Copyright: Copyright 1993, T.A.L. Enterprises


LinkTest Help Index

Using Linktest To Test DDE Commands

B-Coder Professional DDE Commands


Using LinkTest To Test DDE Commands

LinkTest is a simple utility program that allows you to issue DDE commands to other Windows programs that support a DDE command language. LinkTest was designed mainly for testing purposes for when you are setting up B-Coder Professional. You can use LinkTest to test all DDE commands that can be sent to B-Coder and you can also use it to test DDE commands that can be sent to other Windows applications like Excel or Word for Windows.

To use LinkTest, simply enter the DDE Application Name, Topic and Item for the application that you want to send DDE commands to and then enter the DDE command that you want to test in the text box marked "DDE Command". When you click the button marked "Link Execute", LinkTest will issue the command to the designated application

.

Note: A Link Item is not required by the B-Coder and is rarely required when sending DDE commands to other Windows applications.

For example, B-Coder recognizes the command [BEEP] as a valid DDE command. If you specify "B-Coder" as the Application Name and "System" as the Link Topic and "[BEEP] for the DDE Command, then when you click the Link Execute button, B-Coder should beep your PC's speaker.

If you get an error message that says "No foreign application responded to DDE initiate" when trying to execute DDE commands, then either the application that you are sending commands to is not running or you did not enter the proper paramaters for the DDE Application, Topic and Item. If you get the message "Foreign application won't perform DDE method or operation", then the command you are sending is either invalid or is not conforming to the proper syntax required by the application.

See Also:

B-Coder Professional DDE Commands


Software Wedge DDE Command Set
The B-Coder Professional DDE Command Set.

The B-Coder supports the following set of DDE commands. These commands may be issued to B-Coder when it is running either in a window or as an icon. When sending DDE commands to B-Coder from LINKTEST or another application, you should use the DDE Application Name "B-Coder" and the DDE Topic "System". A DDE Item is not required. Note: All DDE commands sent to B-Coder must be enclosed in square brackets.

Command

[BEEP]

Causes B-Coder to beep one short beep.

[APPNORMAL]

Opens the B-Coder window to normal size.

[APPMINIMIZE]

Minimizes the B-Coder window to an Icon.

[APPEXIT]

Removes B-Coder from memory.

[QUIETZONES=ON]

Enables automatic Quiet Zones around all bar codes.

[QUIETZONES=OFF]

Disables automatic Quiet Zones around all bar codes.

[CODE39CHECK=ON]

Enables Code 39 Check character for Code 39 bar codes.

[CODE39CHECK=OFF]

Disables Code 39 Check character for Code 39 bar codes.

[TEXT=ON]

Enables human readable text below bar codes.

[TEXT=OFF]

Disables human readable text below bar codes.

[BUILD/COPY]

Generates a bar code and copies it to clipboard.

[PASTE]

Pastes text from the clipboard into the bar code message

[CODE39]

Selects Code 39 as default symbology.

[CODE39FULLASCII]

Selects Code 39 Full ASCII as default symbology.

[UPCA]

Selects UPC-A as default symbology.

[UPCE]

Selects UPC-E as default symbology.

[EAN8]

Selects EAN-8 as default symbology.

[EAN13]

Selects EAN-13 as default symbology.

[I2OF5]

Selects Interleaved 2 of 5 as default symbology.

[D2OF5]

Selects Discrete 2 of 5 as default symbology.

[CODABAR]

Selects CodaBar as default symbology.

[CODE93]

Selects Code 93 as default symbology.

[CODE128]

Selects Code 128 as default symbology.

[EAN/UCC128]

Selects EAN/UCC 128 as default symbology.

[PDF417]

Selects PDF417 as default symbology.

[POSTNET], [ZIP]

Selects POSTNET as default symbology.

[MESSAGE='text',n,...]

Changes the bar code message to the supplied text or ASCII values. The text must conform to the rules for the chosen symbology.

Note:Text must be supplied as quoted strings using single quotes and control codes must be supplied as Ascii values. Text and control codes may be combined with individual elements separated by commas. Ex. [Message='Test',13,10] changes the bar code message to the word Test followed by a carriage return (Ascii 13), and a line feed (Ascii 10).

[SUPPLEMENT='text']

Changes UPC/EAN supplemental to the supplied text.

Note:Text must consist of either a two or five digit number and must be supplied as a quoted string using single quotes. Ex. [Supplement='12345'] changes the UPC/EAN supplemental message to 12345.

[BARWIDTH=n]

Changes the value for the narrow bar width to n.

[BARHEIGHT=n]

Changes the value for the bar code height to n.

[MAGNIFY=n]

Changes the UPC/EAN magnification factor to n

[RATIO=n]

Changes the Narrow To Wide Element Ratio to n

[NEXT]

Advances to the next message in a series when incremental numbering is enabled or when a bar code message file is open.

[PREV], [PREVIOUS]

Backs up one message in a series when incremental numbering is enabled or when a bar code message file is open.

[PDFMODULEWIDTH=n]

Sets the Module Width for PDF417 to n using the currently selected measurement units.

[PDFMODULEHEIGHT=n]

Sets the Module Height for PDF417 to n using the currently selected measurement units.

[PDFMODE=AUTOEBN]

Sets the PDF417 data compression mode to Automatic (EXC, Binary and Numeric modes auto select) i.e. maximum ompression.

[PDFMODE=AUTOEB]

Sets the PDF417 data compression mode to Automatic (EXC and Binary modes auto select). Switching to Numeric mode is disabled.

[PDFMODE=EXC]

Sets the PDF417 compression mode to EXC.

[PDFMODE=BIN]

Sets the PDF417 compression mode to Binary.

[PDFMODE=NUM]

Sets the PDF417 compression mode to Numeric.

[PDFCODEWORDS=ON]

Enables display of generated PDF417 code words.

[PDFCODEWORDS=OFF]

Disables display of generated PDF417 code words.

[PDFSECURITY=AUTO]

Sets the PDF417 security level to Auto

[PDFOVERHEAD=n]

Sets the percentage of PDF417 data security overhead when the PDF417 security level is set to Auto.

n= the percentage of the symbol area to be used for error correction overhead.

[PDFSECURITY=n]

Sets the PDF417 security level to n. (0-8)

[PDFMAXROWS=n]

Sets the maximum number of data rows for PDF417 symbols to n. (3-90)

[PDFMAXCOLS=n]

Sets the maximum number of data codeword columns for PDF417 symbols to n. (3-30)

[PDFASPECT=n]

Sets the PDF417 symbol aspect ratio to n.

[TRUNCATEDPDF=ON]

Enables generation of truncated PDF417 symbols.

[TRUNCATEDPDF=OFF]

Disables generation of truncated PDF417 symbols.

[MESSAGEWARNINGS=ON]

Enables invalid message warnings.

[MESSAGEWARNINGS=OFF]

Disables invalid message warnings.

[PRINTWARNINGS=ON]

Enables printer resolution warnings.

[PRINTWARNINGS=OFF]

Disables printer resolution warnings.

[INCPREAMBLE=text]

Sets the Message Preamble to text for Incrementally Numbered bar code messages.

[INCPOSTAMBLE=text]

Sets the Message Postamble to text for Incrementally Numbered bar code messages.

[INCSTART=n]

Sets the starting number to n for Incrementally Numbered bar code messages.

[INCVALUE=n]

Sets the Increment Value to n for Incrementally Numbered bar codes.

[INCWIDTH=n]

Sets the width of the incremented number for Incrementally Numbered bar codes.

[INCENABLE]

Enables Incremental Numbering.

[INCDISABLE]

Disables Incremental Numbering.

[INCMESSAGE]

Causes B-Coder to apply incremental numbering to the bar code message.

[INCSUPPLEMENT]

Causes B-Coder to apply incremental numbering to the UPC/EAN supplemental message.

[NEW]

Resets B-Coder to its default settings.

[SAVECONFIG]

Saves the current configuration to disk.

[FIXDRIVER=ON]

Enables fixing of display or printer driver incompatabilities.

[FIXDRIVER=OFF]

Disables fixing of display or printer driver incompatabilities.

[HORIZONTAL]

Sets the symbol orientation to horizontal.

[VERTDOWN]

Sets the symbol orientation to Vertical rotated 90 degrees i.e. reading from top to bottom.

[VERTUP]

Sets the symbol orientation to Vertical rotated 270 degrees i.e. reading from bottom to top.

[BEARERBARS=ON]

Enables printing of Bearer Bars with a symbol.

[BEARERBARS=OFF]

Disables printing of Bearer Bars with a symbol.

[INCHES]

Sets the measurement units to Inches/Mils

[METRIC]

Sets the measurement units to Metric

[DOTS]

Sets the measurement units to Printer Dots

[FONTNAME=font]

Sets the fontname for humab readable text to font.

[FONTSIZE=n]

Sets the font size to n points.

FONTSCALING=ON]

Enables Automatic Font Scaling.

[FONTSCALING=OFF]

Disables Automatic Font Scaling.

[FONTREGULAR]

Sets the font style to Regular

[FONTBOLD]

Sets the font style to Bold

[FONTITALIC]

Sets the font style to Italic

[FONTBOLDITALIC]

Sets the font style to Bold Italic

[FONTCOLOR=colorname]

Sets the font color to colorname. 16 valid color names are available: Black, Maroon, Green, Olive, Navy, Purple, Teal, Gray, Silver, Red, Lime, Yellow, Blue, Fuschia, Aqua and White.

[FORECOLOR=colorname]

Sets the Foreground color to colorname.

[BACKCOLOR=colorname]

Sets the Background color to colorname.

[FONTCOLORRGB=r,g,b]

Sets the font color to the specified RGB color values. (Red Green & Blue i.e. r,g & b may range from 0 to 255)

[FORECOLORRGB=r,g,b]

Sets the foreground color to the specified RGB color.

[BACKCOLORRGB=r,g,b]

Sets the background color to the specified RGB color.

[TRANSPARENT]

Sets the background color to transparent.

[UNDERLINE=ON]

Enables text underlining.

[UNDERLINE=OFF]

Disables text underlining.

[STRIKEOUT=ON]

Enables text strikeout.

[STRIKEOUT=OFF]

Disables text strikeout.

[HORIZONTALDPI=n]

Sets the printer Horizontal Dots Per Inch value to n.

[VERTICALDPI=n]

Sets the printer Vertical Dots Per Inch value to n.

[SAVEMODEMETA]

Causes B-Coder to save bar codes as Metafiles

[SAVEMODEBMP]

Causes B-Coder to save bar codes as BitMaps

[SAVEBARCODE(filename)]

Saves the current bar code symbol to disk with the specifiedfilename.

[SAVEBARCODE]

Saves the current bar code symbol to disk with the most recently specified filename.

[SAVECONFIG(filename)]

Saves the current configuration to disk with the specified filename.

[OPENCONFIG(filename)]

Opens a B-Coder configuration file with the specified filename.

[READMSGFILE(filename)]

Reads in the contents of the specified file as a bar code message.

[OPENMSGFILE(filename)]

Opens the specified file containing multiple bar code messages.

[CLOSEMSGFILE]

Closes any open bar code message file.