Search Optifacts User Documentation

Table of Contents (on this page)

Introduction

Optifacts have developed this program to perform card and address printing using Zebra printers and related devices. The Optifacts system will create warranty card and address label files in various XML-based data formats. The files are output to a “Shared” directory on the Optifacts system, which is accessed by this program running on a Windows computer. This program will scan that directory, and every file it recognizes as a valid card or address file gets printed.

Procedure

There are two steps in this program’s setup that need to be performed. First, the user must read a sample data file that is printed. Next, a listing of the sample file’s XML data field names and their values will be displayed. The user must then format the label. Next, they decide which fields to print, the location where they will be shown, select font and font size for that value’s text, and select a printer. Next, the configuration for that label gets saved. The final setup step is to select the directory location where output files are stored and enable printing.

This program requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5 (or later) is installed on the PC running this program.

Below is a screen shot example showing a sample mailing label setup:

The Program’s Controls and Their Use

Click the Read button to begin the definition of a printing format. Next, the standard Windows Open File dialog appears. Next, browse and select a sample label or warranty card XML file created by the Optifacts system.

After you click the Read button, you will see a list of the data file’s Field Names and their Values in the left side grid control. Notice the data values shown on the right side of the program’s window in the drawing area.

Each Optifacts XML output file has a unique File Type name displayed in the File Type text box. You cannot edit or change this name.

Enter the size of your print card or label in the Paper Width and Height text boxes. Currently, the program is tested to display in units of hundredths of an inch. A box representing your paper size selection gets shown in the drawing area. That box will not print on the finished label. It is only shown on the display to help guide you in formatting your printouts.

In the printer drop-down box, select which default printer to use to print this File Type.

When a sample file gets read for the first time, the program will display a list of all values found in the drawing area. You should next enter the Paper Width and Paper Height for the form. You can then select values in the list with your mouse and drag them to the location you want them to print at on the form.

Move the mouse near the cross-hair mark of the item you want to select. The item nearest to the cursor gets displayed with an underline under its text. Once an item is selected, it gets highlighted in red. You can drag highlighted text using the mouse or use the arrow keys to move the text in the drawing area.

You can change the number of attributes of each text value. The checkboxes for each value in the list control allow you to make an item visible or hidden by clicking the Show checkbox. You can change the justification point of a text value by checking the Left checkbox. And finally, some text values will contain leading space characters. You can trim them from a printed form by checking the Trim box.

Right-click on a text value in the drawing area to change its Font and or Font Size. A standard Windows Fonts dialog will appear to allow you to make that change.

You can select more than one text item at a time in the drawing area. Next, hold down the Control key and click on the text values you want to change or move. To move them, you can use the mouse to drag the group to a new location or press an Arrow key to move them one pixel (at a time) up, down, left, or right. You can also change the fonts of multiple items at a time. After selecting the group of items, right-click on any one of them to display the Fonts dialog.

Upon selecting a text value in the drawing area, its location and font information gets displayed in the controls below.

Click the Print Sample button to produce a print copy.

After you have completed the format, you need to click the Save Configuration button. This will save your settings to the common application data folder. Thus, all users of this program on a given computer will share the common configuration files created for each File Type printed.

Printing Labels and Warranty Cards

After saving your print format configuration files, you can enable printing by setting up the controls shown below. Next, use the Browse buttons to select the File Source Folder, where Optifacts will save the label and card files. You can also have the program archive the files after printing by selecting an Archive Folder. (A future version of this program may allow you to reprint archived files.)

The printing cycle gets enabled by checking the “Print cards and labels” checkbox.

This program only prints cards and labels while it is running. If you exit or quit the program, it will stop printing!

Version 1.1 Enhancements

There have been several enhancements made to the program. The first to discuss is the new Printer Mapping feature. It is now possible to control printing by a printer routing tag inserted into the XML data file. Clicking on the Printer Mapping button shown below will cause the display of the Printer Mapping dialog.

In this dialog, you can enter the list of user names saved into an XML tag in the print file. First, you need to select that tag and then enter a list of user id values. Each value is then assigned a printer from the drop-down lists. If the file specifies a user id that is not found in the mapping list, then the program will use the entry made in the Default Printer selection.

Custom Fields

You can now create your printing fields that consist of plain text or combinations of multiple text labels and data fields from the data file. The custom buttons and added fields are color-coded in plum color, as shown below.

A new dialog, the Custom Field Definition dialog, is used to create or edit a custom field.

Up to 5 fields from the data file can be combined (concatenated) into one text string. Each can have a plain text prefix/suffix (which includes space characters) as well. The resultant Custom Field Value displays for your reference at the top of the dialog. You also can assign a unique name to your custom field. When you are satisfied with the look of the new field’s data, click the Save button. It gets added to the Field list and inserted onto the drawing area to position and size it as you want it to print, just like all other values.

Version 1.4 Enhancements

One bug fix and one new feature were added to the 1.4 program update.

The fix involves the removal of the error dialog that would appear if an invalid print XML file is processed. The program would halt and prevent further card printing until a user clicked OK in the dialog. The program will now silently move the bad file to the archive directory. Each bad file gets renamed, to begin with, the word “INVALID” as part of the new file name.

The new feature involves the new “If Empty Display…” column added to the configuration grid. You can now have a substitute field’s data displayed if a field’s data value is blank (empty). To choose a substitute field for another field, click on (highlight) the field you want to make the assignment. Next, click the “If Empty” button. This will open the “Empty Field Substitution” dialog. Another way to open the dialog is to double click in the “If Empty Display…” cell you want to change.

Scroll through the list and select which field’s data you want to substitute if the value displayed in the text box at the top is empty. Next, click the “Set” button to complete the assignment. Clicking the “Clear” button will erase any previous assignment. Clicking the “Cancel” button will exit the dialog with no change. Finally, you must click the “Save Configuration” button after making your changes for the changes to take effect.

The “If Empty Display…” feature also applies to values selected in all Custom fields you define as well.

Version 1.5 Enhancements

These new features will allow the use of Mail Merge features in Microsoft Word. The user will build a mail merge document using the XML tags provided by Optifacts within the specific job XML output file. To build the document, first, open the card template provided. This is saved as:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Zebra Print Program\warranty_card_template.docx

Color images can be used, such as company logos, etc., as well as dual-sided cards. To add a mail merge field to the document, choose the Insert tab within Microsoft Word and select the Quick Parts option in the toolbar. From here, choose the MergeField option in the list, and enter the desired field in the Field Name text box. This is where the XML tag gets entered for the desired value.

Then choosing OK will populate the field into the document.

*Important* - When saving these mail merge documents, they must get saved with the same name as the root tag in the XML file. For example, if you set up this template for a Crizal lens, and the XML root tag is as follows:

Then the card template must be saved as “CRIZAL.DOC_warranty_card.docx” This is how the program matches the XML file with the correct Word template document for each card. Also, note that each template should get saved in the same folder if all cards run on the same PC.

Next, set the proper paths for XML files and the Card templates:

The “File Source Folder” text box and the “Archive Folder” text box are where the XML files get sent for processing and saved after processing, respectively. Finally, the “MailMerge Templates” text box is where the user saved all the Word templates they built for the different types of cards.

Selecting the “Save Finished Mail Merge Documents” will save all finished documents after the merge has taken place, in: “C:/Program Files (x86)/Zebra Print Program/<timestamp><name of file> - Merged_Document.docx”

Example: 04212015 - 10-23-31 - SP1234BRI - Merged_Document.docx

Finally, selecting the “Print cards and labels” checkbox will start processing XML files, creating and printing cards.

To view and download these instructions as a PDF file, click on the following document image.

Click here to return to the top of the page.

Optifacts Knowledge Base

Optifacts Zebra Card Printer Program Procedure