons:

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Adding a Date & Time to the label.

Right-click over Formula in the Data Sources and choose Add. A new variable called Formula1 will appear:

Double-click on Formula1. The Forumla1 dialog will appear. Notice the Date & Time Operator:

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To create the date formula, double-click on the now Operator. The new formula will appear.

Click on the Output tab. Set the Maximum length to 20. Click the OK button when you are done.

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Place the cursor on the word Formula1 in the Data Sources. Click and drag the formula onto the label design –placing it at the bottom left of the design. The Field selector tool will appear:

Select Text.

The new field will appear on the label, displaying the current date and time.

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Now, lets place one last fixed text field on the label. Click on the Text generation button -

Place the cursor next to the date field and click. A text box will appear. Click once in the box and type"Packed by:" in the box.

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Adding a Print Time Question Field

Print Time Question fields require that you provide data when printing the label. These questions will be createdusing the Form function.

To create a Print Time Question, right-click on Form and choose Form customization.

The Form customization screen will open. Set Display form when printing to For Each Series.

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Next, Right-click over Form in the Data Sources and choose Add. A new variable called Var0 will appear:

Then double-click over Var0. The Var0 dialog will appear. Enter your first name in the prompt next to Local. Type"Enter Name" in the box next to Prompt. Click OK when you are done.

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Place the cursor on the word Var0 in the Data Sources. Click and drag Var0 onto the label design – placing it to theright of the words "Packed by:" The Field selector tool will appear:

Select Text.

The new field will appear on the label, displaying your first name.

Your label is now complete! Please go to the File menu and choose Save.

Name the label ”Music".

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Printing your label.

First we will print all of the record in the database. Go to the File menu and choose Print.

The Print screen will open. Click on the Merge button to activate printing of all records.

Your Form will be displayed. Note that your name is displayed next to the "Enter Name:" prompt. You can enter adifferent first name or leave your name as it is. Do not change the Instrument or Picture entries.

Click the OK button to start printing. All of the records in the database will print (10 total).

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Printing Selected Records

Next, we will print some selected records. Go to the Merge menu and choose "View the query resulting data".The Query result screen will open:

Select the records you want to print by clicking to the left of them. A number "1" will appear as you select records.This indicates that the record will be printed one time. You can choose to change the number if you need more thanone copy of each label printed.

Once you have selected the records you want to print, click on the Print button:

Your Form will display again. Note that your name is displayed next to the "Enter Name:" prompt. You can enter adifferent first name or leave your name as it is. Do not change the Instrument or Picture entries. Click the OKbutton to start printing.

Your selected records will print and you should be returned to the label design screen.