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| Frequently Asked Questions About MarkMagic |
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| Please click here to see our list of printers supported by MarkMagic |
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| Why MarkMagic? |
| MarkMagic Bar Code Software is the easiest and fastest way to produce bar code labels, tags and forms using the information stored in your IBM System i database. No matter what kind of bar code document you are trying to print, MarkMagic can print it. MarkMagic is an intuitive, graphical design tool. Simply by moving the cursor on the screen of any System i terminal, you can create a bar code label or tag. Once the label has been designed, MarkMagic directs the printer to use your data to produce the label according to your design. |
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| What is so special about MarkMagic? |
| Without MarkMagic, you must deal directly with each printer's specific commands and unique print control command language. This is an extremely detailed and time consuming process. With each additional printer, the amount of effort is compounded. MarkMagic eliminates all this effort by including printer drivers that automatically translate MarkMagic designs into the printer language. You never need to concern yourself with the specifics of a printer's control commands. |
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| Who Uses MarkMagic and How? |
Typical MarkMagic uses include any line of business application (quality control, compliance marking, labor tracking, work in process, etc.) which requires bar code output. If your business requires merchandise marking labels, string tags, bin and location labels for inventory control, shipping labels, or pick tickets, MarkMagic will reduce the time required to integrate bar code printing into your business systems. |
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| How Is MarkMagic Used? |
MarkMagic can be used as a batch application (printing labels for an entire file), or it can be used interactively, called from an application to print labels on demand. |
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| How does MarkMagic work? |
The MarkMagic design process is straightforward. Start by defining the format — information about the label, such as description, size, batch quantity, etc. MarkMagic uses this information to direct the design process and prompt for the parameters appropriate to your printer. Many of these values can be overridden prior to printing the label. |
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| Does MarkMagic Require a PC for Design? |
| No. The screen of any AS/400 terminal becomes the canvas upon which the format itself is created. Using the cursor to locate positions on the format, and function keys (or action bar selections) operations are performed to create, move, duplicate, delete, and change the format fields. These fields can be character constants, or variable data. The fields can be text or bar code fields, lines, boxes, or graphics. Users who prefer a graphical user interface can use CYBRA Corporation's JMagic Designer. |
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| Can I Use Portable (and Stationary) Printers Over an RF Network? |
| Currently, MarkMagic supports printers on RF networks from LXE, SYMBOL, and TEKLOGIX. |
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| What Printer Languages Does MarkMagic Support? |
| MarkMagic supports tabletop (and portable) thermal printers from Avery Denison, C. Itoh, Fargo/Datamax, Esselte-Meto, Facit, IBM, Intermec, Monarch Marking, SATO, TEC, Tharo, Unimark, and Zebra; dot matrix printers from such suppliers as Anzac, Epson, IBM, Mannesman Tally, and Printronix; and both Magnum Code and H-P PCL5 laser printers from Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, IBM Printing Systems, QMS, Xerox and others. |
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| How Do I Attach ASCII Printers So They Can Be Used with MarkMagic? |
If an ASCII printer has a parallel port it can be connected to a System i as a workstation printer in two ways: through the parallel port of a dumb terminal or through the parallel port of a PC as a WSF printer session in Client Access/400. If the ASCII printer has a serial port, it too can be connected off the parallel port of a terminal (using a parallel/serial converter) as a WSF printer session in Client Access/400, or can be directly attached to the IBM ASCII Workstation Controller. In addition to the above methods, ASCII printers can be attached to twinax networks with protocol converters, and to Ethernet or token ring networks with a dedicated print server. |
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| Why Is MarkMagic an Enterprise Solution? |
Because MarkMagic is the only System i bar code software product that: - supports a wide range of printer types
- features concurrent, multi-lingual support — one location can work in French and another in English, Italian, German, or Spanish
- supports printing on an RF network
- includes an integrated peer-to-peer communications capability for exchanging label files, formats, and graphics amongst AS/400 systems in a network
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| How Does MarkMagic Link into System i files? |
Once a format has been defined, MarkMagic creates a file definition for a corresponding label file. The printed label can then be produced in one of two ways, either as a batch file containing the records for which labels are to be printed, or interactively. |
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| Is Programming Required? |
No. MarkMagic can accommodate a wide range of printing needs without any programming whatsoever. Where application requirements dictate the need for programming, MarkMagic simplifies these requirements by generating RPG or COBOL file specifications or DDS for the label file. Each of the field positions in the printed format, as well as the default batch information (such as record quantity or separator mode) has a corresponding position in the label file. |
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| How Does a User Proceed? |
Four easy steps: -
Design a format — defining bar code and text fields, line, box, and graphic fields -
The MarkMagic CRTLBLF (Create a Label File) CL command creates a label file — a System i Physical File with variable fields that correspond to the variable bar code and text fields you have defined in your format -
You write records to the label file (or let MarkMagic do it for you) -
The MarkMagic PRTLBLF (Print a Label File) CL command prints the label file |
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| What Special Features Does MarkMagic Have? |
The MarkMagic field type *LINK allows you to easily define human readable fields for any bar code (by “linking” a text field) and permits you to have information from a single label file field appear in multiple locations on the label — each edited differently if need be. For example, if you are printing 3-up UPC price marking labels, you only need to have one UPC code field in your label file. By linking the second and third bar code fields to the first, the data will appear in all three bar code fields without your needing to modify the data files. Linking also allows multiple data and/or constant fields to be combined into one text or bar code field without any programming needed. For example, a UCC-128 Shipping Container Bar Code consisting of a combination of fixed and variable fields can be produced with no programming using the *LINK function. |
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| How Does MarkMagic Define Variable Fields? |
The MarkMagic variable field definition process takes advantage of the fact that MarkMagic is fully integrated into the operating system of the System i. The operating system's integrated RDBMS (Relational Data Base Management System) appears as an extension of MarkMagic. Thus, any variable field can be defined in MarkMagic simply by selecting the corresponding field in your application data files. |
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| What Types of Bar Codes Are Supported? |
MarkMagic supports all industry standard codes including stacked, 2D codes such as PDF-417. |
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| What Type of Interface Does MarkMagic Use? |
MarkMagic offers four: a visual drop down menu interface, IBM SAA CUA Standard Menus, Panels, and Function Keys, an innovative "heads down" QuickEdit spreadsheet style interface, and the Java-based, WYSIWYG JMagic client designer. |
MarkMagic FAQ 
