Building Barcodes
Printer Error Messages
Printed Result Errors
Using BarDIMM from Microsoft Windows
Other Questions
Error Messages for Barcodes
I want to print the Carriage Return (CR) character inside a barcode. What do I need to do ?
Some barcodes format support full 128 character set, from ASCII code 0 to ASCII code 127 (bar codes Extended 39, Extended 93, 128A, 128 auto, EAN/UCC 128 and 2D barcodes). If you want to print special characters (ASCII code <32) with those barcodes, a "Transparent Print Data" PCL sequence (<Esc>&p#X, where # is replaced with the number of following data bytes to put in barcode) must follow immediately the font selection sequence. This is the only way to know how many characters have to be printed as barcodes. Please analyze the sample Code EAN/UCC128 test files for more information.
How to create a German Post barcode ?
To print the code with the correct layout, setup the p parameter with the value 124 and the h parameter with the value 300: <Esc> (s124p300h . . . . T
I can't access 2D barcodes on my BarDIMM product
2D barcodes (PDF417, DataMatrix, UPS Maxicode) are only available for the following DIMM-based printers: LJ 4000, LJ5000, LJ8000, LJ8100, LJ8150, LJ4100, LJ4550, LJ9000, LJ2200.
I have a LaserJet 5Si equipped with BarSIMM. When I want to print the PCL font list from the printer (through the control panel), the printer crashes. Is there anything wrong ?
This problem happens with the HP LaserJet 5Si equipped with a firmware earlier than 9.X. If you don't need to print font lists often, there should be no other problem. You may ask for a formatter upgrade for your HP LaserJet 5Si.
On my HP LaserJet 6P equipped with BarDIMM, the status page is jammed?
When the BarSIMM is plugged into the HP LaserJet 6P printer, the status page is not always printed correctly. This does not affect the printer or BarSIMM functionality.
After installing the BarSIMM/BarDIMM into my printer I get the error message "79 Service"?
Verify if the BarSIMM installed is compatible with your printer model. If you have a HP LaserJet 5Si, please verify the firmware level compatibility (7.X, 8.X or 9.X).
Barcode data is printed as text, or the printer goes into “ MEMORY OVERFLOW”?
A: The printer might not recognize the BarSIMM, and the barcode font parameters create huge fonts that overflow memory. Please verify the BarDIMM is recognized by the printer (all information in the “ Testing the BarSIMM ” chapter of BarDIMM manual).
My printer is equipped with BarSIMM 1.8c and my application prints pages using the HP/GL2 language. If there is more than one page, why is only the first page printed?
Some applications exit the HP/GL2 mode using an <Esc>E command instead of <Esc>%0A or <Esc>%1A commands. This created some problems with BarSIMM. This problem is fixed since the version 1.8E of BarSIMM.
I'm printing barcodes at the very top of the page, but the result is not correct, why?
As barcodes are printed at the current cursor position from the baseline to the top of the page, they may not be printed correctly (wrong height or caption text in the middle of the barcode) if there is not enough room on top of that current cursor position. Make sure you set the cursor in a vertical position compatible with the barcode height.
Under Windows, only part of the barcode is printed:
Windows setting might not be correct, or you are under Windows 2000. Please refer to the BDRVGEN (BarSIMM driver generator) manual for the list of solutions.
A big 'X' is printed on top of the barcode:
Data supplied for barcode is invalid based on the chosen barcode symbology specifications. The explanation for the error is printed below the bars..
39 barcode is much longer than it should be, typically as wide as the page
When you position horizontally the cursor using blanks to put the barcode at the right place, you must send the barcode selection sequence after sending the space characters to move horizontally. If you do not do that, the spaces are part of the barcode data and the barcode is much wider than expected (usually across the page). If you can only send the barcode selection sequence at the beginning of the line, use the special 39 symbologies with no starting spaces (IDs 24670 and 24671). This symbology will not include the starting spaces in the barcode data.
Using BarDIMMM from Microsoft Windows Applications
I open BarDIMM test files "BSIMM18.PRN" in MS Word, and then print the opened file. No barcode is printed.
Do not open test files in a Windows application, but copy them to the printer using the following MS-Dos command:
copy /b <filename> lpt1 where <filename> is replaced by the file name.
When I use the Windows driver generator, barcodes are replaced by text.
Make sure you are using a PCL5 driver (and not a PCL XL or PostScript driver). BarDIMM can only work with PCL-5 printer language.
Under windows, I don't see the barcode list in my font menu.
Make sure you used the Windows Driver generator for Windows 95/98/NT/2000. This program can be downloaded from this WEB site.
Under Windows 2000, the font list includes more barcodes than what I have in the PCM file generated using BDRVGEN, and some barcode data is printed as text
This is because of a problem in Windows 2000 support of external printer resources (like fonts). The list of "fonts" is not correctly updated and fonts which have been disabled are still available in menus. Windows 2000 creates automatically dummy TrueType representation of fonts it does not know (like BarDIMM fonts). Therefore, as soon as you integrate BarDIMM barcode symbologies in the font list, dummy TrueType fonts are created for display. Windows 2000 does not remove those dummy fonts when you uninstall barcode fonts, and even duplicate them when you install more fonts. This results into BarDIMM sequences being replaced by TrueType fonts downloaded to the printer.Therefore, it is mandatory to first manually remove all Dummy BC_ fonts from Windows 2000 every time you update the BarDIMM barcodes in the driver (please read instructions in the BDRVGEN manual).
I can not add PCM fonts to the PCL5 driver?
- Under Windows 2000, only HP compliant PCL5 drivers can be updated with external fonts. Some drivers do not allow to add printer fonts. In such cases, we recommend you switch to a standard HP PCL5 driver (LJ4000/5000/8000). The LJ4000 PCL5 driver from HP for Windows 2000, version 4.3.2.44 has been identified as being compatible with BDRVGEN 2.1
- Under Windows NT, make sure you have at least one PCL5 printer installed (local installation). Only 100% Microsoft compliant PCL5 drivers can be updated with external fonts. Some recent PCL5 drivers from Hewlett Packard do not use the standard Microsoft mechanisms for font registration and therefore can not accept additional external fonts. In such cases, we recommend to switch to a standard Microsoft PCL5 driver.
- Under Windows 95/98, only Microsoft and HP compliant PCL5 drivers can be updated with external fonts. Some drivers do not allow to add printer fonts. In such cases, we recommend you switch to a standard Microsoft PCL5 driver (LJ5 or 5Si).
No printer font appears in my font list?
Make sure the current printer in the application has been updated with barcode or MICR fonts. Make sure that you did not activate only the TrueType fonts in the font menu (Settings/ Control Panel/ Fonts/ Display/ Folder Options/ TrueType).
No barcode appears on the screen?
Windows can not display text as a barcode for text. And that would hide the data value from the user. All data appear as text.
Whatever I try, barcodes or MICR seem to not be printable from my Windows application?
Some Windows applications are incompatible with BDRVGEN.EXE, because of their text handling technique (character repositioning, TrueType fonts only…). This represents one of the limits of those applications and BDRVGEN.EXE. Under Windows 2000, the BarDIMM™ NT /W2K Driver plug-in allows most Windows applications to use BarDIMM barcoding system (Microsoft Excel, Word, Access...)..
When I print a document, all barcodes data appear as Arial?
You probably have forgotten to reselect the font size, and as the barcode or MICR symbology is not available with the default size, Windows defaults to Arial. Under Windows 2000, make sure you remove all dummy TrueType fonts before updating the PCM file for a driver.
Why can’t I resize the barcode from my Windows font menu?
Windows fonts are homothetic : the width is proportional to the height. This can not be applied to barcodes symbologies, so BDRVGEN defines the barcodes as bitmap (fixed size) Windows fonts.
What is the PCL escape sequence to activate the OCR-B font ?
<Esc>(1O<Esc>(s0p10h12v0s0b110T (bitmap) or <Esc>(s1p12v0s0b23590T (scalable).
How to stop barcode printing ?
You need to send any other font selection sequence after the barcode data.
Why are narrow barcodes sometimes not readable ?
In all laser printers, very thin lines don't have a perfectly clean edge, due to the toner particle shape which is not square. The result is that narrow black bars are wider than blank spaces of the same width. The solution is to tune the width by using the B and S parameters to reduce the horizontal width of the thin black bars, or the S parameter to widen the thin white bars.
Error Messages Bellow Barcodes
!Err: char = nn
Symbology: All
An invalid character was entered in the string to be printed as a barcode. 'nn' is the ASCII value of the character. Such an error occurs for example if you include a letter in a numeric-only barcode like EAN or 25.
Action: Verify the data for the barcode.
!Err: Odd
Symbology: 2 of 5 Interleaved, with/without CHK
The string you try to print in 2 of 5 Interleaved format has an odd number of digits. With 25 interleaved barcode, digits are grouped by pair. Note that if you use the 25 Interleaved with checksum calculation, you must send an odd number of digits as the checksum digit will round it to an even number of digits.
Action: Verify the string size, and send an even or odd number of digits.
!Err: Length
Symbology: All
Invalid length for data to be printed as a bar code. Can mean data string is too short or too long. Please read the tables and barcode formats characteristics pages in this manual.
Action: Verify if the data length fit the symbology specs
!Err: NonZero and !Err: InvVal
Symbology: UPC-E
There is a minimum of four zeros in a UPC-E barcode, and some position must have very specific values. If BarSIMM finds an unexpected value, this error message is printed.
Action: Verify if the data for the barcode fit the UPC-E symbology specs.
!Err: R/A/B
Symbology: French Postal 39 A/R
The French registered mail barcode must start either with 'RA' or 'RB'. The string supplied to BarSIMM to generate such a barcode does not start with those characters.
Action: Verify if the data for the barcode fits the symbology specs.
!Err: Fmt = 00000000
Symbology: Australia Post 4 State 37-CUST
The 37-CUST barcode encodes the DPID, an 8 digits number. The DPID string supplied to BarSIMM to generate such a barcode is not made of 8 digits.
Action: Verify the length of the DPID string.
!Err: Fmt = 00000000, <CustInfo>
Symbology: Australia Post 4 State52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET
The 52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET barcodes encode the DPID, an 8 digits number, and the customer information which can be encoded using the N table if it only includes digits. Either the DPID string is not made of 8 digits, or there is no customer information defined in the string, or the comma separator is missing.
Action: Verify if the data for the barcode fits the symbology specs.
!Err: CustInfo: nonDigit
Symbology: Australia Post 4 State52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET
The 52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET barcodes encode the DPID, and the customer information which can be encoded using the N table if it only includes digits. The customer information defined in the string supplied to BarSIMM to generate such a barcode includes at lest one non-digit character.
Action: Verify the customer information data for the barcode.
!Err: CustInfo > NN (where NN is a value)
Symbology: Australia Post 4 State52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET
The 52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET barcodes encode the DPID, and the customer information which maximum length depend from the encoding table (N or C) defined with the p parameter. The customer information defined in the string supplied to BarSIMM to generate such a barcode is too long, the maximum size is NN for the current parameters.
Action: Adapt the length for customer information data.
!Err: InvcharlnCustInfo
Symbology: Australia Post 4 State52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET
The 52-FF-MET and 67-FF-MET barcodes encode the DPID, and the customer information which can include encode a predefined set of characters. The customer information defined in the string supplied to BarSIMM includes illegal characters.
Action: Verify the Customer Information data.
