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How do I get my system
serial number? (back to top)
Unibar requires the system serial number from the operating system
in order to license our software.
BARZ_OUT Pro, Version 4.x &
5.x -- Type bzp -ir or bz
-ir, and send the register.inf or register.txt file
to techsupport@unibar.com
How
to configure CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) for
BARZ_OUT Pro? (back
to top)
- Create a RAW input file printer by selecting the 'New'
button.
- Select the 'Forward' button.
- Enter a 'Name' and 'Short description' to identify
the printer queue.
- Select a queue type (in this example we chose the 'Networked
JetDirect' queue type).
Enter the information for setting up the queue type chosen
(i.e. IP address and Port for the Networked JetDirect
queue type)
and select the 'Forward' button when finished entering
the queue type information.
- Select the printer type and select the 'Forward' button.
We recommend using a Generic printer type set to RAW
mode or 'Raw Print Queue' for printing with BARZ_OUT
Pro because other printer types might modify the print
stream before the data is passed to BARZ_OUT Pro, which
may cause the bar code(s) not to print.
- Review the settings and select the 'Finish' button
to add the print queue.
- The print queue should now be displayed on the Printer
configuration screen.
Print to the new print queue using BARZ_OUT Pro
bz
-CFGsample1.cfg < sample1.txt
| lp -d hp1300RAW
How to fix
stair stepping when printing? (back to
top)
When printing in a Linux/Unix environment the printed output
may appear to be incorrect or what is referred to as "stair
stepping".
Example:
123456
ABCDEFG
123456
To fix the stair stepping for the printed output add -LINE_TERM=LF_ADD_CR to
the configuration file. The Line Termination command causes Barz_Out Pro to send
a PCL Line Termination command to the printer. This instructs the PCL printer
itself to perform some character substitution. For example, it is common in unix
systems to have the printer add a carriage return whenever it encounters a line
feed, since unix does not typically use carriage return characters in text files.
How to obtain
a permanent license for Unibar's products? (back
to top)
See "How do I get my system serial number" above.
How to setup
a print filter on AIX? (Lasers only) (back
to top)
To create a filter on an existing printer queue (AIX)
- Using 'smit' or the GUI, go into the 'Print
Spooling' option
- Select the 'Programming Tools' option
- Go to 'Change/Show Pre-processing Filter'
- Select the queue you want to be filtered
- Select the 'User Defined filter 1'
- Set the command to:
{YourUnibarPath}/bzp -CFG{YourConfigFile}
Example - unibar installed in the /bz directory
/bz/bzp -CFGsample.cfg
- After you have set the filter for the printer
queue, go back to the 'Print Spooling' menu
- Select 'Change/Show Print Queue Characteristics'
- Select the print queue you set up the filter
for, in the previous instructions
- Select 'Default Print Job Attributes'
- Go to the 'Print file Type' section, and set
it to 'pass-through'
NOTE -- your printer must be in PCL mode
in order for this to work.
- Next, set the 'Pre-processing Filter Name' to
'User Defined filter 1'
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Set up notes
- Make sure you add the unibar directory your
search path (PATH=)
- It might be necessary to set the UNIBAR environment
string on some systems (see What
is a Base Directory or Environment String? for
mor information)
- When printing to the printer, use
lp -d{QueueName} {filename}
Example - printing the sample.dat file located
in the unibar directory, to a printer queue named "BZ"
lp -dBZ sample.dat
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How to setup
a print filter on SCO Open Server 5? (back
to top)
BARZ_OUT PRO can be setup as a Printer System Filter on
SCO. This causes the print spooler (the 'lp' command) to
execute BARZ_OUT PRO as a sort of printer option. Many
various configurations are possible, depending on the user's
preferences. This page describes one configuration in detail.
It also describes a problem we ran into, which is as yet
unresolved.
For this example, we used an HP LaserJet 6MP on a parallel
port, "/dev/lp0".
- Install Barz_Out. We installed it in the directory "/unibar/barzout"
- Create a filter definition file. This is an ASCII
text file, described in the SCO Help system. (click
'Help' on the main screen, 'Index', Navigate',
'Search', search the Entire Library for the word "lpfilter".
Scroll down a page or so and click on "Creating
and Using Printer Filters").
For this example, we created a filter definition
file, '/unibar/barzout/bzpcl.filter', with the
following content:
- Input Types: bz
- Output Types:
- Printer Types: any
- Printers: HpBz (the queue name 'HpBz'
is a user-selected name. We will define the
queue later in this example.)
- Filter type: slow
- Command: /unibar/barzout/bzp -CFG/unibar/barzout.bzp.cfg
- Options:
- Create the Printer Queue. From the main screen,
select 'System Administration', 'Printers',
'Printer Manager', 'Printer', 'Add Local'.
We gave the printer the following:
- Name: HpBz
- Description: HP Laser with Barz_Out
- Model: HpLaser
- Device: /dev/lp0
- Add the filter. In the Printer Manager window,
we selected 'System', then 'Filters..', then 'New...'
The FilterName can be anything, we used BarzOutPcl.
The Filename is the name of the filter definition
file created in Step 2) . We used '/unibar/barzout/bzpcl.filter'.
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Setup Notes
- When printing to the printer use:
lp -d {Printer Queue} -T{Filter
Name} {filename}
Example - printing the sample.dat file located
in the unibar directory, to a printer queue named "HpBz"
lp -d HpBz -Tbz sample.dat
- The "-Tbz" parameter to 'lp' is used to specify
the file type of the printed file. The SCO Print
Filter documentation seems to indicate that this
is unnecessary (that the filter can be defined
as working on "any" file type). In practice, we
could only get the filter activated when we specified
the file type explicitly.
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How to use the
print spooler for a serial port printer? (back
to top)
When multiple users print to a serial port directly the first user's
print job that is currently printing could be overwritten by other
users submitting print jobs directly to the serial port. One
possible solution to this issue is to configure the printer to
use the print spooler within UNIX/Linux.
The Spooler
The spooler is the main printing software component. The print
request is sent down as a print job and is placed in a print queue.
As the name suggests, a queue is a lineup of jobs waiting for their
turn to receive access to the hardware printer. The spooler monitors
both the queue and the printer. As the printer becomes available,
the spooler sends the next job for printing. Once the print successfully
completes, the spooler removes the job from the queue and moves
on to the next job.
BARZ_OUT/BARCODE 2000 Print Destination Table
The Print Destination Table allows the user to input the device
name (Logical field), location/destination (Physical), how the
data is handled (Type).
Sample Print Destination Table Entry
PRT_DEST =
{
Logical = MySerialPrinter
Physical = lp -dMySerialPrinter
TYPE = PIPE
}
Setup The Serial Printer
Using lpadmin, a command to configure the LP print service,
run the following commands (refer to your operating system’s
documentation for more information on how to setup a printer using
the lpadmin command):
- lpadmin –p MySerialPrinter –v/dev/tty1a
(tty1a is the serial port which may be different on your
system, check with your system administrator for more
information about serial ports)
- enable MySerialPrinter
- accept MySerialPrinter
By giving the above lpadmin command it will create
a Printer device. The enable command will enable the
printer device. By giving accept command, printer will
be able to accept print requests from users.
What is a Base Directory
or Environment String? (back to top)
The base directory is where all of Unibar's products looks for
any files without a full pathname. A "full pathname" is a file
name beginning with the '/' character on UNIX/Linux, or '\' or
'[drive]:\' on DOS or Window systems.
The base directory is established once per execution, by finding
'unibar.key'. Once the base directory is established, every file
is expected to exist relative to the base directory.
The following procedure is used to look for 'unibar.key'
- Check present working directory
- Check the 'UNIBAR' environment string, if it is
set
- Check '/unibar' on UNIX/Linux, or '\unibar' on DOS/Window
systems
- Check the explicit path on argv[0] (the program name),
if there is one*
- Check Operating System's search path
* - We determine if there is a search path on argv[0] by scanning the
program name backwards (from right to left) and finding a '/'
(on UNIX/Linux) or '\' (on DOS/Windows). |
Setting the Environment String UNIX/LINUX
system only:
- Type at the command line:
UNIBAR={unibar directory} (the directory where you
installed our product)
- Type at the command line:
export UNIBAR
The command above can be inserted into a login script so they
are automatically executed whenever the user logs on. |
Instructions for Windows Systems (NT/2000/XP)
- Go to Control Panel>System
- Select the 'Environment' tab.
- Select 'System Variable' by hitting ALT-V
- Select the 'Variable' text box
- Type:
UNIBAR
- Select the 'Value' text box
- Type:
C:\{unibar directory} (the directory where you installed
our product)
- Select the Set button
- Select the OK button
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