newsletter archives - October, 2004

Volume 9. Issue 10.

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New - Structured Append feature for the Data Matrix Barcode Toolkits

The new addition of the Structured Append feature to the Black Ice Data Matrix Barcode toolkits provides developers with the option of linking Data Matrix symbols together.  Using the structured append feature, up to 16 Data Matrix symbols can be linked. The original data or file can be reconstructed from the linked symbols regardless of the order of the symbols. 

A single Data Matrix symbol can contain up to a maximum 3,116 Digits or 2,335 ASCII characters.  By linking data matrix symbols using the structured append feature, developers can store over 49,000 digits or over 37,000 ASCII characters within 16 logically linked barcode symbols.

Try it yourself at /images/structappendindex2.bmp

Printer Driver Tips & Tricks

Why reinvent the wheel?  Using the Black Ice Printer Drivers with Microsoft Outlook

Developers can easily take advantage of the presence of Microsoft Outlook on a system to allow end users to email files generated by the Black Ice printer driver.  For example, if your application generates PDF copies of invoices, the Black Ice printer driver can be configured to automatically attach the generated PDF file to an email message.

To take advantage of this functionality, developers must configure both the Filename Generation and Start Application settings.  Using one of the exact filename methods, developers should specify an output filename, in this case “invoice.pdf”, and they should also specify an output directory, such as “C:\Temp”.

Developers should also configure the Start Application feature to launch an application once printing has finished and should set the full path and filename for the Outlook.exe as the name of the application to be launched after printing.  The Pass Parameters feature should be enabled and only the Custom Parameter should be passed.  The full path and filename should be specified as the Custom Parameter, surrounded by quotes, in this case we specified "c:\temp\Invoice.pdf".

Once configured, any time a user prints to the Black Ice printer, Outlook will be launched with a new email message containing the newly printed file as an attachment.

 

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