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OBJ INKdraw CB Manual - Superior Case Coding

1. Inkdraw returns a list of ink files found in the inkdraw files folder with the format DATA lt filename gt Request data of an object REQUEST object data lt object name gt Works on Both versions Inkdraw returns all data available for the object The format of these data is DATA lt field gt lt value gt Request parameter data REQUEST parameters Works on Both versions Inkdraw returns all available parameters The format is DATA lt field gt lt value gt Printer status REQUEST status Works on Both versions Inkdraw returns status of the printer online offline printing as well as hardware status fuses inklow Return format is DATA lt field gt lt value gt Available fonts REQUEST font list Works on Both versions HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 110 Inkdraw returns a list of all available fonts Format is DATA lt font name gt HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 111 Object commands OBJ will be accepted instead of OBJECT Create object OBJECT lt object name gt create lt object type gt Works on Both versions The object name must not be equal to an existing object Creates a new object with the specified name and type Valid object types are OTText text object OTCounter counter object OTBarcode barcode OTDateTim
2. DATA direction lt gt DATA leadin lt lead in gt Result from Both versions when requesting data of a counter Note that the current value might change quite fast during print Position and size are not send with counters inside barcodes or fields m9 lt lead in gt is either space 0 zero or none Barcodes DATA contents lt contents gt DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt DATA module lt module gt DATA type lt barcode type gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a barcode lt module gt will be either HSA original module or Tec It expanded module Fields DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt DATA data lt line 1 gt DATA data lt line 2 gt Result from Both versions when requesting data of a field object The number of data lines will equal the number of text objects in the field Schedules DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 118 Result from Both versions when requesting data of a schedule Dates DATA date
3. Figure 65 Prompt menu Setting a prompt for an object To be prompted for input before print follow these steps HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 91 e Select the object you want to set prompt for e Select a prompt type e Use the Add button e Expand the tree under the object including the branch under the question mark e Click on the type of prompt e Input the prompt text and the default value Prompt text and default value The prompt text is the text that is used to ask for the input For example the prompt text could be Enter type of fruit lf a default value is entered it will be there when the question is asked The input of prompt text and default happen in the two boxes that appear after Add is pressed 3 Fill in these fields Setting the prompt text and default value Prompt menu m Prompt edit Prompt question here There can be more than Expand tree under one prompt under the the object question mark and thus more questions for one 2 and click the object prompt type Abe Text2 E 9 Prompt O Text i Counterl Wi Time Datet Default value Default value herf Delete EFES Texti EEE Prompt Cancel Figure 66 prompt and default value lt e You will still get prompted even if the prompt field and or the default is empty Deleting a prompt for an object You can delete th
4. OBJ INKdraw CB Manual OBJ INKdraw CB is the software used to control HSAjet printers with the CB A PCl based controller board Some features are different from software used with previous hardware this documentation will only describe what is valid for the CB board Copyright 2001 2004 HS Automatic ApS OBJ INKdraw CB user s manual The content of this manual and the software OBJ INKdraw are copyright HS Automatic 2000 2005 No modification of the manual or software is allowed You have the right to use this manual and the software free of charge If you translate this manual to your language we kindly ask you to send us a copy This manual was last edited Wed Aug 17 2005 for OBJ INKdraw version CB 1 7 11 Written by Torben Dam Jensen For more information please contact HS Automatic ApS Byerringbrovej 70 DK 2610 Roedovre DENMARK Phone 45 44 94 02 22 Fax 45 44 94 03 33 hsa hsautomatic com Attp www hsautomatic com HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com Table of Contents Section 1 INTFOGUCTION cccccecceeceeeceeeceeceeeceeeceeeeeeeeeseeeeeeseeeseeeeeuseeuseesseuseeeseeeeeeees 1 WELCOME To OBJ INKDRAW 1 2 INSTALLATION OF OBJ INKDRAW 2 5 Section 2 TNC Can VAS sa a seen aaa e aa a eA a na aL Anaa ihent 7 PARTS OF THE SCREEN 3 8 CREATING PRINTING MESSAGES 4 15 OBJECT TYPES 5 21 OBJECT PROPERTIES 6 24 Section 3 Advanced topiCS ssssssssssssnnnnnnnnnnn
5. www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 S Impor from d Customers _ CustomerD CompanyName l l g BE Altreds Futterkiste Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helac Antonio Moreno Taqueria Around the Horn Berglunds snabbkop lauer See Delikatessen del p re et fils Select table Categories Customers Employees FreightR ange Order Details Slido Comidas preparadas Country Parameter Battom Dollar Markets yDistinctProductCo Table or query Table and query preview i list Figure 56 Selecting table to use th e an error Select a table or query that returns data Page 74 Select the table or query in the right hand part of the dialog box and see the preview of the data to the left Notice that you can scroll the preview field for more data In EXCEL you see the sheets instead of tables but from there the idea is the same If a query does not return any records what is called an empty set you will get Even if OBJ INKdraw does not let you connect fields this can be done in a query e The data access in OBJ INKdraw is read only You cannot alter any data When you press OK the database will be imported into memory If you are using a very large database this process will take a while Once your connection is set up the database button becomes active in the menu line X When using Microsoft Access it is a very good idea to always keep your records indexed Simp
6. 0 REQUEST connect c x ink RESULT Transmission OK 0 REQUEST object list DATA Text Text1 RESULT Transmission OK 0 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 104 RS232 Serial connection In serial communication you are addressing the message that is designed for the board you connect to Board is selected in canvas size or new menu If two open messages are designed for the same board you address the active message i e the message on top Files are loaded in the active window ALL communication must start with lt ESC gt ASCII 27 and end with lt EOT gt ASCII 04 The can be defined to a different character But you must use the same all the time Example To update content of text object 77 you send lt ESC gt OBJ T1 TEX This is the new text lt EOT gt OBJ INKdraw will respond with ACK or NAK before the data It is possible to concatenate several commands like lt ESC gt OBJ T1 TEX This is the new text OBJ T2 TEX This is the other text lt EOT gt Notice that there are some commands that do not apply to the serial communication especially those that deal with multiple messages HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 105 Language Protocol introduction Before the introduction to the language a few words on the
7. 12 05 01 Figure 14 selecting a date Date shift by year month day Normal operation is to set the difference in days only But in preferences you can select an option to set the difference in Year Month Days In that case you will have 3 separate boxes where you normally have the days input HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com fr OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 32 Time offset in months follow this logical rule Take the same date in the following previous month and add as many days as needed to make the date legal In other words OBJ INKdraw does not take the last day of next month if the date can t be legal As example 30 jan 2005 plus one month 2 march 2005 28 feb 2 days 30 jan 2005 plus two months 30 march 2005 30 mar 2005 minus one month 2 march 2005 28 feb 2 days 28 feb 2005 plus one month 28 march 2005 s e When selecting a date the Current date and the Date shift will overwrite each other as it is really the same setting you change e The box shown above will appear in the language of the Windows you have installed The strings that change are Today is and month names e Ofcourse you can also directly enter a date and not use the drop down menu e By using links on dates the destination offset will be based on the source date This is useful in prompts Setting time shift As you set date shift you can also set time shift This is useful if y
8. The important factor is the object name of the logo If a BMP file is copied to the update directory with the same name as the logo object name the new BMP file will be used Example Your logo is called pallet object name Now if you copy a BMP file to pallet bmp in the update directory this file will be loaded instead Update logo function works similarly to the buffer picture function lt e Notice that OBJ INKdraw does not scale the logo based on the file Instead the object dimensions are used All logos used this way should be same size x y Ideas for Update function e Generate things from other programs that OBJ INKdraw can t do example special barcodes special text like mirror special fonts non western text e Import from other programs such as acrobat Codesoft etc e Scanning applications where you load a strip of an image with every print HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 121 Section 5 Summary e You can control the printer remotely by RS 232 either from another PC or from a PLC Programmable Logic Controller e This happens by sending a string of commands with possible parameters e Another way to remotely control the printer is by utilizing the update directory This allows you to change a picture while in print mode e Remote connection allows you to fully control OBJ INKdraw for example if you wish to writ
9. This chapter will describe these objects Notice that the object properties are all described in the next chapter The objects are grouped into 2 groups geometric and variable objects The difference is the fact that variable objects are able to do more than the geometric objects They contain information instead of just representing a shape e All objects have a name by which they are identified Per default this name is made by the object type plus a number e g Ellipse1 or Barcode23 e You can rename all objects as you please the program will still function in the same way If you have many objects or if you work with databases renaming objects might be easier for you it is easier to remember the function of object names such as Address1 instead of Text1 e You can not have two objects with the same name OBJ INKdraw will refuse you this Geometric Objects Ellipse Circle Click the circle icon O Rectangle Square Click the square icon E Line Click the line icon N X e To ensure that a geometric object or any other object for that matter is horizontal or vertical or round or square use the grid See Grid Setup page 12 Variable objects The variable object contains information that can be changed during printout This can happen automatically for example for date time or by user input as described later Some objects can also contain other objects which will be
10. correctly interpret the answer from OBJ INKdraw these answers always follow a set of rules General rules for the answers e All answers are proceeded by a word and a colon e All answers are terminated by the hash symbol e All actions are terminated by a result with a result code Types of answers from OBJ INKdraw There are 4 types of reply from OBJ INKdraw The table below shows an overview of the possibilities with the text to scan for marked in bold Reply from OBJ Description TEXT text text text text Text information that is not directly data from the program for example the start up message with the HS Automatic ApS company name and program version REQUEST type of request OBJ INKdraw is asking you to enter Information terminated by the character for example a password DATA value of data OBJ INKdraw is returning data to you OR More DATA replies may follow each other for example in case of a file listing Each DATA reply will have one value For items that return more than one piece of data there is a descriptive name before the value DATA field value RESULT Result description code The result of the command This will always be the last reply to indicate that OBJ INKdraw is ready for new commands The result text is also followed by a code for easy identification HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 107 L
11. lf you have an application that modifies the database on line this function ensures that you have the most up to date data before you start the print function Prompt for username and password When a database is opened a box will appear where you must enter username and password With this option you can choose if the program should use default username password and or prompt you HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 137 Visual Always display header in design mode If this is activated objects on the canvas will not display the value of the current record but will display the field name example Field1 instead of ACME corporation Prompt Lock database to found record f activated the record that is found during a search see section on Prompts will be printed all the time Otherwise the printing will start from the found record Drag and drop Enable drag drop from entry list This option must be on for the program to allow dragging from the entry list to the object panel If off you can only drag field names SQL server settings Save local version When connected to an SQL server the retrieved database will be saved locally in case of network problems Barcodes EAN128 limits As mentioned previously the EAN 128 barcodes have application identifiers These are by default configured by OBJ INKdraw However you can choose if you wish to be able to re configure the
12. 61 example of 3 datasets number 9 Name Name Address Address City City City Record 7 Record 8 Record 9 OBJ INKdraw has the ability to use offsets on objects that contain a field The field with offset will get the data from the current record number plus the offset As an example here s how to do the example illustrated above HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 81 e you would create 3 text objects for Name 3 text objects for Address and 3 text objects for City e Inthe database management window see above drag the same data field to different object Here you d drag the Name data field to all text objects for the Name data e Click the button Offsets and Fields in the lower right corner e Fill in the necessary object offsets typically like this Notice how the offset is based on 0 e To avoid the same data printing multiple times choose a step value equal to the number of identical fields In this example 3 e Press OK Database parameters Object Database field Name itemID Name2 itemID Name3 itemID Figure 62 Database offset HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 82 Working with the advanced database module list print If you wish to have more fine control of the records that should be printed you can use the DB Management window Basically this wil
13. Pulses Fire Pasition mode Encoder calculation Calculate Pulses round Wheel diameter rar Figure 43 Encoder settings A few words on the encoder The job of the encoder is to accurately measure the speed of the conveyor Light from an LED or other light source is passed through a stationary patterned mask onto a rotating code disk that contains code patterns The disk is the heart of the device Photodetectors scan the disk and an electronic circuit processes the information into digital form as output to counters and controllers Some encoders have more than one disk this if referred to as a multi channel encoder When setting the parameters it is important to know two different numbers in order for you to calculate the mm pulse number which is how far the feeder moves for every pulse e The number of pulses in one full revolution of the wheel e The diameter or the circumference of the wheel By default the encoder triggers once on each signal You can improve the resolution by using a second channel and by using quadrature The figure below will illustrate By default the encoder triggers Channel A once in channel A per cycle CW rotation You can also use channel B S g ee ee E which is offset 90 degrees and you can use quadrature where you also get a signal on the back side thereby you get 4 times the pulses Channel B Figure 44 Encoders picture of 2 channels e The stand
14. Will loop at that record FIND Will search the first field of the database and start printing from there The search is CaSe SeNsltVe Logo Path The path filename of the logo file Can either be a complete path a network path or simpler written filename bmp notice the dot slash in front if the file is located in the logo folder of OBJ INKdraw Using the prompt before print When the print is started the prompt menu appears if one or more objects have prompts HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 93 The prompt menu that appears before print Notice that the prompt question appears behind the object name the two separated by a space Default value edit content box Object Name Question Stop print back to edit mode Figure 67 Prompted for input To change a default value or if there is no default to enter a value follow these steps e Use the arrows up down to change between the fields e Enter content as needed e When done press OK to print or Cancel to stop HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 94 Touch Screen interface 12 The touch screen interface in OBJ INKdraw allows you to set up a number of predefined buttons and fields and hide the standard screen during use of the software This way you can install the controller with a nice industrial looking touch screen and don t have to wor
15. allowed identifiers and their content You have two options e Use the default identifiers as setup in OBJ INKdraw e Use the configuration file installation directory init ean1 28 ini The file must be a standard text file with 4 fields per line each line terminated by a and each field separated by a Fields are e 1 App identifier number 0 9999 e 2 Only numbers allowed TRUE or FALSE e 3 max length allowed 0 no limit 99999 e 4 Check Digit TRUE or FALSE Example from this file semicolons in pos 1 starts a comment Ne Ne Ne 0 TRUE TRUE 17 TRUE 1 TRUE TRUE 13 TRUE HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 138 2 TRUE TRUE 13 TRUE 3 FALSE TRUE 14 FALSE 4 FALSE TRUE 16 FALSE lt e There is NO check of the validity of this file OBJ INKdraw may crash if you don t Ss keep the correct format of the file e f you choose to use this file you are responsible for the result Validation An important part of printing barcodes is the ability to validate that what you printed is actually readable If enabled the controller will expect to receive the printed barcode on the serial port If there is no barcode read you can choose what string the scanner sends Additionally you can set a signal on an output if there is a no read error or either of them The barcode data is logged into a text fi
16. an object In this example the field name CompanyName is assigned to the object Text1 Text1 will now change to Text1 lt CompanyName gt to show the connection ContactName sentative ContactTitle 7 Notice the way the cursor changes from a blocked sign to a square This is a sign that you have selected an object that accepts field input e Notice the special Drag to delete field name used to delete references e It is also possible to drag directly onto the canvas from the header list A text object linked to the field is automatically created S e Notice the difference between dragging from the left column where the field content is and the right column where the field name is If you drag from the left column you will assign the object that specific value So the object will not change with every print e You can disable this possibility in the preferences menu Removing the connection to a field If you chose that one of your objects should no longer be connected to a field use the special field name Drag to delete to delete all references to that object OBJ INKdraw offers you full control of what happens when sooner or later you reach the end of your dataset This feature is called looping Looping is controlled at the left side of the database management dialog box Loop Don t loop If you select Dont restart OBJ INKdraw will go through the data and will
17. com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 39 e By default all input boxes follow the selected number base Thus a maximum of 15 turns into a maximum of F if the hexadecimal base is selected e Checking the Decimal next to the format box can change this behavior HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 40 Barcode objects Barcode objects can operate in two different ways e Ina simple way is as a normal object with a value e Or in an advanced way is as a container for other objects The objects contained in a bar code must produce textual output and can only be text counter or date time There is no limit on the objects contained in a barcode as long as the total value for the barcode is still legal An example will help to illustrate the idea and the difference A standard EAN 13 containing the value 010812333344 with the checksum 6 automatically added 0 108123 333446 Value Check Sum Figure 21 Simple barcode An EAN 13 containing 3 objects 1 date and 2 counters Date 010812 Counter1 3333 Counter2 44 Check 0 108128 333446 Sim _ which still results in 010812333344 like before iran oanien a S When any of the objects are changed the barcode will change Figure 22 Advanced barcode f f Although the two barcodes shown are identical the content certainly is not s Sometimes contained objects can produce output
18. how the different sections uT of 70 mm has been marked as 3 n they go to different outputs This r pattern of course continues to a Data sent to output 9 12 and output 13 16 output 1 4 numbers indicating the number atl of total heads i The active print head marked in m7 gray indicates one band wT Data sent to output 5 8 i i 280 mm total E print height Figure 71 Canvas with rulers From above part of the canvas you can see that if you know where a print head is connected you will know where to put data for that head X e As OBJ INKdraw allows drawing anywhere on the canvas there is no problem in using several different heads to draw your objects in other words you don t have to respect the limits of one head output Connecting things In order to connect the printer and the controller this chapter will briefly describe how to connect the parts to get the system going Connectors on the print controller printer The printers are connected to the controller with 25 pin cables You can daisy chain the printers that receive data from the same output as long as you remember that the total maximum print height per output is 70 mm A simple drawing will illustrate the idea HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 130 35 mm printer 35 7 In this example 4 x 35 mm Controller 9 mm printer printers are connected to the 7 controller There will be two
19. is empty it will show the text Empty this text will be printed if the option Print if empty is ON Editing the field object content To edit the field object press the Edit Content button as show above A menu very similar to the barcode content menu will be shown HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 51 Object Name To edit the content of the field select the object type and use Add or Insert Add object type Se Field Editor Field2 Inserted object appear on Control buttons the object panel You can move objects or delete objects at any time To fill content into the inserted objects double Move up down click on the object name in stack Figure 34 Field Object content Content is placed in the field object from the top from left to right There is one difference from a bar code object the Separator A separator consists of one or more spaces when double clicking you can select the number of spaces It is used between the objects to separate their content A separator can be set to allow carriage returns and to force carriage return In the last case the objects on either side of the separator will never be on the same line SY e When word wrap is on two objects are split only when e 1 There is a separator between them e 2 Allow Carriage Return has been selected for this separator e Font size Font style and te
20. is printed Using the drop down menu The drop down menu provides a quick way of applying ink reduction to either selected objects or groups of objects i SJEN ils E Choose one or more objects Select one of the available styles of ink reduction Figure 52 Ink reduction drop down HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 70 S e The objects that have ink reduction applied to them anything else than 0 will show a little icon in the corner r R e A B Ink reductio is active for this object Figure 53 Ink reduction indicator e This tells you that ink reduction is activated for that object and what style it is e This icon will not be printed it is only visible on the monitor The ink reduction object panel Another way to use ink reduction is to use the icon so in the icon bar This will bring up a dialog box as follows Method select Object panel S InkRedForm _ olx No reduction _ z All Objects a c Masked Ink reduction 50 Level select 235 Random E Elipses 0 to 100 Ink reduction 50 BS Eb OC Ellipse 75 Ink reduction 50 H T Rectangles Object invisible 100 H Lines 4 WN Dates Times 5 Object groups g a E Tet Reduction for all Ink reduction 50 objects in group A A Ink reduction 50 Selected object HE Count i TE Reduction for single Object previ
21. lt expiry date gt DATA format lt date format gt DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a date time Note that it sends the expiry date not the current date Position and size are not send with dates inside barcodes or fields Parameters DATA start lt start distance gt DATA edge lt gt DATA signal lt gt DATA endless lt gt DATA mode lt print mode gt Result from both versions when requesting parameters lt print mode gt is M modular P position or V velocity Status DATA printmode lt gt DATA printing lt gt DATA status lt status gt Result from Both versions when requesting printer status lt status gt will be a text describing errors on the system for example 5V fuse burned low ink All replies RESULT lt error code gt Returns from Both versions after all commands send This will always be the last command send from Inkdraw and indicates the end of transmission HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 119 User managed buffer mode When you are using the CB board the normal process of printing is as follows controller Notice that OBJ INKdraw is contr
22. n minutes with needed figures only 2 nn minutes with two figures always 02 Ss seconds with needed figures only 3 ss seconds with two figures always 03 t time as a clock with hours and minutes 05 02 tt time as a clock with hours minutes and seconds 05 02 03 Z 1 1000 seconds with needed figures only 8 ZZZ 1 1000 seconds with 3 figures 008 a p time as am pm using one letter only a Capital letters will give capital letter in output am pm time as am pm using two letters Am Capital letters will give capital letter in output ANSEC animated clock with seconds This is a unique feature of OBJ INKdraw and is not related to Windows KM Clock at 11 23 04 ANMIN animated clock with minutes Ba This is a unique feature of OBJ INKdraw and is not related to Windows Ne Clock at 11 23 04 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Special Date Codes OBJ INKdraw The codes below are not standard windows but unique to OBJ INKdraw They allow you to show dates in ways that is not standardized for example to encode the date in a unique way These codes should always be put in like this J The special codes are case sensitive Page 35 Please see below Code Meaning Example for Saturday September 1 2001 05 02 03 008 HY day number in the current year without leading zero 75 will show as 75 Remember
23. next week otherwise use this week then add or subtract the number of weeks Example if today is Wednesday 10 selecting 0 and Tuesday would give Tuesday 16 next week since Tuesday has been passed while Wednesday would give today s date HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 36 Date menu Format code HWN Month names Monday a Tuesday B Wednesday ic i Thursday D Friday E Saturday F Sunday Booo Figure 16 Weekday Names Date menu j Week change Format code HMN Week names January JAN July po February FEB August jaa March MAR September SEP April APR October foct May MAY November Nov dune December Figure 17 Month Names Aakusta Aaren Aarika Aaron A date file has exactly 366 lines 1 for each day including Feb 29 Useful for special codes day names etc HS Automatic ApS Week Names With this option you can change the names of the days Simply enter a string next to the day name and press OK This setting is per object so other date objects may have different names for weekdays Use format code WN to use this Month Names Similar to week names you can also rename the months By default they are 3 letter codes used in English Use format code MN to use this Date File If you wish to define completely different ways of how they dates should display for example to print
24. of the SQL language would be beyond the scope of this manual There are lots of resources online for more information about the language Use for example http www sqlcourse com that has a live demo database for demonstration Quicker access to SQL data You can save the settings you have set under the connections to the SQL server The settings are stored in a simple text file with the extension sqs The file looks as follows example SQL Settings Server mysSOL Host servername company dk Database CompanyProductList Table products Query string select from products Notice that the username and password are not stored for security reasons To use an SQL Quick Connect File select patabase gt SQL QuickConnect Of Alt Q oe e You can avoid the prompts for login password if you store these in the You can save multiple copies of these files to quickly select different subsets of your data by modifying the Query String HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 78 preferences Uncheck the prompt for username checkbox and fill in the values and you will connect instantly Using databases after import Connecting data fields with objects Your next step is to connect the data fields with the objects in OBJ INKdraw You can only connect data fields to objects that are variable You should have objects on the canvas before opening the database management otherwise you
25. on objects and load logos You can also drag objects directly around on the screen Login screen This is the screen where the operator administrator identify themselves It is optional to show this screen on activation of the touch screen Administrator button _ Click this to go back to the edit function of OBJ INKdraw Administrator input Allows for input of the optional password for the administrator Administrator label Label that by default shows Password Logo User defineable logo BMP format Operator button Click this to start using the other touch screen functions Operator input Allows for input of the optional password for the operator Operator label Label that by default shows operator name Shutdown button Click this to shutdown the machine Prompts before shutting down to confirm Main screen This is the main screen that allows to load messages and databases and to start print Print button Use this to start print Activates the prompt screen Log out button Click to go back to the login screen Load message button Click to load a message Activates the load file screen Logo User defineable logo Shutdown button Click this to shutdown the machine Prompts before shutting down to confirm Load database button Used to load a database with the same structure as the current database Use to renew the data printed Dat
26. one type of printer only on one controller but both types have in common that you can combine the different types of print heads to a maximum of 280 mm print height Xaar or 50 8 mm print height HP per controller The configurations of the print heads is as follows Print engine type Print height in each head XaarJet 128 17 5 mm 1 engine 35 mm 2 engines 52 5 mm 3 engines 70 mm 4 engines XaarJet 500 70 mm 1 engine XaarJet 500CM HP 12 7 mm 25 4 mm 2 pens 38 1 mm 3 pens 50 8 mm 4 pens If you follow the general rule about a maximum of 280 mm print height you can combine the heads as you please for example one on each side and one on top of a box or two on one side and one on the other side Physical print heads related to OBJ INKdraw On the controller for the printers there are 2 or 4 plugs for data Each of these can run either 1 to 4 XaarJet 128 engines or 1 XaarJet 500 engine In other words each of these plugs have 70 mm or 4 times 17 5 mm print data Each of the 17 5 mm lines is also referred to as a band This concept is used in OBJ INKdraw Take a look at the canvas again where the different data areas are indicated HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 129 1 17 5 me 2717 5 mm 3 17 5 mm 4 17 5 mm 5 17 5 mm 6117 5 mm 717 5 The top left part of the canvas The active print head is marked in gray Notice
27. output Date is 01 09 01 for the example below You can combine several strings and codes like this Date is yyyy mm dd and time is hh nn dd Many places upper case strings will return upper case output Example mmm aug MMM AUG but they can t be combined Mmm returns 808 since it s interpreted as 2 times month numbers one without zero in front In that case use capitalized as option for the object Some of the codes are not standard windows but unique to OBJ INKdraw These should always be put in like this J HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 34 Examples will be shown for the date Saturday September 1 2001 05 02 03 008 Standard date codes Windows Format Meaning Example element d day as anumber with the needed figures only 1 dd day as a number with two figures always 01 ddd day as a string in short format Example mo so Sa dddd day as a string Saturday ddddd date month and year as figures 01 09 01 dddddd date month and year 1 m month as a number with the needed figures only 9 mm month as a number with two figures always 09 mmm month as a string in short format Sep mmmm month as a string September yy year as a number with two figures only 01 yyyy year with four figures 2001 h hours with needed figures only 5 hh hours with two figures always 05
28. print go command loads one print to the printhead Use this command with the user managed buffer HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 108 Direct access of database COMMAND A lt record 1 gt lt record 2 gt lt record 3 gt Works on Both versions but only if the direct access feature is enabled and a database loaded The command loads the record numbers used for the direct access feature HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 109 Requests REQ is accepted instead of REQUEST Connect to message REQUEST connect lt message name gt Works on Multitask Inkdraw only Connects to the specified message File type ink is mandatory If just file name is given file is loaded from files directory Does not work on seriel List of open layouts REQUEST messages REQUEST file list Works on Multitask Inkdraw only Returns a list of open layouts Format is DATA lt layout name gt Does not work on seriel Request list of objects REQUEST object list Works on Both versions in multitask Inkdraw you need to be connected to a layout Inkdraw returns a list of objects from the current layout all having the format DATA lt object type gt lt object name gt Contents of files directory REQUEST dir REQUEST directory Works on Both versions
29. set the rights on the database server to not allow the print controller do use these functions e OBJ INKdraw contains a default Ban list of dangerous command This list can also be extended by creating a text file called sqlblock txt in the OBJ INKdraw database directory with the commands listed Without this file the following commands are allowed and can destroy your data DELETE INSERT ALTER UPDATE DROP CREATE REPLACE USE DESCRIBE LOCK COMMIT ROLLBACK At the moment OBJ INKdraw supports two of the most popular SQL servers MySQL which is an open source product and MS SQL from Microsoft e When talking about SQL database servers it is important not to confuse the terms e The database server is the machine you connect to e The database is one of the several possible collections of data on this machine e Each database may contain several tables Connecting to an SQL server The process of connecting to an SQL server consists of 4 steps e Select a server type to connect to e Input the server name this is an ethernet name either as a machine name or an IP number example databaseserver mycompany com or 192 168 4 99 e Input the database name on the server e Input the table from the database Once these items have been selected you can save them as an SQL Quick Connect File to allow simpler access next time To connect to an SQL server use Database gt Connect to SQL server OF Al1t tL HS Automatic ApS ht
30. stop the printing when the end is reached Otherwise select an entry to start from HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 80 Start loop at entry The row numbers for start and loop end If a start entry higher than 1 one is selected the entry where the looping starts from can be either 1 one or the selected start entry For example you can set the start to 5 the end to 10 and the loop start to 1 This will print 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 and is useful if you need to start in the middle of a production You can search the first field of the database for a value to quickly find the start entry Step Set the number of rows entries that OBJ INKdraw should jump with each print For example to print only every second or third row set this number to 2 or 3 e If you wish to select your file content from a database but wish to print the same information all the time simply choose a step value of 0 Offsets Sometimes it is necessary to print more than one dataset per message For example this is the case when printing labels tickets etc where there are two or more columns per row An illustration of this is below This shows an example of 3 Name datasets printed in the same Address message the boxes could illustrate for example labels or tickets The left most is database record number 7 the middle number 8 and the right most Figure
31. stretch the barcode mni Barcode menu x Checksum IV Checksum V Show checksum Cancel Figure 25 Checksum settings for barcode Page 44 Change frame on the top sides Compensate for ink saturation Toggle readable characters Module count reserved for scaleable barcodes to lock them to integer sizes When the human readable text is on you can change the font as with the text object On some bar code formats you can also change the font size The checksum dialog for a barcode Only barcodes with optional checksums allow these values to be changed Otherwise they will be grayed out The EAN 128 is able to do even more than described here which will be explained separately HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 45 Il Barcode menu Visual Checksum i Th van for Control uttons Object types Properties Object Name e advanced setup to add barcodes work in quite a similar way to the object panel Select an object type or an object Then use add insert or delete to modify the list Delete The barcode will be built up from left to right with the objects from top to bottom You can rename objects using the object name Object stacking Object List buttons box Remember to press Figure 26 Barcode content setup enter You can also change the order of object using the stacking buttons Once objects h
32. syntax used in this documentation e Everything in lt gt symbolizes a placeholder for example lt username gt means that you should replace everything including the brackets with a username e Everything in is optional and often depends on the preceeding command e You shuold include and in the command line There is no before e You must terminal all commands by likewise OBJ INKdraw will terminate all replies with the character e Line feeds are not used they are only shown in this guide for visualization and readability The communication works by sending a string to OBJ INKdraw which is then interpreted and replied to You have a number of different basic statements you can send to the IPC Type of statement DESCRIPTION COMMAND lt string gt Basic commands for the IPC for example for stopping starting loading a message and shutting down the machine OBJECT lt object name gt lt command gt lt data gt Manipulation of an object on the canvas REQUEST lt variable gt lt other data gt Makes OBJ INKdraw return information to you PARAMETER lt type gt lt value gt Change parameters in OBJ INKdraw HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 106 Answers and results returned by OBJ INKdraw When you have sent a command to OBJ INKdraw you will get a result back In order for you to
33. that makes the barcodes invalid This is lt typically the case with date objects where you have separators Some bar codes allow these others do not It is your own responsibility to make sure this does not happen HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 41 Changing properties for simple barcodes The properties for changing barcodes in the simple way are located to the right of the lock symbol Type You can choose between many Original different kinds of barcode symbologies Symbology Expanded barcodes oe Content After changing the value EANT3 es modu g g s f INKdraw org press enter to update This field 12345678901 28 un I s Empended _ becomes read only if the barcode Content contains other objects simple Figure 23 Properties for barcodes Advanced setup Advanced setup Use this button to enter the advanced setup Original expanded barcodes see note below lt e The module type for the barcode is an option between two types of barcode modules e The orinial INKdraw module e A module that allows stretchable barcodes plus 2D codes lt e OBJ INKdraw gives you many options with the barcodes Some of these may cause the bar codes to be outside the specifications when printed e You are responsible for the proper creation and validation of the barcodes e Where the standard barcodes will compensate for content out of the specificatio
34. the printer shoots every time Each burst is about 0 13 mm wide Tickle If the automatic spitting is undesired the tickle function can be activated This makes the printer vibrate when it is not printing but not enough to actually make a shot This is however quite hard on the printer and will decrease the engine lifetime HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 67 Purge print engines Each of the buttons at the bottom will activate the purge function on two print engines as long as they are pressed This will make the engines shoot at full capacity a good way to test for missing nozzles in the print Test I O On the Test I O tab you can find out if the externally connected sensor and encoder are functioning as they should This menu is not available without a controller board Seso __ Encoder f To test the I O functions press the Start button On activation of the sensor and the encoder p Input 1 j pipt you can see the corresponding field flash in black and white Start Stop Figure 50 Testing V O Firmware The system information section in the parameters setup is not a parameter as such as it is read only Here you can see information about which controller board you have and information about the eprom Use this information when reporting errors to help us identify your hardware This menu is not avail
35. the printer no matter what unit you prefer to work in HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 12 e Pix for pixels which is measured by dots on the final printout e Mm which is the metric system e Inc for inches e points A typographic unit of measure Usually 72 points to an Inch Cursor This changes the shape of the cursor Change along with the units in preferences e Crosshair is visualized by a horizontal and a vertical line which goes though the entire drawing e Hand Point is when the cursor is a pointing finger with a small cross at the end e Cross is when the cursor is pictured as a cross Grid The grid is the rows and lines of small dots shown in the message They will not be printed but help you to align the objects with each other When the grid snap is on you can not draw outside the grid points This is helpful to guarantee absolute precision when drawing To set grid properties use the parameter menu Grid visibility can be turned on off by Ctr1 G or View Grid but the grid will continue to snap Rulers The rulers show where you are in the drawing Ctr1 R or View gt Rulers turns the rulers on and off Object Panel The object panel allows you to see the objects in the current message You can turn the panel on and off with Ctr1 A1t 0 or View gt Object Panel e You can use the mouse to adjust the width of the object panel by dragging the
36. the start of the result of a correctly changed language file All parts have were translated have been prefixed and suffixed with xxxx Status panel Origin xxxx Origin XXXX Current xxxx Current xXxxx View XXxXX View XXXX Absolutte xxxx A XXXX Realtive xxxx R XXXX Main menu File xxxx amp File xxxx File gt New xxxx amp NeW XXXX File gt Open xxxx amp Open XXXX File gt Save xxxx amp Save XXXX File gt Save as xxxx Save amp S XXXX File gt Exit xxxx E amp xXit XXXX What you do as OBJ INKdraw evolves As OBJ INKdraw evolves new functions are added others are changed This of course affects the language file But there is no need for you to rewrite everything from scratch OBJ INKdraw can look through the current language file for you and insert all new lines optionally marking them with a tag you define HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 125 Upgrading your language file e Install the new OBJ INKdraw e Copy your translated language file to the language subdirectory of the installation directory e Select that language e Use the preferences to update the language e Enter a tag if you want What you enter is not important the tag will be inserted next to the new text in your language file but a good idea is to enter something that is easy to find You can use your own name for example e If your file is already up t
37. to stop printing based on the value entered in the sit Cost Calculation menu The cost is in no special currency Object with watch Object Value If the serial connection is enabled you will see the data transfered below the print costs Cost of printing so far jinting E Press lt ESC gt to stop printing Figure 74 print monitor showing costs Regional settings The regional settings is where you modify OBJ INKdraw to work under your local settings The two main aspects of this adjustment are font and date input format HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 133 Main Font The font to use for menus in OBJ INKdraw This is mostly useful in cases where a different font is needed typically where the latin fonts are not used asia middle east In line with the font you must also choose a character set to be able to display international characters properly Main character set Change your character set here if you operate OBJ INKdraw in a non English windows Language Select new lanquage The settings panel will show a list of available language files To change the language simply select one of the files and click OK Update a language To make sure that the language file is up to date use the update language button This allows you to re create the language file and optionally insert a marker string where new items are added That way you can easil
38. window will appear where you can choose the identifier and at the same time see it s properties Selecting an EAN128 identifier You can use the arrows or enter the number if you know it At the same time you can see the properties Fixed length this part of the barcode will always have the same length EAN128 Application identifier Application Fixed Max Check Only identifier length length digit Numbers ZZ i Vv Cancel Figure 29 Application Identifier for EAN128 barcode Check digit Is a check number calculated for this part of the bar code Max length the length of this part of the Only numbers If on alpha numeric input is not accepted HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 47 The application identifiers are shown as two digit numbers inside in the readable text of the barcode Here the identifiers 1 1PEOS SOG 6 09 42 12 08 01 are marked with red the data K i fields with blue Application Identical date This example shows an EAN128 identifiers objects with two identifiers each having gt ge the same date time object The Figure 30 EAN128 with two identifiers difference between identifier 11 and 06 is clear CX If you need to alter the allowed content within each application identifier OBJ INKdraw allows you to do so In the preferences there s an options which allows you to select built in or external definitions of app
39. 005 Page 144 Your Problem The result of the problem e Please provide a good description of the problem preferably fax us copies of the result if you can or simply drawings that clearly illustrate the problem e What happens Crash or just an undesired result Consistensy e Can you reproduce the problem many times For example also when creating a new file e Does the problem appear on all printers that you connect to the controller check for relation to hardware vs software e Does the problem appear on all controllers you try if possible When you have all the information Please send a full bug report to bugs hsautomatic com or to the fax number mentioned at the beginning of this manual Please attach in a zipped file e Your ink file e Your database if you use one or sample data in a similar database e The file installation directory init Inkdraw ini e The file installation directory logfile logfile txt e The file installation directory logfile report txt generated with file gt report HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com To Do The following has not yet been updated in the CB manual e Firmware settings for CB board e File database e Scan and print Double speed Barcode validation
40. 25 to insert the object Stacker object Like the mail object a stacker object is only available when a database is loaded This object is used to give a signal when a certain record of a database is reached typically to trigger a certain action Commonly used in newspaper presses to stack the papers hence the name Click the icon amp to create the object Line name object This is a system variable object where you can put the name of the conveyor line that prints this message This is done in preferences If you load the same file on a different computer this object content will change accordingly Click the icon ine to create the object HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 24 Object Properties 6 This chapter will provide a guide to the many options that are available for different objects First the general properties and concepts will be described then the properties that are special to each individual object type General object properties Snap point Any object created has snap points small handles that are used to define the object s exact location If you click on an object the snap points will be visible as blue sqares along the edges of the object Picture of snap points There are 9 different snap points along the edges and in the center of the object not shown when object is selected e 4corner points By dragging these with the mouse yo
41. A Add Insert Delete m messages check the box Cancel 4 Add insert or delete heads to fit your needs You can also change the size of added heads Figure 2 Setting the size of the new message 5 Finally choose the lenght of the message and the units you wish to initially use lt e You select the size for the active head marked as a pressed down button e New heads that are inserted or added will also have this size When all these values have been entered presses OK and the message window will resize itself to the values you have entered If more than one head has been selected the message window will display each head separated by a split line and the selected head marked in gray Opening a file You can open an existing file by using File Open pressing Ctr1 o or by using the icon for open file If changes have been made to the current file since last save you are prompted if you want to save Answer this with Y es N o or C ancel oe e You can modify the behavior of the save routine in the preferences e Choose between normal if modified always or never Next you will see the open file dialog box HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 17 The open file dialog box is based a oie tf on standard windows Sogi Gi Fies S al l components Thus it will appear in the language of the Windows installation Filnav
42. ETER velocity lt value gt Works on Both versions Changes the encoder velocity parameter With EPROMs version 20_XJxxx and on this change will take immidiate effect in print mode With older EPROMs exiting printmode is needed HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 116 Return data from OBJ INkdraw All objects DATA sub lt true false gt DATA rotation lt rotation gt DATA transparent lt gt DATA invert lt gt DATA monitor lt gt Result from Both versions when requesting data on any object This is always the first line sent from Inkdraw when requesting object data If sub sends true the object is stored inside another object barcode field and will have less properties lt rotation gt is the rotation of the object in degrees Other data descripe if the object is transparent inverted and monitored during print Lines DATA xl lt start x gt DATA x2 lt end x gt DATAtyls lt start y gt DATA y2 lt end y gt DATA size lt line width gt DATA color lt color gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a line The format for lt color gt is black or white Rectangles ellipses DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt DATA size lt line wi
43. FON lt font name gt lt font size gt lt font style gt Works on Both versions All objects containing a font fields schedules barcodes texts counters and dates Changes the font for the specified object Font size and font style does not need to be present Font style values are 1 bold 2 italic 4 underline 8 strikeout cummulative Position OBJECT lt object name gt POS lt x gt lt y gt Works on Both versions All objects except lines Changes the position of the object Positions are measured as the upper left corner Rotation OBJECT lt object name gt ROT lt rotation gt Works on Both versions All objects except lines Rotates the object Valid values for lt rotation gt are 0 90 180 or 270 degrees Size OBJECT lt object name gt S12Z lt width gt lt height gt Works on Both versions All objects except lines Changes the size of the object Any font will be automatically resized to fit in the new size Line position OBJECT lt object OBJECT lt object name gt X 1 lt start x gt name gt X 2 lt end x gt OBJECT lt object name gt Y 1 lt start y gt OBJECT lt object name gt Y 2 lt end y gt Works on Both versions only line objects qT T T T Changes the position size of the line The start point of the line is lt start x gt lt start y gt and the end point is lt end
44. Name Days you can use a Date File This is a text file with 1 line for each day including Feb 29 So exactly 366 lines Go to preferences special functions and mark x Use Date File Then select your date file with the browse button OBJ INKdraw will tell you if the file has less than 366 lines Use format code F to read from the date file Tip It is easy to make the list with a spread sheet program like Excel then export to a text file http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 37 Text object The text object is quite simple and only has one special property to modify content al Located right of the lock icon the text Tee ae content appears Enter any new text and press enter to Figure 18 Text object content change If you wish to enter information in a different i e non western character set you should select this character set under preferences This allows you to enter text in f ex hebrew or cyrillic letters HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual Counter object 25 08 2005 Page 38 The counter object is a number that is changed every time a print has been made The change happens before the print sensor is activated The properties for the counter object has two leves simple and advanced Simple setup for counters ones value a setup Figure 19 Simple counter setup The simple setup appears to the right
45. RM4SCC Royal Mail 4 State RM4SCC 1 1 DataMatrix DataMatrix 4 ee Ink space print ratio When printing on porous surfaces a saturation of the ink might occur which makes it difficult to read the barcode This can be compensated for using the following e For the standard barcodes Ink Space This reduces the width of the black bars compared to the white bars e For the extended barcodes Print Ratio Using this you can define the weight of the bars and the spaces compared to each other e Example 1 1 Bar space is default 2 1 will now make the bar double width of the space e Example2 1 3 1 3 Bar triple bar space triple space is default 1 3 2 3 will now make the single space double width Advanced setup of barcodes By pressing the button for advanced setup on barcodes you are presented with a pop up menu for further preferences of the barcode Below each part of the advanced settings will be described HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Controls the frame around the barcode inn Barcode menu Barcode frame fa Line width I Side lines I Top Bottom lines AROS Makes the black lines thinner 0 compared to the white lines Used to compensate for ink saturation Characters m Modul IV Readable character M Modul count Readable characters on off Text Alignment Figure 24 Visual settings of barcode eg e The font size will not change if you
46. Tec lt barcodes Allowed values for lt module gt are Tec It expanded or 1 for the expanded module everything else will set the original module It is important to resend the barcode type after changing modules Number of field lines OBJECT lt object name gt LIN lt amount of lines gt Works on Both versions empty fields only in Obj INKdraw 2 02 this command also works on mail objects Sets the number of lines in the field object The command will not work unless the field is empty Alignment OBJECT lt object name gt ALN lt alignment gt Works on Both versions field objects only in Obj INKdraw 2 02 this command also works on mail objects Changes the alignment of the field object Allowed values are left center or right Field data OBJECT lt object name gt DAT lt line 1 gt lt line 2 gt lt line 3 gt Works on Both versions field objects only in Obj INKdraw 2 02 this command also works on mail objects The command enters data to multiple text only lines in a field object Note that the DAT command is different from the DAT command used with date times HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 115 Parameters PAR will be accepted instead of PARAMETER Start distance PARAMETER sStart lt start distance gt Works on Both versions The command changes
47. a bit of math and knowledge about the equipment that will be connected to the printer typically start sensor and encoder These settings all take place in the OBJ INKdraw Command Center the parameter menu To open this menu use Functions Parameters F9 or the icon ad You will see a menu with different pages In the following each of these pages will be described It might be wise to refer to the chapter on the relation between hardware and OBJ INKdraw and to the general hardware guides Print modes Parameter group selection The folder in setup for printmodes Encoder Velocity Notice the parameter Velocity group selection page in the following screen shots the page headers are not included Choose between velocity or encoder and adjust the function parameters accordingly o m 8 Encoder Modular Pulses Fire This screen shows the encoder options Encoder calculation 0 Calculate Pulses round Wheel diameter Figure 41 Setting the print mode e Default values of encoder and velocity settings can be set in the preferences When you switch from one to the other default setting will be applied HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 60 Velocity Velocity mode is a print mode that functions without measurement of the exact speed of the feeder To avoid a printed picture that is either st
48. a connection to that database Connections to databases are always made to a table or a query HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 73 From OBJ INKdraw this happens by choosing Database load database You will be prompted for a filename 2 x Selecting the database you want soit pons a to connect to For now it is Sogi Hs z S al possible to connect to Access pars and Excel files Select file type 2001 02 14_parts mdb according to your needs 2001 02 14b_parts mdb hsa_20001024 mdb smp9 mdb F Cry Filnavn Orysmp97 mdb Filtype Microsoft Acces files mdb X Annuller 7 Figure 55 Selecting a database to open S e You are probably prompted for a username and a password This is a thing that is built into the database reader e Unless you have set a password on your database simply press enter here and leave the fields empty e You can set OBJ INKdraw to not prompt when you open a database do this in the preferences menu Alt P eth e If you get an error about drivers when trying to open the database it might be because you don t have the correct version of Microsofts JET drivers e Download the latest version of MDAC Microsoft Data Access Components from the website http www microsoft com data If the connection to the database is succesful you now have to select a table or query you want to work with HS Automatic ApS http
49. a maximum size of 1 4 Mb so that they each fit on floppy discs There is an installation file setup exe and typically 3 4 setup x bin files x being a number Typically the installation files will be packed in a zip archive to keep them together Unzip the files using common tools such as Winzip or similar Installing the software To install OBJ INKdraw place the file unzipped files in a folder on the computer you wish to install onto Or simply install from floppy discs Setup When you run setup exe you will see this screen asking you if you wish to install OBJ INKdraw Click Yes to continue 2 This will install OBJ INKdraw Do you wish to continue E e 7 Setup OBJ INKdraw fel ES SSS SS sem HS tea Welcome to the OBJ INKdraw ed my og J Setup Wizard Next you will see the setup welcome screen Here you see the version of OBJ INKdraw you are installing Click Next to continue This will install CB INKdraw release 1 3 19 on your computer It is recommended that you close all other applications before continuing OBY LG TEWIE Click Next to continue or Cancel to exit Setup we Se x You can specify where you wish to install OBJ INKdraw hee shud OBJ INK ran bested amp By default you will be suggested C program directory OBJ INKdraw Rea STEWS where program directory depends on your Windows aan language In US Windows this is Program Files Se
50. a shortcut in the startup folder of Windows Notice the automatic setting of this is no longer possible since it did not work on all Windows installations HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 7 Section 2 The Canvas 3 Parts of the screen 4 Creating and printing messages 5 Working with objects 6 Modifying object properties HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 8 3 OBJ INKdraw contains different areas of the screen that are important to know about as their names will be used many times in this manual The following figure identifies the different areas Edit undo redo File operations Font panel Parts of the screen S7 OBJ INKdraw ver 1 3 19 fo B HSAutomatic ApS http www hsautomatic com File Edit Layout Database view Sygctions Window Help at Gl O jale tes gt lt to Sl BOE NES REC ok Fe erkk Objects aia e Ees sles 3 ele a ra Object name Random 0 gt ke aoe a aa oeo 35 Local file c Program Files media 0B C List j i noba Special object General object vew rer ait Time Datel Snetiee properties Frenette pea nee ec nam ep PR OL SR Sp Sg o Re ronan Files media OBJINKdraw filesi NoName 2 11175 mad F Template panel a J Ba ses Dy a Te Object panel w 3 06 2 ea with s
51. abase label Label above the database view Database view The data in the current database Database next button Go to next record Database prev button Go to previous record Goto record button Go to a certain record given in the input box Seach database btn Search the first field of the database for a record value Input box Place to input things to search for and record number Prompt screen This screen is displayed then the order the start print has been given If there are any objects with prompts in the message you can input values on this screen Confirm button Click to accept all values and start print HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 96 Cancel button Don t start print go back to main screen Logo User defineable logo Prompts display The box where the promts appear Can be hidden if there are no prompts Print screen The print screen is active during the print process Stop button Stops the print Logo User definable logo Print data Displays the list of objects with a watch Print data label Label for the print data window Database list Shows the data for the current loaded database Record number label The label above the database list Load screen This screen is displayed when the load file function is activated Brows
52. able without a controller board HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 68 Mieco pae System information oe these boxes will be filled on computers with an controller EPROM info Figure 51 system information HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 69 Ink Reduction 8 Ink reduction is a way to save on ink use by removing a percentage of the drops in the message Use this feature to save costs for prints or to compensate for inks flowing out in porous materials OBJ INKdraw allows you to set ink reduction completely individually for either all objects groups of objects or single objects Alternatively you can set global ink reduction as described in previous chapter Activation of ink reduction can happen in two different ways For individual objects you can use the drop down menu placed just below the lock icon or use the dialog box to select ink reduction for groups of objects Selecting a method of ink reduction There are two different methods of ink reduction available Masked and random e Masked arranges the remaining dots in nice rows and columns and the messages end being built like a newspaper picture e Random removes dots at random creating a spray paint like picture For each of the methods there are 5 different levels of reduction to choose from From 0 no reduction to 100 nothing
53. ad and test the software from our web page http Awww hsautomatic com and create messages already before you purchase our printing equipment What is the purpose of this manual OBJ INKdraw user s manual will help you understand and use the many different functions available in the software It will also explain the way OBJ INKdraw is related to the hardware of the printers to help you to learn how to do advanced configurations What is contained in this manual This manual contains different sections each describing a part of the software At the end of the section you will find a quick resume of the content What you need to know It is assumed that you are familiar with the basic concepts of inkjet technology Furthermore this manual assumes that you know how to operate and use a standard Windows system Conventions used in this manual When you see this it means File Save as Select the menu File then the item Save as You can use Alt and underlined letters or the mouse to select from the menus F10 A key on your keyboard A1lt F10 Keys pressed simultaniously Press and hold Alt then press F10 e A tip that will help you as you work with the program S A note Something to be aware of HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 3 About HS Automatic ApS HS Automatic is the manufacturer of high quality equipment for coding and marking Key words for the pr
54. ain graphic files in the Windows Bitmap BMP or JPEG JPG formats Only 2 colors are shown if the picture contains more it is converted to two colors Click the icon L060 to create the object By default the logo is the HS Automatic company logo If this logo file does not exist in the Logo directory it will be created HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 23 Field object The field object is more an object container than an object It allows you to group other textual objects text date counter in one block This is especially useful if your data in the fields varies and you don t want to have texts that either overlap or are too far apart Click the icon 5 to create the object The field object is empty by default click the properties buttons to add objects Schedule Object The schedule or shift object is a text object where you can set the content to vary with the current time and or date This is useful to print for example the name of the current shift at work Click the icon to create the object When created the schedule object will show the text Empty Click the properties icon to add content Copy Object This object is a little special as it does not have any content in itself Instead it is used to copy a part of the screen to one or more other parts This can be done for a smaller area or an entire head at a time Click the icon
55. ances are that you speak a different language than the ones installed with OBJ INKdraw In that case you can create a language file to suit you Using the imaginary language Narnian the steps to create a language are e Copy the file english an to someting different here narnian an e Edit the content of the newly copied file narnian lan e When done select the file narnian an as described above HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 124 The structure of the language file It is important to follow a few simple rules when editing the language file The structure of the language file is as follows e There is a number of different sections identified by These should not be touched in any way e Under each section the original text is written then an equal sign and the translation In the English file both sides are in most cases identical You should translate the Right hand side from the equal sign only e The menus have an amphersand amp in the translation If you use the amphersand in front of a character this character can be used with the Alt key to activate that menu If you do something wrong it is not really a big problem If you change anything that you should not change a section name or anything to the left of the equal sign the OBJ INKdraw program will simply ignore any change to that section or line Example of a language file Below is
56. anguage Reference Commands CMD is accepted instead of COMMAND Stop print COMMAND S COMMAND stop The stop print command stops the printer If a layout is currently printing the current print will finish Start print COMMAND R COMMAND start Works on Both versions only in editmode The command starts the printer Disconnect COMMAND D COMMAND disconnect Works on Both versions Disconnects the client program from Obj INKDraw Does not work on seriel Shutdown COMMAND Q COMMAND shut down Works on Both versions Shuts down the entire computer immedeately Load file COMMAND F lt file name gt COMMAND load file lt file name gt Works on Both versions In multitask Inkdraw this command will work if connected to an open layout else only if less than two layouts are currently open Loads the file specified by lt file name gt If no path is given Inkdraw will load the file from the inkdraw files folder and the ink extension is optional Goto record COMMAND G lt record number gt COMMAND goto lt record number gt Works on Both versions but only in layouts where a database is loaded The command points the database to the specified record Print go COMMAND P COMMAND print COMMAND go Works on Both versions only in printmode and only with the fast load option activated The
57. ard encoder supplied by HS Automatic ApS has 5000 pulses revolution With a wheel of 200 mm circumference you have 0 04 mm pulse HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 62 Position mode In position mode the time of the fire is calculated based on the position Each time a signal comes from the encoder that number is added to a counter A fire signal is given every time a certain distance has been met lt e HS Automatic ApS recommends that the mm pulse is less than 0 03 to get the best result fy e Using the standard encoder supplied from HS Automatic ApS the recommended settings are position mode and Quadrature ON This will give you 0 01 mm pulse Modular mode Compared to position mode the modular mode counts the number of pulses from the encoder and fires every time a certain number of pulses has been met The module pulses fire refers to the number of pulses that must be met before a fire If you want to mention the same resolution of the printers your mm pulse must be a certain number of a fraction of it For your reference please find the table below Print head type Resolution Distance mm pulse XaarJet 128 185 DPI 0 13714 mm XaarJet 500 180 DPI 0 141 mm Table 1 Print heads and resolution Sensor The sensor is what gives the signal to start the print It is not possible to start the print without the sensor There are many differ
58. ave been added you must add value to the objects This happens by double clicking the object name A small box will appear with the default options for that object type please refer to previous description earlier in this chapter You will notice that barcodes that contain objects appear as a fold out list on the object panel You can rename objects within the barcode from here also Example showing an unfolded barcode object EAN128 Barco Figure 27 Object list showing Barcode Object HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 46 EAN 128 The EAN128 barcode is special because it contains Application Identifiers This is a special object you must add to the barcode that divides the barcode into several sub sections The identifier decides about the properties of the next section NX It is MANDATORY to use the application identifiers The barcode will not show output without them Also any object must always be below an identifier Barcode menu Properties for an EAN 128 with the Application Identifier object marked Object box Add C Counter ET Time date C Text Notice the order identifier object s or ligned up App1 Text6 App2 Time Date2 Time Date3 Figure 28 Advanced properties for EAN128 The way to change the application identifier is the same as to add content to the object double click on the names A small
59. c com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 11 Look and feel OBJ INKdraw offers you different ways to influence the look of the screen What options you prefer to have on or off is up to you remember that your printed image stays the same Most of these functions are located under the layout section in preferences Alt p Enable disable menu bars You can remove the menu bars on the screen to create a more clean interface by pressing the following keys Tool bar Shift Ctrl 1 Object bar Shift Ctrl 2 Font panel Shift Ctrl 3 Design bar Shift Ctrl 4 Object Panel Ctrl Alt O Template Panel Ctrl T Print Head Panel Ctrl H Rulers Ctrl R Zoom Use this feature to see more or less detail of your drawing canvas The zoom default size is 100 however the sizing begins at 10 and moves up to 2000 Using this function has an effect on the screen only and not when the final print is made You can activate a shortcut by using the or button numeric keypad when drawing canvas has focus or from the menu Layout Zoom xxx It is also possible to zoom in and out with the mouse scroll wheel The current zoom is shown on the information panel In all cases the zoom will be centered around the position of the cursor Units This is the measurement you work in on the drawing canvas Select units from the preferences menu or when you create a new picture Notice that you get the same result on
60. d Figure 39 Properties for copy object There are 5 different ways to display the copy object These will only affect the look on the canvas as you are working The output from the copy object is not affected Show as Note Don t show Completely invisible You have to select the object from the object bar In this mode the object can not be dragged around Clear Show as a thin red frame In this mode the object can not be dragged around Grayed Show as a gray box This is the default From To Will show as a gray box but will write Source and Destination on the source copy This is the default behavior Full copy Show a live update of what will be copied NOTICE This will significantly slow down your work with the canvas and objects HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 56 The stacker object This object is used to give an external signal based on a certain character user defined in the database Like the mail object this object will not work without a database connection After creation you will see the property bar Qe The stacker object properties Port Delay mSec Trigger joi f0 a e C Active low Figure 40 Stacker object For pinout and connections please refer to the hardware manual HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 57 Section 2 summary e OBJ INKdraw is based on a c
61. d width lines first dataset at line a m 026014058257 026014058264 026014058271 026014058288 026014058295 026014058301 026014058318 026014058325 026014058332 modtid pakkevaeg A 3001 2 10 5 f 10 18052001 45002 2 18 5 01 00 0 02601 4058271 2007 0106 45003 8 1 6 01 00 00 02601 4058288 2350 45004 7 7 6 01 00 00 00 02601 4058295 0717 1 45005 1 1 7 7 01 00 00 0 02601 4058301 2001 0726 45006 1 2 26 7 01 00 02601 405831 8 2001 0731 45004 14 31 7 01 00 02601 4058325 2001 0731 45004 16 31 7 01 00 02601 4058332 2001 0731 45004 25 31 7 01 00 02601 4058349 2007 0904 45007 2 4 9 01 00 00 026014058 18052001 45002 20010106 45003 12350 45004 07171 45005 20010726 45006 20010731 45004 20010731 45004 20010731 45004 20010904 45007 You can view the result of your settings in the window to the right M Save settings Original data Records visible here from text file Figure 57 setting delimiters for text files HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 76 SQL servers OBJ INKdraw also allows you to retrieve data from SQL servers Using the SQL query language you can create very advanced queries to select exactly the data you want to print wy e The SQL language also allows you to modify and delete in the database server e Preferably you should
62. ddresses from a database with every print Example Text gt Field 1 offset 0 Text2 gt Field 2 offset 0 Text3 gt Field 3 offset 0 Text4 gt Field 1 offset 1 Text5 gt Field 4 offset 1 Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5 Record 1 AA EE II MM QQ Record 2 BB FF JJ NN RR Record 3 CC GG KK OO SS Record 4 DD HH LL PP TT If the command lt ESC gt A2 4 lt EOT gt is sent then the 5 text objects above will print Text Text2 Text3 Text4 Text5 BB FF JJ CC OO This will be printed until another command is sent The record number can be changed about 2 times every second HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 84 Removing the database connection When you are done with this database or wish to select another database table query you must first discard the current connection Do this by using the trash can icon in the database management dialog Notice that nothing is actually deleted or removed remember that your connection is read only If you try to open a new database with another database open you will be warned that you have a connection and will be asked if you want to discard it HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 85 Object Links 10 Object links allows you to copy the content from one object to one or more other objects This way and by the help of prompts yo
63. described later Objects are the key element of this software hence the name OBJ INKdraw HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 22 lt e Most objects are created with the properties you last used Ss e You can change the properties before you create the object or after Date object Click the icon 2 to create the object This object is updated live on the canvas There are different ways of displaying the date which is highly flexible Please refer to the chapter on object properties for more information e Dates are always relative to the system clock in the computer e Dates contain the same date no matter how the date format is This means that you can link two date objects and have the same date time shown in different ways Text object Click the icon 8 to create the object By default text is created with the word Text Line This can however be changed in the language file Please see Localization Counter object Click the icon 2 to create the object The counter is highly flexible and will allow you to count in 4 different number bases up and down in variable steps etc More information is available in the chapter on object parameters Barcode object The barcode object has many options and can even contain other objects this will be described separately Click the icon Milto create the object Logo object The logo object can cont
64. dth gt DATA color lt color 1 gt lt color 2 gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a rectangle or an ellipse The format for lt color 1 gt and lt color 2 gt is black or white Color 1 is the lineout and color 2 is the body of the object Text objects DATA text lt text gt DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt DATA font lt font name gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a text object lt text gt is the contents of the object Font position and size are not send with texts inside barcodes or fields Logos DATA path lt path to logo gt HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 117 DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt Result from Both versions when requesting data from a logo lt path to logo gt will be the full path except if the logo is stored in the inkdraw logos folder then it will be lt filename gt notice the dot Counters DATA minimum lt minimum value gt DATA current lt current value gt DATA maximum lt maximum value gt DATA x lt x position gt DATA y lt y position gt DATA width lt width gt DATA height lt height gt
65. e date time object OTLogo logo not able to create at the moment OTField field OTMail mail field OTLine line OTRectangle rectangle OTEllipse ellipse Delete object OBJECT lt object name gt delete Works on Both versions Deletes the specified object and all sub objects it might contain Rename object OBJECT lt object name gt rename lt new object name gt Works on Both versions Renames the object Monitoring OBJECT lt object name gt monitor lt gt Works on Both versions Adds or removes an object from the monitor list Transperancy OBJECT lt object name gt trans lt gt Works on Both versions Turns object transparency on or off Invert OBJECT lt object name gt invert lt gt Works on Both versions Inverts the object or returns the object to normal Color HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 112 OBJECT lt object name gt COL lt color 1 gt lt color 2 gt Works on Both versions The object must be either a rectangle line or ellipse Changes color on the specified object If the object is a line there can be no lt color 2 gt Formats for colors are w W or for white and b B for black Font OBJECT lt object name gt
66. e Split line visual way to separate heads Is not printed e Objects Example of two objects Text and Barcode e Template panel can be used to create multiple copies of the same object with identical properties wy When you click around with the mouse that clicked part of the screen takes focus Some S actions are only possible when the canvas is in focus if you experience that something seems impossible to do maybe it s because the focus is somewhere else HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 10 Short description of the menu bars The following will give an overview of the icons and what they do A more detailed description will follow later in the document Undo ij Paste Preferences Stop Print Ink Level Redo Print Delete ei Al Preview Save All mee Parameters New Save Circle Line Text Logo Shift Mail Copy Prompt Data base Of O N Jann reco 1235 Loco MM Be fs cE D0 Square Date Counter Barcode Field Stacker Ink Links Reduct Font type Font Italic Transparency Normal v Bold Underline Stretch Capitalisation Pitch bs Show value in Hor position Hor size Rotation i selectors Lock printmode 2s ae ne a Al object name gt tps ai 10 THE E EEI faenas Time Datel Vert position Vert szo spice aes Object name Ink reduction Invert for object HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomati
67. e button Displays the standard Windows file open dialogue Confirm button Opens the selected file Cancel button Do not load a file File list A list of files in the Files directory where OBJ INKdraw is installed File name The selected file name File name label The label next to the file name Logo User defineable logo Preview A small preview of the message The touch screen controls The touch screen controls are used for all screens Minimize the controls Define overall font Start do not start inne SCLELN with the login screen oem Administrator password Choose screen Font IV Display login screen MS Sans Serf 15pt fLogin eeisen x MS Sans Serif 15 pt Keyboar d Kaan ans Serif 15 p Operator password File name on off Screen colour Unselected colour JC Programmer obj ink z Selected colour Keyboard colour Load screen setup file Set passwords Define colors Figure 69 Touch screen controls The controls let you choose between each of the different screens After editing that screen you can save the changes by pressing the save button below the controls Each screen is stored in it s own ini file which you can also edit by a text editor The ini files are by default located in the obj inkdraw installation touchscreen directory HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 97 The fonts passwords and colo
68. e prompt s for an object in two different ways individually or all e To delete individual prompts click on the promp type under the object and press the delete button as seen above e To delete all prompts for the current object click the question mark just below the object and use the delete button In both cases the prompt will be deleted without confirmation or warning HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 92 Different objects have different prompts As the different objects have different properties they also have different prompt types This is a list of the different prompt types Object Prompt type Notes type Date Time Date format Absolute dates entered in a user definable format You can select and change this format any time in the preferences menu Expire Date Number Add Subtract this number of days to the date Date Format Same strings as the date format described earlier Text Text The content of the text object No limitations Counter Maximum A number the maximum of the counter Current A number start value Minimum A number minimum value Format The number format of the counter Any of the values Dec Bin Hex Oct NOTICE Case sensitive Bar Code Bar Text The text of the plain bar code Database LOCK Will search for a record number and lock to that record for every print START Will start from that record and move on LOOP
69. e table e You can connect to a variety of different data sources Microsoft Access and Excel plain text files and SQL servers e With SQL servers you have the power of the flexible SQL query language Commands that are not allowed can be blocked by the software e Most objects can link their content into other objects where this would make sense Where an object can be shown with different formats for example dates the source and destination object will always have the same content but can have different formats HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manua 25 08 2005 Page 89 Section 4 User Interaction 11 Prompts 12 Touch Screen OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 90 Prompts 17 Prompts are questions of the content of objects asked to the user when the printing starts This is useful if the content of the object is not known when the message is designed for example if the content depends on a human decision Activating prompts Prompts are activated from the icon panel with the question mark icon _ This will cause the prompt menu to appear Prompt type Object Panel Prompt menu with different objects One of the objects Text1 already has a prompt Sy Prompt menu Logol j F L060 Logol Ww Add is Path TA Object in bar code ies Counterl J Time Datel l Barcodet ABER Texti Fy Prompt Object with active prompt
70. e your own front end Example programs are available for free HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manua 25 08 2005 Page 122 Section 6 Localization 15 Changing the INKdraw language OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 123 Changing the INKdraw language 15 OBJ INKdraw is easy to configure for different languages This chapter will explain how to change the language of the main program and how to create change your own language files in case you don t like the way some things have been translated All language definitions are stored in a normal plain text file All you need to change the translation of the menus is a text editor The language files are stored in a subdirectory called Language under the installation directory of OBJ INKdraw They must have the extension an Selecting a pre defined language OBJ INKdraw comes with different languages when installed If you did a translation and would like to donate it for OBJ INKdraw we will be happy to include your file as well To select a language that has been defined use the preferences menu You will be presented with a file dialog showing the available files Select one and press OK You will see that the language changes immediately What is translated In the language files everything on the monitor main OBJ INKdraw program is translated menus dialog boxes buttons Defining your own language file Ch
71. ed symbols are activated when the AltGr key is pressed HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 99 Touch screen user interface To use the touch screen interface use Functions gt Special gt Touch screen gt Touchscreen Or F12 It is also possible to activate the touch screen interface when OBJ INKdraw starts You will see either the main screen or the login screen depending on the setting in the touch screen control panel If the password fields were filled in you will need to enter a password for either operator or administrator lt e If the Administrator button has been deactivated you can not exit the touch screen mode fy e In an emergency case connect the keyboard and kill the INKdraw process Then edit the login ini file and change the Administrator button section to have the parameter Visible 1 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 100 Section 4 Summary e Prompts are used to ask the user for input of content of an object before the print starts e The entered values can be empty if desired Illegal values for example for dates will be ignored e For each prompt you can enter a prompt text and a default value e The way dates are entered is user defined and can be changed on the run e You can also use the prompts to search for database content e There is a touch screen function in the software whe
72. elected with one object Eiger iaaea A selector s object eas highligted Second open file ao eT F not active w ere you can a also see the Rulers with a fe G position of active ea object Ie oa i ir cia highlighted oie are e Figure 1 The OBJ INKdraw main screen 4 Active open file with one Canvas This is object selected File name the area that is shown in title bar printed HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 9 Description of the screen items e Title bar Contains the name of the current file plus information about the size of the file written as Width Height in pixel e Menu line Click a word on this line to select from the menu e Icon bar This is where most of the functions in the daily use of the program are selected e Object Properties Use these 2 bars to adjust the look and function of objects you have created e Head Selectors This line shows the different heads in the current message Can contain any number from 1 to 16 heads At the same time the size of the heads in mm is also shown e Rulers Tells you where you are in the current drawing Uses the selected unit e Information panel Gives information about the current position zoom and current date time e Object panel All objects created are present here This bar can be used to rename objects e Drawing Canvas This is where the printed message is edited
73. en messages even the non active messages ALL communication must end with pound sign or a different used defined character But you must use the same all the time Example To update content of text object 77 you send OBJECT T1 TEX This is the new text Allowing the communication Before you can communicate to OBJ INKdraw you must allow the communication Do this for each PC under File gt Preferences gt Network select a port and Allow connection The connection to the IPC happens by TCP IP on a user defined port using either the IP number or the DNS address to reach the machine You can change the parameters for the connection for each IPC the possible settings are e Port to connect to default is port 2000 e Password for connection default blank HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 103 Connecting to OBJ and a message As mentioned it is vital that you connect to a message after connecting to OBJ INKdraw otherwise you can t send commands Below is a complete example of a communication which enables you start updating objects SERVER OBJ INKdraw answer connection to ipcl abc net TEXT OBJ INKdraw 2 00 TEXT by HS Automatic ApS TEXT http www hsautomatic com REQUEST password KKAKKKKAKEH transmits the password terminated by RESULT Password OK 10 REQUEST messages DATA c x ink RESULT Transmission OK
74. ent kinds of sensors which one you use is not important as long as the signals that come from the sensor are compatible with the controller The settings for the sensor are shown in the second part of the setup parameters HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 63 Start mm The distance from the sensor to Sensor starts at Start fron oo the start of the print Positive edge c Positive Negative edge If the sensor goes from high to low on activation or vice versa Negative edge o Repeat number Repeat the printout this Sensor function many times for each activation Repeat number fo Distance between repeat From end on one Distance between repeats 0 0000 print to the next Endless E Endless Print continues as long as the aa sensor is activated Print signal Pint Sonal Print signal An external signal for print mode active or printing a message Print message signal Figure 45 Sensor settings e Find out which type of sensor you have If you select Test I O the last part of the parameters you can see the status of your sensor Print The print part of the parameters is where you decide the look of your printout For this to be successful you first need to have the correct setting of your speed encoder For the adjustment of the print engines it is strongly advised to use an encoder The following settings can a
75. er Manual 25 08 2005 Page 86 Creating editing links To create or edit links in your picture click on the link icon E in the icon bar You will see a menu with the different objects represented Active link s Object panel The link menu On the left are the active links delete Link menu them with del key or the delete button On the right the current Time Date2 lt Time Date1 objects Drag one object gt aed a rag objectsto Onto another to create a link Time Date2 create links Destination lt Source Counter Counter2 If you try to create a link Logo that is not allowed the Barcode2 Open Counter oer mouse cursor displays a Time Date3 container iea jio Z Text object forbidden icon Figure 63 Editing links Hint about links A common thing to do with links is to use them in connection with a bar code to display the date in one format inside the bar code and another format outside the barcode This is how to do it e Create a bar code with a date inside select the format for this date e Create a date outside the bar code select the appropriate format e Link to two dates together Which direction is indifferent As a result you will have the following HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 87 Date bidet outside The date 12 March 2002 is linked into the barcode If the DD MM YY HH NN SS date is c
76. ere is a built in preview mode HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 20 Activating preview To activate the preview mode press Shift F10 or press the preview print icon L amp You will notice that the canvas now appears in black and white and that you now have a preview panel Use the play buttons if your picture Preview print Interval milliseconds h ith int if h ad si gt m po a changes with every print e g if you have a E pi fa za counter or use a database You can use Start dver fasts von Exit either single step or auto run at intervals Single step Stop auto from 100 ms and up The Rewind button functions as an undo Figure 4 Preview toolbar button Use this to play it again Use Stop when in auto run S e Like print preview in other programs the real print is not affected e Thus OBJ INKdraw returns to it s old state after you exit print preview e In short you will not have moved counters databases etc after print preview lt e The print preview is not 100 true to the output from the printers it s only meant to give you an idea about how the finished print will look e For example you can not see ink reduction and copy objects HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 21 Object Types 5 OBJ INKdraw has different object types that you can use to create your message
77. ew EM Barcodes I object in group Ink reduction 50 il Barcode AR Ink reduction 5M OK Figure 54 Ink Reduction The selection of which objects that have ink reduction takes place through the object panel You can choose the ink reduction on different levels HS Automatic ApS S http www hsautomatic com http www hsautomatic com fy OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 71 e All objects the entire message e All objects of a certain type e Individual objects To adjust the reduction simply select either a group or an object choose the method and set the level slider To open the tree use the small symbol next to the group name lt e Always adjust the levels from the top down e If you adjust a group every setting in that group will be the same and you will lose any previous settings e This of course can be used to completely turn off ink reduction e You should not use ink reduction on barcodes especially the masked type This will make the barcode non approvable as an entire line might be deleted HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 72 Working with databases 9 When printing it is often desireable to be able to print variable information for each product As we will see later this can be done in several different ways One way is to extract the data from a database OBJ INKdraw is able to read data from Mic
78. gt Works on Both versions date time objects only Sets the date of a date time object If sending a date it has to be of the format year month day 2003 3 19 Note that the DAT command is different from the DAT command used with fields Date format OBJECT lt object name gt FOR lt format gt Works on Both versions date time objects only Sets the format for the date objects Available formats are all Windows formats as well as all special Inkdraw date format features Load logo OBJECT lt object name gt PAT lt path to new logo gt Works on Both versions logos only Loads a new logo specified by the name and path given Barcode contents OBJECT lt object name gt CON lt contents gt Works on Both versions barcode only Changes the contents of a barcode This will only work if no objects have been inserted into the barcode Barcode type OBJECT lt object name gt TYP lt barcode type gt Works on Both versions barcodes only Sets the type of the barcode EAN13 Codabar etc The type must be equal to the type given in Obj INKDraw EAN13 will work EAN 13 will not Barcode module HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 114 OBJECT lt object name gt MOD lt module gt Works on Both versions barcodes only Selects between the original Obj INKDraw barcodes and the expanded
79. h 1 3 1 3 Code128 Code128 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 DPLeit Deutsche Post Leitcode 1 3 1 3 DPlident Deutsche Post Identcode 1 3 1 3 9OF3 Code 93 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCA UPCA 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCAP2 UPC A 2 digit add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCAP5 UPC A 5 digit add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCE UPC E 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCEP2 UPC E 2 digit add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPCEP5 UPC E 5 digit add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 PostNet5 PostNet ZIP 5d 1 1 PostNet6 PostNet ZIP 5d CD 1 1 PostNet8 PostNet ZIP 8d 1 1 PostNet10 PostNet ZIP 4 5d 4d CD 1 1 PostNet1 1 PostNet DPBC 5d 4d 2d 1 1 PostNet12 PostNet DPBC 5d 4d 2d CD 1 1 Plessey Plessey Code 1 2 1 2 MSI MSI Code 1 2 1 2 LOGMARS LOGMARS 1 3 1 3 PDF417 PDF417 2D Barcode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PDF417Trunc PDF417 Truncated 2D Barcode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 43 MAXICODE MaxiCode 2D Barcode we QRCODE QR Code ween Code128A Code128 CharSet A 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Code128B Code128 CharSet B 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Code128C Code128 CharSet C 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 9OF3A Code 93 Ascii 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 AusPostCustom Australian Post Standard Customer 1 1 AusPostCustom2 Australian Post Customer 2 1 1 AusPostCustom3 Australian Post Customer 3 1 1 AusPostReplyPaid Australian Post Reply Paid 1 1 AusPostRouting Australian Post Routing 1 1 AusPostRedirect Australian Post Redirection 1 1 ISBN ISBN Code EAN13P5 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
80. halk board like screen called the Canvas On this you can place any number of the different objects e All objects are freely editable after you have placed them on the canvas You can move stretch stack edit and delete objects as you please e All objects are referred to by a name You can change the default name as you please but two objects can not have the same name e To create objects select the object type then click with the mouse button and drag the shape of the object e All objects have properties that decide the way the objects look or behave Some of these properties are common like rotation or font some are unique to each object e Some objects for example barcodes and fields can contain other objects To edit the content of the contained objects double click on their names in the object list of the properties window for the container object HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 58 Section 3 Advanced topics 7 The parameter menu 8 Ink reduction 9 Working with databases 10 Object Links HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 59 The parameter menu When loading OBJ INKdraw the settings will be default settings that probably won t match your hardware To get a correct printout an important part is setting the parameters correctly Some parameters are quite easy to understand others involve
81. hanged the barcode 12 03 02 11 55 08 changes accordingly 2 002031 2D0006 Date object inside YYYYMMDD Figure 64 Linking into a barcode e You can of course extend this to several bar codes or even several times inside the same barcode if you need that e It is very useful to combine this with prompts to input the first date lt e Itis not possible for two date fields to have a different time shift if they are linked You can change the time shift value of the source object which will work as expected If you change the time shift of the target object it will still display the content of the source object HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 88 Section 3 Summary e The Parameter Menu is where you control the output of your message and the physical surroundings of your software This is where you can adjust individual print engines to eachother and set options for encoder speed resolutions etc e If your ink is spreading out into your material you can reduce the effect by activating the ink reduction function This can be done one a global or object based level in 5 steps from black to white Two different mathematical models are available random and masked e For variable information you can open databases and connect data fields to individual objects OBJ INKdraw can move through a database table either in it s entirety ora block of entries in th
82. have nothing to drag the fields onto To start the definition press the w button You see a dialogue showing the selected table query with a list of the fields Database management window Consists of 3 Actual data Headers drag from here main parts Drag onto object to insert onto object name to insert fixed text variable data loop options 2 Database management row content field list Record number Number of entries entry 1 i 2228 Alfreds Futterkiste Firmanayn Starting at entry i Search Drag to delete the option of destroying the Looping at entry Start loop Iiz z connection to record this database When looping start from don t restart C entry Step tepvalue 4 repeat values Repeat fi DB Management Offsets and Fields Advanced database management Print database using offsets list printing Figure 59 Database Management HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 79 In order to connect a database field to an object you must drag the field onto the object in the object panel Do this by clicking and holding the mouse over the field name then move the mouse over to the object name until it turns blue Database management dialog box 1320 1360 1980 1380 140 1 1 1 i 1 1220 1240 1200 1280 4 Uap ay onay ABCD Text2 M Barco del J Headers kiste Illustration of assigning a field to
83. he object panel Use this as a handy reference HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 27 Object name As previously mentioned all objects have a name This property can only be changed for one object at a time There are two ways of changing an object s name 1 Select the object type a new name in the box and press enter 2 Click two times slowly on the object name in the object panel Now you can also edit the name here Object rotation Almost any object can be rotated except the line object since it only has 1 dimension To rotate an object use the rotate icon G on one or more objects At this moment objects can only be rotated in 90 intervals 0 90 180 270 the rotation is always counter clockwise e The object is rotated around the selected snap point e On more objects each object is rotated around it s own snap point not a common point Monitoring the content of the object during print To keep an eye on the next value of objects being printed activate the print monitor for that object The print monitor is symbolized by a magnification glass Al Once the print starts the value s will be displayed in the print window The print monitor has been activated for some objects You see the name of the object and next to that the value of the next print Object name s Value on next print Press lt ESC gt to stop printing Figure 10 prin
84. hows the current font family size and style It can be turned on off by Ctr1 F or View Font Panel Printer head panel If activated this shows all the printer heads in use in this file You can turn the panel on off with Ctr1 H Or View Printer Head Panel Click on the print head to jump to that head in the drawing You will notice that the background color for that head changes to gray Split Lines The split lines function represents the dividing lines between each printer head You can turn these lines on off with View Split Lines N e Split lines will not show the divide between each print engine only between heads Thus if you have configured your message for a one head 4 engine HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 14 printer no lines will show Canvas color If another color is preferred as background on the canvas you can choose a different color in the preference menu The color of the canvas has no effect of the print Notice that the active head will still be shown in gray HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 15 Creating Printing messages 4 This chapter will tell you how to create and print a message the basic commands of OBJ INKdraw Working with files The file type of OBJ INKdraw is ink You will notice that ink files are text files in a special format and therefore take up almost no space Ty
85. ike to set e Press enter e Setting the coordinate for more objects at a time is a good idea to align object along the same edge e Even with multiple objects selected you can see the properties of each individual object by clicking on it Notice however that no snap points will appear with multiple objects selected e Click on a blank part of the canvas to deselect all objects Locking objects in place Many times it is undesired to move an object once it has been placed in the right position Because it is quite easy to move objects on selection the lock will help to make objects stay in place To use this property simple select one or more objects and click the lock symbol 8 To remove the coordinate lock click the icon again e The lock button only protects from movement with the mouse If you want you can still use the coordinate box to change object coordinates e Likewise the lock button does not protect from content alteration of the locked object Stacked objects The objects are placed on the canvas like papers on a desk they lie on top of eachother You can change the way the objects are stacked by using the Stack up Stack down icons j Stack up moves the selected object selected objects upwards in the stack EA Stack down moves the selected object selected objects downwards in the stack e The object panel is always sorted like the objects are stacked The object on top is at the top of t
86. ject menus When you create objects inside object select this to automatically open the properties menu when you add counters dates or texts inside other objects If off you need to double click the object to edit Startup Message Startup message OBJ INKdraw must always have a message loaded This option chooses what message is active when the program is loaded Last edited message The file you last had open Default INKdraw message The NoName ink message User defined message Always open a certain file defineable through the file selector in the same window Start up mode Use this option to define how OBJ INKdraw starts You can choose between normal mode edit touch screen mode or print mode The last is beneficial if you wish to use the software unattended as a print controller only lt e Do not forget to include an Administrator button in the touch screen interface if you select this mode as start up mode e If you lock yourself out delete the inkdraw ini file and you ll be back to a default environment HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 135 File database SECTION TO BE DONE TDJ Lock Tool The Lock Tool allows you to prevent the user from accessing functions in the OBJ INKdraw software Any function can be locked out There are 2 levels of protection each with their individual password Where Covered Preferences Lock Tool The lock tool me
87. l allow you to select deselect records from being printed based on different criteria You can do the following General Add remove all from the list Search Add to or remove from list based on search criteria Sort Sort the data that has been added to the list Delete Delete all individual items Print Select which records from the list to print Remember to select x use list for print Dublets Check for dublets on the list Very useful for mailing applications Assign Here you can also assign fields to objects This works in the same way as with the normal database window HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 83 Using direct access into a table The Direct access function is a mode that allows you to have direct access to records by using serial commands RS232 please refer to the section on RS 232 Before you can use this function you must set up the fields and the offsets The important parts in the direct access are e You don t have to read the table sequentially but you can read it randomly e The text objects with the same offset will print the same record number but can of course print from different fields e You send the record numbers starts at 1 through RS 232 commands the printer will print these record numbers until new numbers are given e You can send up to 10 record numbers for every print For example up to 10 random a
88. le and statistics will be added when print mode is deactivated DETAILS TO BE SPECIFIED TDJ Multiple messages It is possible to open two messages in OBJ INKdraw but if you wish to revert to only one message this group of options allows you to control multiple messages One message can be opened Select here what should happen when you try to open the same message again If printing is started while another job is running Set here what should happen when you activate print from the window that is not printing This option has no effect if multiple messages is disabled Max number of windows Allows you to set how many open windows OBJ INKdraw will allow Set to 1 to disable multiple messages Obviously you can t set to a lower number than the current number of open windows Network If you wish to use network communication you can activate the communication here OBJ INKdraw will show you the machine s current IP address and name read only these are read automatically on startup Port The port you wish to use to connect to OBJ INKdraw It is not important which port you use but it should probably be above 1000 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 139 Allow connections Select both of these if you want OBJ INKdraw to accept connections on startup Optionally you can set a password here to prevent unauthorized access Command Separators In the communication protocol the
89. le language files Switch language on the run You can even use other character sets such as Japanese Chinese or Thai Connection to databases OBJ INKdraw can import and use data from delimited text files Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel and several professional SQL servers HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 4 Different interfaces touch screen and edit mode OBJ INKdraw now allows you to remove the edit screen and work solely from a touch screen interface This effectively allows you to design your own nice industrial environment Full remote control If you prefer to write your own front end the open and documented protocol allows you to fully control OBJ INKdraw from outside by ethernet or RS232 Speaks your language OBJ INKdraw has been made to fit into the Windows operating system If you are using a non western version of Windows OBJ INKdraw will speak your language Menus can be changed to your language and you can type in the fonts you normally use for example cyrillic hebrew or kata kana HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 5 Installation of OBJ INKdraw 2 Obtaining OBJ INKdraw OBJ INKdraw is free software It is available for download at HS Automatic s home page htto www hsautomatic com or available on a CD with purchases of a controller board The installation comes in different files that have
90. lect the folder where you would like OBJ INKdraw to be installed then click Next CI Program Files CI acad14 d n r Arsen You can specify any location you wish if you are not udioCatalyst C AudioMasterFree happy with the default location 2 ayemul z Sc x The program requires at least 14 5 MB of disk space lt Back Cancel HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 6 Gl Setup OBJ INKdraw E 215 x Select Additional Tasks Which additional tasks should be performed a Select the additional tasks you would like Setup to perform while installing OBJ INKdraw then click Next Additional icons I Create a Quick Launch icon You also specify if you wish to create shortcut icons for OBJ INKdraw Desktop Icons are placed on your windows desktop Quick Launch Icons are placed to the right of the Start button Click Next to continue ux The final setup before installation is a presentation of se AER se RMON NaN aa amp where your files will be placed and the start menu folder Click Install to continue with the installation or click Back if you want to review or change any settings Destination directory c Program Files media OBJINKdraw Start Menu folder OBJ INKdraw ty that will be created q Cancel e To enable automatic start of OBJ INKdraw when you start windows g place
91. lication identifiers HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com th e OBJ INKdraw User Manual LOGO Objects Page 48 The logo object is external and can not really be modified from within the OBJ INKdraw program The options for the logo object are located to the right of the lock icon Revert to Load logo original size Y Original Size Tinsparent ALogo bmp Set white color transparent Filename read only Figure 31 Logo properties By default the HS Automatic logo is used the file is created if necessary To get another picture use Load Logo To resize the picture to the correct size use Original size Finally you can choose to enable transparency for the white color When loading a new logo the file open dialog offers you a preview of the picture both as thumbnail and in full size Selectno bmp Filnavn HSALogo bmp Abn Filtype f Bitmaps bmp x Annuller The open logo dialog box Here the full preview f has been selected The Pory full preview is adjusted to the size of the bitmap re E The size of the picture thumbnai is also shown Figure 32 Opening a logo file You can use files in the Windows Bitmap BMP or JPG format If your picture is in more than 2 colors it will be converted to a 2 color picture e You might benefit from a conversion by a real graphics program that will dither and convert the picture
92. lled keyboard ini and defines the different language buttons As always do not change the section names in Languages l english ini 2 dansk ini HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 98 Define up to 5 different languages identified by a number After the equal sign put a file name where that keyboard is defined Language buttons 1 0 2 0 For each of the numbers defined in the Languages section define here if they are active or not Put 1 to activate 0 to deactivate Flags 1 uk bmp 2 dk bmp For each of the up to 5 languages you can assign a little flag to the button Notice that the file must exist No check for file size is done Defining the keyboard layout This will explain how you define your own keyboard layout S e Each key will only display one character Even if you put a longer string only the first character will be displayed For each of the 5 languages you defines create an ini file as follows Extra keys 48 1 alt 1 The extra keys section defines if the 48th key and or the AltGr key should be visible If they are not visible definitions in that section has no importance Unshifted 1 2 48 Unshifted is used to define the standard meaning of the key Write the symbol behind the equal sign Shifted Lk J 48 Shifted is activated when the SHIFT button is pressed Alternated 1 2 48 Alternat
93. ly create an index field and put a primary key on it This will soeed up the load time considerably HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 75 Text file databases A text file database is also called a flat file database It is a text file that can be created automatically or with a simple editor where the data is structured in a certain way The text file must have 1 record per line and must match one of the following conditions e Each field delimited by a destinct character you can specify which character you want to use or choose between the most common delimiters comma period semicolon colon or space or e Each field has a fixed length S e OBJ INKdraw can import text files in both DOS formats and UNIX formats CR LF versus only CR e Notice though that the data are not converted in any way but is shown as it appears in the file In other words make sure the data appears in the file as you want it to appear in the printout Edit field widths This screen allows you for fixed width records Other character to set the correct as delimiter here ree delimiter for your text file import Import from textfile Chose seperator C comma C period semicolon colon C space You can choose from one of the pre defined Field delimiters enter your names own for example the pipe symbol or set up fixe
94. n the extended barcodes will display an error message for example Wrong number of characters The following tables show the different bar code types in the two modules Symbologies in the standard INKdraw module Name on list Information BCD CODABAR CODE39 Code 39 Can contain letters CODE128 COMPRESSED DATALOGIC EAN8 EAN13 HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 42 EAN128 FEMBAR INDU ITF Interleaved 2 of 5 MATRIX UPC JAN EAN Japanese Article Number OCR affixed standard version NW7 Symbologies in the Expanded module Name on list Bar Code Name Print Ratio Default see description below Code11 Code 11 1 2 24 3 48 1 2 24 20F5 Code 2 of 5 Standard 1 3 4 5 1 3 2O0F5IL Interleaved 2 of 5 Standard 1 3 1 3 2OF5IATA Code 2 of 5 IATA 1 3 1 20F5M Code 2 of 5 Matrix 1 3 4 5 1 3 2O0F5DL Code 2 of 5 Data Logic 1 3 1 3 2OF5IND Code 2 of 5 Industrial 1 3 1 30F9 Code 3 of 9 Code 39 1 3 1 3 30F9A Code 3 of 9 Code 39 Ascii 1 3 1 3 EAN8 EAN8 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN8P2 EAN8 2 digits add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN8P5 EAN8 5 digits add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN13 EAN13 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN13P2 EAN13 2 digits add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN13P5 EAN13 5 digits add on 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 EAN128 EAN128 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPC12 UPC 12 Digits 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 CodaBar2 CodaBar 2 widt
95. n IN oName Ink Annuller Filtype Figure 3 The open file dialog box Saving a file To save a file click the icon select File Save or press Ctrl s se Even if the initial file name NoName ink is not a file you created it is still a valid file name If you create objects and save changes will be saved to this file e But next time a new file is created the name NoName ink is used again e In other words always make sure to give your files a new name or they will be overwritten Save as a new file To save an open file under a new name without making changes to the previous name It can be saved as an ink file You will be promted for a file name to use Exit the program To exit OBJ INKdraw use File Exit Jor press Alt x HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 18 Object Basics A message what is written on the canvas can contain one or more objects Examples of objects are bar codes lines squares texts or counters Basic operations such as creating moving and deleting is the same for all objects This section will give a brief introduction to working with objects Creating new objects To create a new object follow this procedure e Click the icon for the object you want to create these will be explained later e Place the mouse cursor in desired starting position e Click and hold the left mouse button and drag open the shape Dele
96. nd should be done for each head that prints HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 64 Available printheads Settings for each in the message ghi Soa Invert text on off Offset for selected head Orientation Settings per print Inverted If more engines head T Upside down per head is available Head shift Global Other side engine offsets are set here j j settings for all F Double ink Relative adjustment of print heads 0 gt Ink reduction Speed compensation engines for different DPI heads Speed ajust Norm 100 ce lt a g Print direction Figure 46 Print parameters for each head Global settings Use double ink on off Direction of feeder Global ink reduction Speed adjust Inverted text For this print head everything will be printed with Elle Eveqley Telxelrolelalemiamiuallice Orientation Each printhead can be adjusted to match the orientation of the printed matter Printed messages can be turned in two different ways e Upside down where the text is mirrored horizontally e Other side where the text is printed in reverse This is especially useful for printing on both sides of a box to make sure the text is readable on both sides Double ink Will make the output more black by using the double amount of ink Ink reduction Like the per object setting on ink reduction but applied globally for the whole canvas This will enable barcode
97. nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn 58 THE PARAMETER MENU 7 59 INK REDUCTION 8 69 WORKING WITH DATABASES 9 72 OBJECT LINKS 10 85 Section 4 User Interaction cccs ck eee oe oes semana va decan cteaweconSeceu tenses eaves 89 Prompts 11 90 TOUCH SCREEN INTERFACE 12 94 Section 5 Remote COMI Ol 5 5 25 csaniicecenesiecndeedeianccceteduidddehagadeetloundddesbanadeeveandccdcbas 101 ETHERNET RS232 13 102 RUNNING UPDATE 14 120 SECHOMN GO LOCANZALON wa dacw sane seciseadeecrenaceaceasadvaceannedscedsacsucracmardesdeasvacsenccnssedszevackens 122 CHANGING THE INKDRAW LANGUAGE 15 123 Section 7 Reference o 5 ions Foo coe ces occa deceedia le edt baetwecnedeetuauadesuedtaeeadeauadecwencsdeseects 127 THE MENU STRUCTURE 16 FEJL BOGM RKE ER IKKE DEFINERET THE HARDWARE CONFIGURATION 17 128 THE PREFERENCES MENU 18 131 Section 8 SUppoOtt s ssssssssnnneennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nnna 142 IF YOU FIND A BUG 19 143 http www hsautomatic com HS Automatic ApS OBJ INKdraw User Manua 25 08 2005 Page 1 Section 1 Introduction 1 Welcome to OBJ INKdraw 2 Installation OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 2 Welcome to OBJ INKdraw 1 Welcome to OBJ INKdraw the advanced drawing program for HS Automatic ApS printers and equipment With OBJ INKdraw you can create messages import data to print from databases and control the way the print is done OBJ INKdraw is free software You can downlo
98. nu itself where you can enable disable icons and menus Printer Parameters The menu for print parameters lt e The preferences password is the most important If you know this password you can disable the other two e Remember the passwords the functions will not work if you forget the password e The passwords are case sensitive PaSsWoRd is different from password e You can disable the print function print parameters without setting a password This menu can also be used to set the password for the CU file If you enter a password here it will be stored in the CU next time you transfer files How to disable a function To disable a function click the button or check the box Once disabled the button or the menu will appear as greyed out my Disabled functions in OBJ INKdraw will appear E open Disabled as greyed out as the examples below illustrate W soe Enabled Eat Leoi Figure 75 Locking Buttons Urrate x position Disabled p Y postin Enabled r Figure 78 Locking Functions Figure 77 Disabled icons HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 136 How to set the passwords Preferences menu password Use the button Preferences Password under Files Print password Parameters password Use the two buttons under Parameters Print where the text indicates Press button to enable password Logfile The logfile will tell yo
99. o date you will be told that there is no need to update the file Otherwise the new lines will be added for translation HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 126 Section 6 Summary e OBJ INKdraw offers you total freedom regarding the language you and your customers will see on the screen Any text string in the menus dialog boxes and the buttons can be translated to what you want e Or if you just don t like the way the translations are currently done you can simply change them to something different e You have to follow certain rules when editing the language files You can t destroy anything but if you change the wrong parts the program will ignore your changes HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 127 Section 7 Reference 16 Hardware configuration 17 The preferences menu HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 128 The Hardware Configuration 16 This chapter will briefly summarize the hardware concept and how to connect it in order to get a print For a more detailed description please refer to the hardware manual Understanding the hardware concept In order to work effectively with OBJ INKdraw it is important to understand the concept of the system The printers are built around either the XaarJet 128 XaarJet 500 print engines or HP You can use
100. oducts are flexibility design and a very competitive pricing Products are based on the Xaar Piezo Technology and Hewlett Packard Inkjet Technology The software is undergoing continuos development as new features are added Key features in OBJ INKdraw OBJ INKdraw offers many advanced features Some of the key elements are listed here Object orientation All objects are freely moveable Once placed you can change the properties of all objects at any time Unlimited numbers of every object You can create an unlimited number of any type of object In other words 50 counters and 75 dates are no problem in a single drawing And all objects have live update every second Windows truetype fonts You are not bound by a pre defined number or type of fonts OBJ INKdraw is based on Windows and is able to use any font you have installed in any font size Some objects are even freely stretchable Communication The program is not stand alone but enables you to accept input from outside Use a PC network a serial connection or input from the user through prompts or a touch screen Many barcodes with advanced features OBJ INKdraw supports many barcodes among these the EAN128 and CODE128 You can insert objects into barcodes change the human readable font an stretch the bar code as you please Also 2D barcodes are available such as PDF 417 and Data Matrix Multi language interface Use any language you wish through the user configurab
101. of the lock icon You can change the currently set value of the counter Enter the new number and press enter To the right of the value box is the button for advanced setup Advanced setup for counters The advanced setup for counters allows you to set the look and behaviour of the counter Counter setup Counter Values Za Marinum 99999 a C Down Current 12345 m Leadin pas e 2 k tu Number of digits fe a a i Counter step 1 Minimum Curent Repeat number hh Format Decimal x Decimal P Printing stops when counter reaches minimum or maximim Reset current repeat number when printing stops Ok Cancel Figure 20 Advanced setup for counter HS Automatic ApS Options are grouped by their behavious as follows Counter selects direction Leadin selects what happens if the value does not fill the number of digits If space is selected stretch can be used to fill the box Start chooses the initial setting on print Values chooses the content of the counter the look and the behavior Counter step is the in decrease of the counter Always a positive integer Repeat number is the number of times the same counter value should be printed before changing Format is the number base to use Four different bases are available Decimal Binary Hexadecimal and Octal Stop on maximum minimum Reset repeat on print stop http www hsautomatic
102. olling when messages prints are stored on the CB board in the 64 Mb buffer memory This way is normally preferred when you print as the internal buffer enables you to have a constant high print speed But sometimes it is necessary to control the buffering manually Typically this is when you use updates by RS232 or ethernet and want to make sure that your updated information is actually what is printed next time To manage the buffer yourself do the following e Activate User managed buffer in preferences e Each time you wish to buffer a picture send CMD P by ethernet or lt esc gt CMD P lt eot gt by RS232 e Next time the start sensor is triggered the buffered picture is printed You can buffer multiple pictures if you wish until the 64Mb memory is used Notice that if you print and there is no picture buffered the printer will print whatever is in memory This can look like noise or be leftovers from other pictures HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 120 Running update 14 Running update allows you to change a logo during print without doing any programming This happens through special directory Update for example c Program Files OBJ INKdraw update Commonly you would use shared network drives to copy files directly from one windows computer to another but the function works just as well by using for example an ftp server not included with OBJ INKdraw
103. om OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 140 Print buffer mode DOCUMENT THIS TDJ Directories Normally when you ask OBJ INKdraw to load a file or an image by use of remote commands you need to enter the specific path and file names But an option allows you to manually add search directories It is a good idea to add your logo directory here as it allows you to stop worrying about the path on the creator s machine Now you can store your graphics on one central computer Select the location for inkfiles logos and databases by clicking the button S Manage directories iol xi When you add search directories you can cAbrogram Fllesimedia UbuINkdrawiLoqo change their order by using the stack c Program Files mediasOBJINKdrawSLogosBitmap g p al up down buttons Directories are searched in the order they appear here tel al 2 search directories added for logo Cancel System The final option is a system variable that you can use to identify the production line running OBJ INKdraw The content you enter here is used in the System object please see objects description for more HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 141 Section summary e OBJ INKdraw allows you to change all the menu titles but the function of the menus are not changed in any way You change the menus in the language files e Many things in the program can be changed in
104. ore than one line a field object will be created Use this to quickly create a field object Working with multiple objects Many functions can be done on several objects at a time This is especially useful if you want to move objects that belong together or apply the same style to all objects You select multiple objects in different ways e Dragging a box around the objects to select Only objects that are completely within the boundaries of this box will be selected e You can also select multiple objects by holding the Ctr1 key and selecting objects on the object panel e Holding the Ctr1 key and clicking on individual objects Right click menu For each object there is a right click menu when the object is selected From here you have different options e Add to template Will add a copy of this object to the template panel e Copy cut paste delete same as the menu functions wy You do not have the Add to template if you have selected more than one object Printing your finished message Once your message is finished you activate the print mode by pressing F10 or by using the print icon The window will change and display the value of objects with watch option enabled If you are running OBJ INKdraw on a computer that does not have the printing hardware installed you will see the text Could not find controller board Previewing your work To see how your print is actually going to look when printed th
105. ou want for example the midnight change of date to be different You have 3 fields that equal to hh mm ss Select any of these and use the arrows up down or enter a number with the keypad Changes will not take effect until you press enter You can use any number as the difference from the current date minutes and seconds will perhaps be converted to entire hours The date format The date format is a string of characters where some characters are interpreted as placeholders and format string for the following elements in a time date for example second minute hour day month year weekday If a character does not interpret as a placeholder it is simply written in the date object as it is st e Date formats depend on the settings in the local Windows installation It is quite likely that some strings below are different in different versions of Windows e Date words day and month names will always be written in the language of the Windows installations To change this language change the regional settings sometimes labeled International in your Windows control panel HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 33 The following list gives all the options for the date You can either choose from the pre defined formats or compose your own by writing in the box If you want to use letters from below in a string use quotes Example Date is yy mm dd will
106. part of or the entire object outside the visible Visible area area but only the visible parts are printed y Figure 7 The OBJ INKdraw coordinate system You work with the placement on the canvas through the coordinates parameters These are placed at the left of the parameter area Snappoint Object For nae eon pre F ae coordinates of the selected snap poin X fafie ef 2 Width and the size of the object is shown T fofos 2 iO bs Height here This object s snap point is located at 182 109 The size of the object is 3 by 352 Figure 8 Coordinates and size display S e Barcode objects will instead of the Width show the module size that shows the number of multiplications relative to the minimum width of the barcode As previously mentioned the line object is a little different When the line object is selected the coordinate panel will look like this Notice that the width and height icons g TY are gone and replaced by a second pee 26 3 za set of coordinates indicating start and a end points The line itself will show one ie 28 F fi 1 1 4 end in blue the other in yellow for easy iaa reference Figure 9 Line end points HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 26 Apart from reading out the value of the coordinate you can also set the coordinate To do this follow this procedure e Select one or more objects e Change the value you would l
107. pically an ink file is less than 10 kb OBJ INKdraw allows you to work with multiple files at once This allows you edit one file while another file is printing If you wish to limit the number of files you can set this in the preferences When you first start the program the open file will depend on the settings in the preferences You can choose between the following options e Open the last file edited e Open anew file called NoName ink e Open a user defined message lt e If the file you try to load does not exist an empty file called NoName ink with 1 XaarJet 128 engine 1000 pixel wide will be created e It is not recommended to use NoName ink to store information you need as this file is overwritten without warning Creating a new file You can create a new file in any of the following ways File New by using Ctr1 N or by using the icon for new file You will see a dialog box as indicated by the following figure HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 16 c Program Files media OBJINKdraw files NoName Ink q 1 Select the CB card that will print Print heads your message If you have no card in 175mm 175mm 35mm your computer simply ignore this ENTIER NN 2 Select the type of head you will be E u 1 HSAJet CB XJ 500 v using Head type Head engine type Width Units aar 128 X 35 mm X 102 4 mm X a 2 CAEI WE 5 Zl 3 it you wish to create CU TCU S
108. printers per J output and the printers have been daisy chained two on each output Finally a start switch is Start switch connected to activate the print 35 mm printer 35 mm printer Figure 72 connecting the printers e The order in which you daisy chain the printer is indifferent as the printer internally has configured which data lines it will print please see the hardware manual for more on this Other options Apart from the printers and the controller you can connect other things to your system Please ask or consult the hardware documentation for more information about these options e Encoder to accurately measure the speed of your conveyor e External signal for print active e External signal for low ink level HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 131 The Preferences menu 17 The preferences menu is where a number of options affecting the behavior of OBJ INKdraw can be set This chapter will describe all the different options and what they do Entering the preferences menu To enter the preferences menu use File gt Preferences Or press Alt p You will see a screen similar to this Preferences Preferences Window ee a nouei Bi The window has two panes Main font Normal Language Layout C Never ask The option group where the State net C Ask always options for a certain part of Lock tool Logfile the program are selected Da
109. re are two types of separator They must be different and you can not use a separator in a string By default they are defined as end of command string and item separator but should you need hash and or semicolon in a string feel free to redefine to f ex and Special functions Use date file Specify here a date file that contains exactly 366 lines each with a date format for that specific day of the year Please see dates for an explanation Use day month year offset Normally date offsets are specified as number of days But if this option is on you can specify number of years months and days This is explained under dates Short date format Selects the input date format for prompts Date encryption For each date object you can set the names of week days and month names Here you can further encrypt your date by replacing individual digits with a different string Notice that this setting is global and affects all date objects Scan and print TO DO TDJ Printing The printing section is where the special preferences for printing are placed The print modes you will find here are commonly special meaning that you need special instructions for these Please ask for more information 2 sided print If this is on the controller will automatically assume that 1 2 of your heads are on the opposite side printing the same information as the first one or two heads HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic c
110. re you can define the layout of each screen e Inthe touch screen the keyboard for input is completely user defineable allowing up to 5 languages with each 144 symbols HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manua 25 08 2005 Page 101 Section 5 Remote Control 13 Ethernet RS232 14 Running update OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 102 Ethernet RS232 13 Through the use of a normal PC network or an RS232 connection it is possible to remote control OBJ INKdraw The principle and the protocol is described in the following HS Automatic has developed sample applications that demonstrate this communication you can download these from our home page Although the protocol language is practically the same there are some small differences between the two methods of communicating These will be introduced followed by the complete language specification TCP IP Ethernet From the server you can connect arbituary many computers in a PC network and address each one through either an IP address or a DNS name Each of the printer controllers has from 1 to 16 print heads connected to it These must be of the same type per controller but can be of a different type in the same network i e below ipc1 and ipc2 can have different head types In order to issue commands for objects you must be connected to a message which is defined as an open file in OBJ INKdraw You can address all op
111. retched speed too fast or compressed speed too slow it is important to keep a precise control of the feeder speed Encoder Velocity When velocity is selected the Velocity Q encoder option changes into a velocity option Seseeeeeoreoesee 4 Encoder Input the speed of the feeder This is always in meter minute Encoder function Velocity Metre Min 0 03500 Quadrature 1 m min 0 05468 ft sec gt opts stor pe Position Mode pe Modular Sj Figure 42 Velocity Options Encoder An encoder is an instrument that gives impulses by the rotation of a small wheel When mounted on the feeder OBJ INKdraw can be adjusted to follow the pulses thus giving a very precise print even if the speed of the feeder varies or even stops at times This manual will briefly describe the settings of the encoder and the difference between them For a more technical explanation of the encoder settings and the background behind them please refer to the hardware manual HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 61 Settings of the encoder Encoder Velocity sind s You can enter the mm pulse Encoder factor or calculate it if you know the diameter and number of Encoder function pulses Encoder mm Puls 0 03500 Quadrature Choose between position mode and modular mode select quadrature briefly explained Modular below if you need it Modular
112. rosoft Access databases and Microsoft Excel files text files and directly from SQL servers X At this moment OBJ INKdraw can only talk directly with mySQL mySQL AB and MS SQL Microsoft Corp database servers At a later point more servers will be added For more information on mySQL see htip www mysql com For more information on MS SQL see htip www microsoft com 1 e You can only have one database open at any time e If adatabase is already open and you try to open another you will be prompted to close the current database or cancel the operation Some important terms As this chapter deals with databases it is important to know the concept of databases A database is an organized collection of information Think of it as a box of little cards with information Each database can have one or more tables that each has one or more fields A collection of different fields in a table form a row This is also referred to as a record A query in the database is a part of one or more tables based on a question For example for a table of addresses a query could show only addresses with one specific postal code Related to queries is the term SQL Structured Query Language OBJ INKdraw supports direct input of SQL code to select certain records from a database Microsoft Accesso Microsoft Excele databases Setting up a database connection Before you are able to extract data from a database you have to make
113. rs are global settings that affect all screens You can not use individual fonts for the buttons The controls can be minimized to allow you to place buttons where the controls are Click the up arrow symbol to bring it back The touch screen keyboard For inputs the touch screen has a small keyboard It contains 48 standard keys that each have up to 3 symbols standard shift and alt plus some special keys like enter soace and back space The keyboard can be configured to use up to 5 different languages giving you a total of 720 different symbols available for input Each key has exactly 1 character Key no 1 13 SHAE 2 eS oe ef TTITITITITIIT Pm genT TT STETE EPP Ptiaggptgt 47 Alt key if activated upto5 different languages Figure 70 touch screen keyboard Numbering of the keys The standard keys are numbered from top left to bottom right One key number 48 is not visible by default when activated it s located next to the a key lt e The shift key and the optional AltGr key are only active once e To geta string like f ex ABC you need to press shift A shift B shift C e Of course you can define the inverse keyboard to use upper case all the time if that is what you need Defining the keyboard lanquages To change the definition of the keyboard you need to manually modify the text files in the Touchscreen directory under the OBJ INKdraw installation directory The main file to edit is ca
114. rst engine in term of distances is the first engine in the print direction Purge A purge is when all the nozzles of a print engine shoots continously It is useful for testing the engine for missing nozzles this is noticed as white lines in the black area A purge is also useful HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 66 to prevent the ink from drying out OBJ INKdraw can be set up to automatically make purges if you use solvent based ink for example Settings for the purge function M Spitrate Speen re The spitrate section on top Burst allows settings for time burst and tickle Tickle 0 15 The buttons at the bottom makes the printer purge two engines at a time Purge print engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 whl 4 Figure 49 Purge parameters lt e When purging a lot of ink comes out of the printer The small drops will be carried by air and can color things quite far away Make sure that the printer is not constantly purging e t might be harmful to your health to breathe the fumes of a printer that purges Make sure you have good ventilation e This menu is not available if you don t have a controller board Spitrate The spitrate settings is used to make the printer shoot every n seconds to prevent the ink from drying out This will not happen during a print The burst value is the number of times
115. ry about the keyboard monitor solution An administrator function is still available so you can create and edit messages The touch screen function is split into two parts an editor where you define based on 5 different screens which parts are active and how they look Once defined the touch screen interface can be activated on start up of OBJ INKdraw This function is activated in the preferences Touch screen editor To activate the editor use functions gt Special gt Touch Screen gt Setup Of Ctrl F12 You will see the screen change to the touch screen interface with the edit controls visible at the bottom me Hage User defineable logo Operator Input box Administrator x Fort Admristiater password Choose screen Henican a se Control HEI Secon coio ee a JE Frogarmencbink Ga panel Keyboard colour Selected colour Visibility Save Clore Figure 68 Touch screen editor HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 95 The elements of the touch screen interface The touch screen interface has 5 different screens The following will briefly describe these screens and the components available on each Within each screen the components can be activated deactivated and placed freely You can also change the text on buttons and labels plus the color of the screen Use the Visibility button to switch objects on off and use right click to change the properties
116. s ink reduction Feeder direction This is relative to the head Imagine looking at the feeder from behind the head Then select here the direction of the feeder HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 65 Adjustment of the head In order to adjust the heads it is important to understand the concept of the print heads Please refer to the section on the concept For now it is enough to understand that there is an imaginary fix point from which all heads are adjusted accordingly Within each head the engines are adjusted according to engine 1 The figure below will help to illustrate INKdraw operates with 2 distances A B A is the distance from the sensor to a fix point This value is adjusted under the Sensor section B is the distance from the fix estan First print point to each print head This Fix point engine value is adjusted under Head shift for each print head Start sensor Figure 47 distances in setup Dist BN be 0 istance may be 0 Engine adjust If the head has more than 1 print engine you need to adjust the distance beween the engines The distances are relative to engine 1 as indicated here Figure 48 Adjustment of print engines X e When you change the print direction of a head with more than one engine you will notice that the numbering of the engines change direction e This is due to the fact that the fi
117. s with mixed capitalization Since the date code for August Mmm does not exist simply choose august mmm and select Capitalize HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 31 Date objects The date object is able to show date and time in almost any format The basis of the date is the internal clock in the PC so make sure that one is set correctly to the local time Date Date shift dvanced The basis of the date properties is the date options properties bar When you change the properties the next date object will default to the same format 21 08 05 7 fios EET dd mm yyyy 7 jo fo 4 4 Format Time shift hh mm ss Figure 13 The date property area Setting date shift The date shift is the difference between the current system date and the date in the date object This is very useful for expire dates when either the length of the period or the exact date of expiration is known The value can be either positive or negative O is for no difference today s date The value can be set in two different ways Input a number and press enter in the Date shift fields day hour minute second or select a date in the Current Date field When you select today s date you are prompted with a box similar to this The current day is marked in a red circle the selected date in a blue spot august 2001 You can select months with the gray arrows on top C JI dag
118. such as Adobe PhotoShop or JASC PaintShop Pro HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com Ay OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 49 lt e Logos are not embedded into the ink file Instead there is a ink to the logo placed in the ink file This means that if you move the ink file the logo must be placed in the same relative position e The shortcut filename bmp notice the dot is for the OBJ INKdraw logo directory HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 50 Field objects Field objects are used to group the objects that can contain text text date counter so that you don t have problems with variations in field lenght This is especially useful for database connections An example will help to allustrate the difference Without field object ABCD Sep 20 2000 Text field is too short ABCDEFTERJEKJRKJERKg 20 2000 Text field is too long With field object ABCD Sep 20 2000 Neatly ligned up ABCDEFTERJEKJRKJERKJ Sep 20 2000 regardsless of lenght The properties of the Field Object are located to the right of the lock icon Properties for the field object Toggle word wrap Print The text align function works on the entire field individual adjustment of content is not possible an IV Break lines empty Print if empty object ao dit Text alignment content Figure 33 Field object properties When created the field object
119. t monitor showing next value Print in reverse All objects that are not geometric objects can be reversed ROARK JEA ACRU O activate reverse print click the button to the right of the magnification glass HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 28 The reverse button has no affect on geometric objects as these have their own property bar for color background foreground HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 29 Individual object properties This part will describe properties that are only available for one object or a small group of objects All possible values will be described Lines Ellipses and Rectangles The geometric shapes all have a set of properties that they share i For all geometric shapes line thickness Line Transparency transparency and color can be set thickness l Color can be black or white f x cH ce For lines notice that transparency and fill f Solid color are not present gt Line thickn is measured in the currentl Line 5 ine thickness is measu i u y selected units color color Figure 11 Properties for geometric objects A note about fonts and text Some or in fact most of the objects in OBJ INKdraw contain text Although the objects are created with a standard font it is possible to set any available font and font size fonts are based on the fonts from Windows This means tha
120. t you can get fonts from elsewhere install these in Windows and use them in OBJ INKdraw The font bar is placed right under the menu bar The font font size and font appearances work just like any Stretch other office program E I E E Transparency Bold Italic Underline Font Size Stretch applies to only date and text objects plus counters when Figure 12 Font panel space is lead in character and causes the text to always fit inside the frame no matter how long it is S e Transparency does not apply to the bar code object If you want to put some text close to the bar codes change stacking and make the text objects transparent instead of the bar code HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 30 e When you stretch an object using the snap points the height width relation no longer matches the font size Pressing enter in the font size field will reset the relationship between height and width e f you need to input character sets other than the latin you might need to select the appropriate character set under preferences Capital Letters Sometimes it is desirable to print any text as upper case This is simple to do with the Text case selector This is located in the font panel Choose between the following Normal The red fox Capitalize The Red Fox lower case the red fox upper case THE RED FOX e You can use this to create date
121. tabase Running update and the settings where the Printing Mail F Update loge actual changes are made Update INK file Machine parameters Show cost while printing Figure 73 Preferences Window To change something select the group make the changes and press Ok HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 132 Description of the preferences Save Exit and update Save Options How OBJ INKdraw should behave when you close a file Normal is to ask if the file should be saved if it is modified Never ask and Ask Always will overrule this behavior Automatic save after print will save the message when you stop printing This can be useful if you wish to save the status of counters and databases when you change files automatically x e A document your ink file is sometimes modified even if you do not personally change anything e For example simply selecting an object on the drawing canvas will make your file appear changed to OBJ INKdraw Machine Parameters Causes OBJ INKdraw to ignore parameters hardware settings in the files that are loaded Show cost while printing When in print mode the object view window will appear with a cost meter showing at the bottom The cost is calculated from the price of ink entered under Cost Calculation 8 Local file C obj inkdraw files NoName Ink EES The print monitor showing costs Press lt ESC gt
122. the 258 HS day number in the current year with leading zero 75 will show as 075 Remember the 258 HW Week number without leading zero 1 9 35 HW Week number with leading zero 01 09 35 d1 Week day number start Monday without leading 0 6 D1 Week day number start Monday with leading 0 06 d0 Week day number start Sunday withoutleading O 7 D0 Week day number start Sunday with leading 0 07 G Week day letter Monday A Sunday G F AWN Week day name specified per object Please see below F default MN Month name specified per object Please see below HY Year using 1 digit last 2001 1 HF Use specified date file no default Advanced date options per object Select the Advanced button to change less used options for the dates Notice that these options are per object so if you wish to remember your settings copy the object or add it to the template panel Date menu i i WN wd ow g Firure 15 keep the date for a week Week day change Week Change Allows you to keep the same date for a week Enter the relative number of weeks to the Thursday 7 current week and what day the date should change This option follows this simple rule Take the date of the next coming week day change relative to the number of weeks selected In other words if the day selected is passed in this week use the
123. the start mm parameter The given value must be in mms If using the 20_XJxxx EPROMs or later it will change during printmode else it will change only in edit mode Set edge PARAMETER edge lt edge gt Works on Both versions edit mode only mY yo The command will change the sensor trigger to either positive pos positive or edge or negative neg negative edge The command will be accepted in print mode but the change will not work before exiting and re entering print mode Print signal PARAMETER Signal lt type gt Works on Both versions mo The command will set the signal type to either print signal print or or message signal message or Endless PARAMETER endless PARAMETER endless Works on Both versions edit mode only The command will turn on off endless mode It will be accepted in print mode but will not change before exiting printmode Print mode PARAMETER mode lt print mode gt Works on Both versions edit mode only o Changes between position encoder pos position or P modular encoder mod modular or M and velocity vel velocity V modes Changes will be accepted in print mode but will not take effect before exiting print mode Print speed PARAMETER encoder lt value gt PARAM
124. the preferences menu available through Ctr1 Alt p e tis possible to prevent the use of the functions and or menus by using the lock tool You can put a password on the preferences menu and print function parameter menu e If you have a problem the log function can tell you what the last successful operation was HS Automatic might ask you to send you files from the logfile directory as they will help to identify your problem HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 142 Section 8 Support 18 If you find a bug HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 143 If you find a bug 18 HS Automatic would like to make it easy for you to report a bug if you think you found one in our software To make it easy for us to identify the problem please take a moment to fill out some information about your setup before contacting us Information about your hardware Controller e Controller type Operating system Printing equipment e Type and quantity of printers e Description of your setup at the conveyor equipment measures How you tried to print Your desired settings e Line speed e Number of prints per minute e Distance between prints e Print size e Do you use encoder or velocity Actual settings e send us the ink file that you used HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2
125. ting objects To delete an object select the object with the mouse and press the Delete key e If the object is transparent it does not become selected until you hit something solid with the mouse For objects with thin lines this can be hard at times e A good idea is to use the object panel or zoom function to help select objects e Notice also that the cursor will change to the name of the object type when you have the pointer over an object Changing object properties Any object has properties information about size look function etc Not all properties apply to all objects for example a line does not have any font You change the property of an object by selecting it with the mouse then changing the property You can also select the object in the object panel N e In dialog boxes in the properties area you often need to press enter to change the value Copy Paste OBJ INKdraw has copy and paste functions much like any other windows program To use this function select the object objects use copy then use paste You find these functions in the menu Edit or by using the keys Ctr1 c Copy or Ctr1 v Paste OBJ INKdraw will automatically create unique names for the new objects HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 19 e You can also paste from the standard Windows Clipboard Use this to insert text from other documents e f the pasted text has m
126. tive name Content when rule is in effect Date Time for rule Rules for content evaluated in order from top Figure 36 Editing Schedule object rulesets content None Both can be changed Page 53 To enter the rulesets of the schedule object first add as many rules as you need one for each time your content changes Then click on each rule and define the date time If you don t specify a day you can use All When created each rule will have a description of Shift and a number and the e It is what you write in Content that is shown on the canvas The description is not important e Remember to press enter when you change a field Otherwise your entry will not be stored HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 54 Copy object The copy object is special because it does not have any content by itself Instead it can be seen as a window that gets its content from what is below This content appears in the copy The copy object is an easy way to create content and make sure the exact same information is printed elsewhere on your canvas Any number of copies can be made and you can have multiple copy objects A copy object always consists of minimum 1 source and 1 copy The handles will always be on the source and the size of the copy will always be the same as the source The idea behind the copy object is illus
127. tp www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 77 Current data selecti i cart es a asg ection ER PO Importing from SQL servers 2 Imnort data fram SAL server 0 UpSMCadgctABIpMbo O01TyMCoAgatAAgUbo o02THsCoAgadAAg T7I OOGMESCoAgoAAGFOMWE 00i8cCodgadAAgSTLw 00q4pcCodgo4AB4vSMO O0R2e8CoAgosAHAU vol O0rom8CoAgo4AB4VSPo H 01 qwsCodgo4AGGMGUI 011RVcCotgoAAE57GYs O17nAMCoAgoAAESSY4E 0170uMCoAgoAAE58T70 03JJCMCoAgosAB0AROY O3kxFsCoAgoSADESPJs J O6GcBcCoAgo4AGSXUMA O6GrusCoAgoAAF43Htk O6i0 vMCoAgodAGyKAY O6n r8CoAgosAGyeLt0 O6nT28Codga4AGywkis records select from unigids Save settings Load settings from an SQL Quick Connect file Input Server namellP click Connect Database name Table name SQL Query string Save settings in an SQL Quick Connect file The steps in connecting are select server type input server name click connect once connected select database name select table if needed modify the default query save settings if you want J O6rOMCoAgo4AAVOCE J O6yw7cCoAgodAruCSk OBywi8CodgatAarvCyo __ O8FiqsCoAgo4AFKKH1U _ 08q 4sCoAgodAGhLTic JO8wVicCoAgotAHOOG tc Figure 58 Importing from SQL servers The SQL server import is extremely flexible as you can enter SQL SELECT statements directly and dynamically return different data To go into the details
128. trated below Here there is one source over Haz peL L the full barcode and one copy KIN pan te Hie frames are for illustration 1 123456 Figure 37 idea behind copy object The copy object works directly with the canvas bitmap That way the copy object can include any part of the screen entire objects or part of them only You can even use the result of one copy object as the source for another if that is what you want To create a copy object use the icon 0 0 When created the copy object looks as follows Source The copy object just created The handles are on the source object the copy destination is on top Source Destination will be written on each Destination Figure 38 Copy object after creation S e You can only move the destination Copy if you click outside the handles The properties for the copy object allows you to adjust the number of copies how the object is displayed and allows you to expand the object to fill an entire head HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 55 Number of destination How the object TO adjust the properties of the copy object click the object and boxes on canvas is displayed make adjustments Su Number of copiesShow objefts as Notice that if you make the object fi grayed 7 x transparent you can t select it Nothing selected a from the canvas only from the object bar Expand to fill entire print hea
129. u can change object width and height Snap Points e 4 middle points By dragging these you can only e 1 center point selectable through the snap point selector If you drag one of the other 8 snap points and the center point is selected the object will stretch around the center Which snap point you work with is selected on the snap point selector When changing snap point the rotation point and the coordinate display will BE change Also the object will be pin pointed to the L selected snap point when stretched Figure 6 Object snap panel The snap point selected also has another importance except stretching the current position for the object is always shown for the selected snap point N e Line objects are an exception As they don t have any height and width they don t have 9 snap points only 2 beginning and end e When a line object is selected the coordinates display is different and the snap HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 25 panel disappears Canvas orientation placement and size The canvas in OBJ INKdraw is a like a big chalkboard where you can place letters circles etc There is a coordinate system related to the canvas in the following way The arrow lines illustrate the x and y axis The gray area is the visible canvas Everything outside the gray area is where objects with negative coordinates are placed You can place
130. u can enter information in more than one place at the same time for example in a barcode and in a readable string separate from the barcode e In relation with object links it is important to know that content and display are two different things e n dates two objects that are linked will have the same content even if one displays for example DD MM YYYY and the other HH MM SS Example All 3 dates below have the same content but are displayed differently Date1 Date2 Date3 20 Dec 2005 05 12 20 05 43 20 12 05 05 43 22 e Likewise in counters two objects that are linked will have the same content even they are in different number bases For example one could display 1000 decimal while the other would display 3F8 hex The idea of links The links will copy the content of an object to one other object or several other objects You can only link to from things that makes sense in other words The receiving object target must be able to contain the source type of content For example linking a picture to a date or vice versa does not make sense since the content types are not compatible Other link types are only one way you can link a date to a text field but not a text field to a date again it would not make sense Links work in and out of object containers also with no problems although some object containers will only allow you to link one way HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw Us
131. u what OBJ INKdraw is doing The information is stored in the file OBJ INKdraw installation directory LogFile LogFile txt There are 5 levels of logging from None No log to Maximum log all The change of log level will not take effect until the program is restarted Error messages Since OBJ INKdraw is targeted also at remoted control it is sometimes necessary to have error messages on the screen that require user intervention disabled This is possible by selecting a different value here Choose between the following Disabled Errors appear only in log files Message You will get a message box on the screen Network Most error messages are output on the TCP IP connection Serial If possible errors are output on the serial connection Database The database group contains different options related to the database functions Database functions Keep references when reloading lf this option is on the program will connect the currently open database to objects with the same name when you open another file Example you have attached field1 to Name object Now when you open another file field1 is still attached to Name object This is great for using templates because you can use the same data with different layouts You must however take great care that the objects you have connected with fields exist in the files you open Otherwise unexpected results might occur Reload database just before printing
132. vertical bar between the canvas and the object panel e You can also turn off the object panel by clicking the X in the top right corner e And you can collapse the panel by clicking the gt gt in the top left corner Template panel The template panels allows you to quickly re create many objects with the same properties and content By default it is placed opposite to the object panel in the left hand side of the screen Turn the panel on and off with Ctr1 T or View gt Template HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 13 The panel can be closed adjusted in width and collapsed in the same way as the object panel The template panel is divided into different sections by object type Each object will automatically appear in the section corresponding to it s type Adding objects to the panel e Click to select the object you wish to add e Use the right click menu and choose Copy object to template Using objects from the panel e Select the object type you wish to add e Drag the object from the panel with the left button onto the canvas Arranging objects in the panel e You can arrange objects in the panel by dragging with the right mouse button e You can also zoom in and out on the panel by using numeric and numeric keys Deleting objects in the panel e Select the object with the left mouse button It will become red e Press del Font Panel The font panel s
133. x gt lt end y gt Line width OBJECT lt object name gt WID lt width gt Works on Both versions only graphic objects lines rectangles and ellipses Changes the line width Text OBJECT lt object name gt TEX lt new text gt Works on Both versions text objects only Writes a new text in the object The object will be automatically resized to fit the size of the new text HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 113 Counter values OBJECT lt object name gt MIN lt minimum value gt OBJECT lt object name gt CUR lt current value gt OBJECT lt object name gt MAX lt maximum value gt OBJECT lt object name gt DIG lt number of digits gt OBJECT lt object name gt DIR lt gt OBJECT lt object name gt LDN lt lead in gt OBJECT lt object name gt REP lt repeat number gt Works on Both versions counters only Changes the minimum maximum or current displayed values of the counter DIG sets the number of digits in the counter DIR sets the direction of the counter for counting up for counting down lt lead in gt is either space space zero 0 zero or none none REP sets the repeat number of the counter Expiry date set date OBJECT lt object name gt EXP lt expiry date gt OBJECT lt object name gt DAT lt date
134. xt alignment functions on the entire object e f word wrap is off two object never split even if forced return is on HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 52 Schedule Objects Schedule objects are used to vary the content of a text box based on the date time Rules are set up with the date time and the content and when the criteria is met the content will change The rules are strictly logical the entire list of rules is evalutated before the content changes If any rules overwrite other rules the last defined rule is given priority Example Sunday 7 00 am Sunday morning Sunday 1 00 pm Sunday Noon All days 7 00 am Morning Sunday at 8 00 the result of the above rules would be Morning because All Days overrules the Sunday However Sunday at 1 00 pm the text would change to Sunday Noon In other words The order of the rules is important When created the object is displaying the word Empty To add rules use the properties bar The properties for the schedule object The current content ofthe aqad edit schedule object Read Only You can not enter the current value content directly only through the edit Z content button Figure 35 Schedule Object properties HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com OBJ INKdraw User Manual Schedule menu Content Controls Change order 25 08 2005 Descrip
135. y find the new strings when you later edit the language file Layout The layout section affects the look of your canvas Notice that the changes you make here will only have cosmetic effects The changes will not affect the final print Global settings Apply global settings to the measurements grid setup If on they will not change even after a new message is loaded Grid Change settings for the grid X Y Interval determine how close the grid points should be X Y offset Shifts the grid this number of units from 0 0 Visual Should the grid be visible or not Snap to grid Only move on grid points Units Change the units used in OBJ INKdraw Pix Pixels the smallest number of dots available with the printer hardware Cm Centimeters based on the metric system Inc Inches based on the US system HS Automatic ApS http www hsautomatic com ff OBJ INKdraw User Manual 25 08 2005 Page 134 Point Points based on font sizes Cursors Crosshair Use a big cross as cursor Hand Use a small hand with a pointing finger as cursor Cross Use a small cross as cursor Keep objects inside message With this option on you can not move any object outside the boundaries of the canvas With this option off objects can be placed anywhere even in not visible areas of the canvas Allow canvas resizing from editor window Setting that will allow you to drag the length of the canvas directly from within the editor Automatic popup of ob

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