IDAutomation's ActiveX Controls are easy to use "drag and drop"
plug-ins for Microsoft® Access, Excel, Word,
FrontPage and other MS Office applications. The ActiveX Controls
support several linear and two dimensional barcode symbologies including
Code 39, Code 128, Interleaved 2 of 5, LOGMARS, Extended Code 39, GS1-128,
Codabar, UPC-A, UPC-E, MSI, EAN-8, EAN-13, USPS OneCode, POSTNET, PDF417,
Data Matrix and others. Using the control is a simple 3-step process as
described below:
Installation
- Step 1 - install the plug-in
The ActiveX Control plug-in must be installed in Windows® before applications
will be able to "see" it. IDAutomation has provided an installation
utility that will install the control on a local PC. The ActiveX Control
may be ordered
or a demo downloaded
from IDAutomation.
- Step 2 - insert the control in an application
After the plug-in has been installed on a local PC, the control may
be used in any application that supports ActiveX Controls. For applications
that are not listed here, search the application's help file for information
on how to use ActiveX Controls. Below are a few examples of implementing
IDAutomation's controls in Microsoft® Word, Excel, Access and FrontPage.
Microsoft
Word Installation
In Microsoft Word, choose View - Toolbars - Control Toolbox.
In the toolbox, choose the more controls button:
Select the barcode control from the list of available ActiveX Controls.
After selecting it, the control will appear in the document, the control
may be sized as necessary. To change the properties of the control such
as barcode height and symbology type, right click on the control and choose
Properties.
When finished, exit the design mode by choosing the design mode button:
To edit the properties of the control the program must be in design mode.
If there are problems editing the properties of the control, press the design
mode button to enable it.
Microsoft
Access Installation
In a Microsoft Access report in design mode, choose Insert - ActiveX
control. Size the control as necessary. To change the properties of
the control such as barcode 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.
Microsoft
Excel Installation
In Microsoft® Excel, choose View - Toolbars - Control Toolbox.
In the toolbox, choose the more controls button:
Select the barcode control from the list of available ActiveX Controls.
After selecting it, click and drag an area for the control to appear in
the spreadsheet, size the control as necessary. To change the properties
of the control such as barcode height and symbology type, right click on
the control and choose Properties.
When finished, exit design mode by choosing the design mode button:
To edit the properties of the control the program must be in design mode.
If there are problems editing the properties of the control, press the design
mode button to enable it. To link a cell to the data to be encoded in the
barcode, enter the cell in the "LinkedCell" property of the control.
Microsoft
FrontPage Installation
In Microsoft FrontPage, choose Insert - Advanced - ActiveX Control.
The control will then appear in the web page. The control must be installed
on every PC that accesses the web page that displays the ActiveX control
and the control will only work with Internet Explorer.
Step
3 - adjust the properties of the control
 After
the control is inserted in an application as described in
Step 2,
the properties of the control can now be adjusted. To do this, right click
on the control and choose Properties.
This section explains the main configuration parameters of the control:
NOTE: Many of the barcode sizing parameters are calculated
in cm (centimeters). To convert inches to cm, multiply the value in inches
by 2.54. To convert mils to cm, multiply the mils value by .00254.
- DataToEncode - The data to be encoded in the
barcode. Connecting the control to a control source will override this
field.
- SymbologyID - The type of barcode to be used.
The default is Code 128. For more information on barcode types,
visit
the bar-coding for beginners site.
- BackColor - The background color of the barcode.
- ForeColor - The color of the foreground text
and bars in the barcode.
- BarHeight - The height of the barcode in cm.
Default is 1 cm.
- leftMarginCM - The space of the left margin
in cm.
- NarrowBarWidth - Width in centimeters of the narrow bars.
This is also called the X dimension. The default is 0.03 cm, which is
about .012" or 12 mils. This value may need to be increased if the scanner
cannot read barcodes with small X dimensions. With a
high quality laser
or CCD scanner, this value may be decreased to obtain a higher density
barcode.
- Orientation - Indicates the orientation of the barcode. Valid
values are 0 (normal), 90 (vertical), 180 (inverted) and 270 (inverted
vertical).
- TopMarginCM - The top margin in centimeters.
- Wide2NarrowRatio - The wide to narrow ratio of symbologies
that only contain narrow and wide bars such as Code 39, Interleaved
2 of 5 and MSI. Usually, this value is between 2 and 3. The default
value is 2.
- AddCheckDigit - Automatically adds the check digit to the
barcode. The check digit is required for all symbologies except Code
39, Industrial 2 of 5 and Codabar. When using symbologies that do not
require the check digit, disable the check digit.
- AddCheckDigitToText - Automatically adds the check digit
that is encoded in the barcode to the human readable text that is displayed.
- CodabarStartCharacter - The start character for CODABAR.
Valid values are "A", "B", "C" or "D".
- CodabarStopCharacter - The stop character for CODABAR.
Valid values are "A", "B", "C" or "D".
- Code128CharSet - The set of characters to be used in code128.
Valid values are: A, B or C. The default is Set B. For more information
on Code 128, review
the Code 128 FAQ.
- EANUPCSupplement - The number of digits the UPC or EAN supplement
will contain.
- ShowText - If this value is yes or true, the human readable
text will be displayed with the barcode.
- SupplementToEncode - The supplement to be encoded after the
UPC or EAN barcodes.
- UPCESystem - The encoding system to be used for UPC-E, valid
values are 0 and 1.
UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13 Enter the data to be encoded without
any spaces or dashes. Enter the +2 and +5 add-on codes by just adding them
to the end of the string. If the check digit is added, it will be ignored
and regenerated to ensure that the code can be scanned. If the barcode is
rotated by 270, the top margin may need to be increased. For UPC-E, enter
the full 11 or 12 digit UPC-A code and the barcode will be compressed if
possible.
POSTNET and PLANET When using the POSTNET barcode, the NarrowBarWidth
of .045 cm should be used. For barcodes to be acceptable to the US post
offices, they must be between 22 and 24 bars per inch. Setting the NarrowBarWidth
to .045 should produce about 23 bars per inch. This setting should be adjusted
for the printer if the results are different.
UCC/EAN Code 128 This symbology option adds in the FNC1 function
and formats the output to print using Code 128. Use this function for UCC/EAN-128
applications when the MOD10 check digit has already been generated. Supports
UCC-128, EAN-128, SSCC-18 and SCC-14. The FNC1 code is automatically included
after the start digit; "ÊÊ" may also be entered between even numbers for
additional FNC1 codes. For example, to encode an SSCC-18 barcode, enter
00000123455555555558 as the data input.
Additional Properties and Methods
If the control needs to be distributed with an application or manually,
then the control will have to be copied to the "System" directory of the
destination PC, then type "REGSVR32 IDAutomationLinear.dll" at the prompt.
This process can be automated with installation utilities. When distributing
the control with an application, make sure to choose the option to register
it. Below is a sample of a SETUP.LST file used by the Visual Basic package
and deployment wizard. NOTE: Distribution of IDAutomation products outside
an organization requires a
Developer License.
[Setup1 Files]
File1=@IDAutomationLinear.dll,$(WinSysPath),$(DLLSelfRegister),$(Shared),5/19/00
1:30:04 PM,94208,1.0.0.6
IDAutomation's ActiveX Controls are packaged by the
Setup Generator
Pro application. In the Setup Generator Pro application, choose
the "Register as OCX or DLL" option for the IDAutomationLinear.dll file.
This is an easy-to-use, yet powerful application that does not have any
runtime requirements such as the Visual Basic package and deployment wizard
does, and it costs less than $100. IDAutomation recommends using this setup
application if the intent is to distribute the control to other PCs and
a setup application is not readily available.
Order a copy of this
setup application.
To obtain technical support for IDAutomation controls, please visit the
ActiveX Control
Technical Support Site.
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