Why don’t I see the object properties in WinMark Pro?
You might have inadvertently pressed the Toggle Property Window button on the WinMark Pro toolbar. Press this button again to view the properties.
What is an Auto Text Type and how do I use it?
WinMark provides a variety of ways to assign caption data to Text, Barcode and 2Dbarcode objects. For basic operations such as serialization, date coding and RS232 data input, the following AutoText functions within WinMark will suffice. (For more complex functionality, the Event Builder functions may be used. Where even the Event Builder will not provide the needed functionality, you may need to look at using our ActiveX control.)
Supported Functions
The Auto Text automation provides the following functions:
Serial Number Text automatically increments a numeric or alpha-numeric value
Date Code Text applies standard or custom date, time, and/or shift codes
Disk File Text (Seq) reads data from a text file (aka ‘flat file’), reading one line after
another through the file on each mark
Serial Port Text reads data in from one of the computer’s RS232 serial ports
User Entry Text prompts the PC operator to enter data, then assigns the entered
value
Disk File Text (Fixed) as opposed to the Seq version, this function reads data only from
the first line a text file
From Another Object (new to WinMark v4 build 4402) reads the value from another
object in the mark file
(A full write-up of the supported properties and limitations of these functions is beyond the scope of this document. Refer to the WinMark manual for the complete details on these functions.)
Properties and Options
Here are some details on the lesser-understood Auto Text properties and details:
General
Execute Auto Text When
Select Before Mark (executes immediately after Set Digital Before Mark) or After Mark (executes immediately before Wait Digital After Piece). In most cases, Before Mark is used. This is true for Serial Port Text and most of the other Auto Text functions. However, when marking serial numbers, it may be desirable to set the first serial number value as the default text caption, mark that value, and then increment to the next value. In such a case, ‘After Mark’ would be used.
Auto Text Within Array
WinMark allows any mark object (text, polyline, imported graphic, barcode, etc.) to be configured as an array of objects. In the Format tab for the object, the array may be defined as any number of rows and columns. By default, these values are both set to one. However, a nest of 25 parts can be marked with similar data by setting the Array Rows and Array Columns properties each to 5. The Auto Text Within Array (ATWA) property may then be set to Yes to execute the auto text function for each element within the array, or set to No to use the same auto text value for the entire array. If the ATWA property is set to No, the auto text is executed on every trip through the mark loop.
Serial Number Text
The Serial Number Text automation allows the marking of serialized values. Be sure to enter the serial number value to the number of digits required – for a 5 digit serial number, enter ‘00001’. WinMark does not support blanking of leading zeros.
Serial Number Delta
Determines the amount the serial number will increase from one mark to the next. Use positive values to count up, negative values to count down.
Serial Number Mask
Allows the use of non-incrementing text/numbers in the serial number caption. For instance, ‘SN9999’ could be used as a caption, with the SN portion set as fixed (Serial Number Mask would be ‘FFSSSS’). The next serial caption would be ‘SN0000’. Click on the drop down arrow at the right side of the property box to change the Serial Number Mask.
Serial Piece Step
Determines how many marks must be made before updating the serial value. Useful for marking a large part in several places – the Serial Piece Step may be set to 3, then the part marked three times with the same value.
Save Last Serial
Set to Yes to save the last marked serial number in the Windows registry. The Save Serial Name may be renamed as desired so that multiple serial numbers for different mark files may be kept separate. The Current Saved Value shows the current value held in the registry, and allows the value to be modified as necessary.
Date Code Text
The Date Code Text automation allows the marking of date code, time, and shift code values. Date and time information are derived from the Windows date and time values of the WinMark PC. WinMark allows the creation of custom date code formats, which are stored in the Windows registry. For this reason, care should be exercised when upgrading the WinMark software, as detailed here. If files are to be shared between multiple WinMark PCs, the custom date code definitions must be carefully managed to ensure proper date code marking.
Assign Date Format
Click on the ellipses (‘…’) button to the right of the property box to open the date code format window:
Select one of the standard formats (which may vary from one version of WinMark to another), or define your own custom format by entering the desired format string in the ‘Format Definition String’ text box. The Available Format Commands window shows the commands that may be used (again, these will vary from one version of WinMark to the next). You may upgrade your WinMark version (at no cost) by following the directions here.
Note that entered text, unless it is preceded by a % sign, will appear as it is typed in the printed date code. The ‘Example Date’ text box will display the resulting date code (without any day, hour or minute offsets). Note also that the custom date formats are contained within the Windows Registry on the PC where they’ve been defined, and must be entered on each of the WinMark PCs on which the mark file will be used.
Time Offset: xxx
The Time Offset properties allow you to further customize the printing of date and shift codes. For instance, you can set the Time Offset: Days to 90 to mark a product’s expiration date, or set the Time Offset: Minutes to 30 to make the shift codes roll over on the half hour rather than the hour.
Serial Port Text
The Serial Port Text function allows data to be read in through any RS232 port available on the WinMark PC. Comms must be at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. The data must be terminated with a Carriage Return character (^M, or 0D hex).
Flow control is handled at the Windows level, so WinMark cannot be configured to gate the flow of data from the host device. (However, it is possible to configure one of the marking head or FLCC output pins to control the host’s RTS/CTS lines, described here.)
Text From Com Port
Allows you to assign one of the com ports recognized by the PC to receive the data through. Note that only one com port may be used within a mark file… you cannot have two Serial Port Text objects that read from separate com ports.
Com Port Timeout
WinMark will wait this number of milliseconds for the serial data to arrive. If a serial data string, followed by a Carriage Return character, is not received within the timeout period, WinMark displays a message box indicating the timeout and prompting the operator for direction:
To wait indefinitely for the serial data, set this value to ‘-1’. (If the data is not received, the operator may abort the mark session by pressing the ESC key.)
Close Comport After Read
(New to WinMark at build 3780). Set to Yes to force the com port to close after each read. This will prevent spurious data from being held in the Windows serial buffer and used in the next mark. Using this option will slow the mark loop slightly (the delay will depend on the PC).
User Entry Text
The User Entry Text allows data to be input by the operator, to be assigned to the caption property of the Auto Text Object. A more useful version of this function is found in the Event Builder’s AskUserInput command.
Disk File Text (xxx)
The Disk File Text (Fixed) and Disk File Text (Seq) allow data to be read from text files. The data is then assigned to the Caption property of the text or barcode object. If you have an application that requires the data to be applied to a different property, you should look at using the Event Builder’s ReadLineFromFile command.
Data is retrieved from the file using Carriage Return/Line Feed (CR/LF) characters as string delimiters. (The hex values for CR/LF are 0D 0A. Most text editors automatically insert these characters when the ENTER key is pressed.) The only difference between the two functions is the way they handle files with more than one string of data. The DFT Fixed function reads only the first string of data, over and over for the duration of the mark session. The DFT Seq function reads one line after the other, until the end of the file is reached.
Auto Text File Wrap
Using DFT (Seq), set this property to Yes to cause WinMark to continue reading from the top of the file after finishing the last line. If this property is set to No, WinMark aborts the mark session and displays an end of file message when it reaches the end of the text file.
From Another Object
Added in WinMark v4.1.0, build 4402, the Auto Text: From Another Object allows one object to replicate the data value of another object in the mark file. For instance, a Text Object may be placed in the drawing, and configured to display the current value of a 1D or 2D barcode. The object used as the data source may use any of the Auto Text or other automation functions – it can contain a serial number, a date code, data read in through the serial port, etc.
WinMark automatically pushes the data source object up through the marking order so that it’s data value is updated first, then will update the dependant object.
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