Note: the PDF version of this document is available at
http://www.morovia.com/font/support/Morovia.SupportTools.ReportService.LinearFont.pdf.
You can download the assembly (.Net 1.1) at
http://www.morovia.com/font/support/Morovia.SupportTools.ReportService.LinearFont.zip, and project source code
at http://www.morovia.com/font/support/Morovia.SupportTools.ReportService.LinearFont.src.zip.
Microsoft® SQL Server
Reporting Service stores report
definitions in the report server database. The report
definitions are created using Report Definition Language(RDL),
an XML format that describes each element in a report,
including the data model, format, and expressions.
The most important part of the Reporting Service is
the Report Designer, a tool for creating and publishing
report definitions. Report Designer works with Microsoft
Visual Studio 2003 and 2005, allowing developers to quickly
design and deploy a report. For more information, see
Microsoft documentation.
In order to use linear barcode fonts in Reporting Service, you need
to download the support assembly from our web site. The assembly
wraps several calls in managed code. Currently we release the code
in a separate package. However, we expect to add the Reporting Service
support into the future releases of Morovia Font Tools, which is included in
every barcode font product.
1. Understanding how barcode font works
Only formatting the text with a barcode font won't produce a
readable barcode. Most barcode formats require start and stop characters
that tell the scanner where to start and stop. Additionally some barcode
formats add checksum characters at the end to ensure the data integrity.
To create a valid barcode, you need to call an encode function to get
the barcode string (which adds start, stop and checksum characters), and
format the latter with barcode font. You also need to determine which font and
the font size for your application based on requirement.
2. Installing Support Assembly
The file name for the assembly is MoroviaFontRSPlugIn.dll.
Copy this DLL to two folders below:
- Report Designer folder
[Program Files]Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Report Designer. - Deploy folder
[Program Files]Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Reporting Services\ReportServer\bin.
Note: the support assembly calls the Encoder COM object
at the background. As a result, you still need to have the Encoder COM DLL
available and registered on the computer that runs Reporting Service.
The assembly is compiled for .Net version 1.1. In order to support future .Net versions, the
source code is attached. To download the source code, click here.
The name of functions are the same as the ones in other packages, such as Windows DLL version. All
functions take one input argument (the data to be encoded), and return the barcode string. Characters
that can not be encoded with the symbology selected are removed. If a symbology requires fixed length of
input, the excess will be truncated if the input's length exceeds the required length, or zeroes are appended
to the end of the input if too short.
If you are looking for barcode solutions other than Reporting Service, visit
http://www.morovia.com/font/support/font-tool.asp.
Table 1. Functions supported
| Function | Details | Product to apply |
|---|
| Code39(text) | Converts the input text into a Code 39
barcode string. | Code39 Fontware |
| Code39Mod43(text) | Converts the input text into a Code39 barcode string
with Mod 43 check character. |
| Code39Ascii(text) | Converts the input text into a Code39 extended symbol.
This function should be used to format with
a code39 font, not a Code39 full ASCII font. The text
can be any combinations of ASCII characters.
Note that the symbol generated is extended Code39 type, and
the scanner must be configured to work in Code39 extended
mode in order to read the symbol properly. |
| Code39Extended(text) | Converts the input text into a extended code 39 string.
It accepts any ASCII characters as input. The function should
be used in conjunction with fonts from Code39(Full ASCII)
fontware. | Code39 (Full ASCII) Fontware |
| Code93(text) | Converts the input text into a Code93 barcode string.
It accepts any ASCII character input. | Code39 Fontware |
| UPC_A(text) | Converts the input text into a UPC-A barcode. Accepts
input of 11 digits of numeric data. | UPC/EAN/Bookland Fontware |
| UPC_E(text) | Converts the input text into a UPC-E barcode. Accepts
input of 6 digits of numeric data. |
| EAN13(text) | Converts the input text into an EAN barcode. Accepts
input of 12 digits of numeric data. |
| EAN8(text) | Converts the input text into an EAN-8 barcode. Accepts
input of 7 digits of numeric data. |
| Bookland(text) | Converts an ISBN[a] string into a valid Bookland barcode
string. |
| Postnet(text) | Converts the input into a valid POSTNET barcode string
with checksum. The function adds the start/stop frame bar,
calculating the check digit and forms the correct symbol.
This function can also be used to generate PLANET
barcode string. | U.S. Postal Fontware |
| USPS_EAN128(text) | Used for 22 digit USPS special services labels such as
delivery confirmation in EAN128. This function takes 19 digit
input which is made up of the three parts: 2 digit service
code, 9 digit customer ID and 8 digit sequential package ID.
This function calculates the check digit (Mod10), add the
application identifier 91 as required by the USPS standard,
and format the data with EAN128 standard. |
| Code128A(text) | Encodes data input with Code128 set A. Code128 set A encodes
all capital letters and control characters. | Code128 Fontware |
| Code128B(text) | Encodes data input with Code128 set B. Code128 set B
encodes all printable ASCII characters. |
| Code128C(text) | Encodes numeric input with Code128 set C. Code128C achieves
double density by combining two adjacent digits into one Code128
character. |
| Code128Ex(text) | Encode any ASCII characters. It automatically shifts to
another character set when the encoded character is not found
in the current character set. This function should be used when
mixed type of data are encoded, and the shortest barcode length
is desirable. |
| EAN128Ex(text) | Use this function for UCC/EAN-128 applications when
you have already generated your MOD10 check digit if required.
Input must be properly formatted. Search EAN128Ex in Morovia
web site for more information. |
| SCC14(text) | Accepts 13 digits input and generates the complete
barcode sting for SCC14. This function calculates the
SCC-14 check digit, adds AI 01 before the data,
and encodes the whole in Code128C. |
| SSCC18(text) | Accepts 17 digits input and generates the complete
barcode string for SSCC18. This function calculates
the check digit, adds AI 00,
and encodes the data with Code128C. |
| RoyalMail(text) | Converts the input into a valid UK royal mail barcode
symbol with checksum. | RoyalMail Fontware |
| Codabar(text) | Converts the input into a valid Codabar symbol.
The default start/stop characters are “A” and
“B”. | Codabar Fontware |
| Code25(text) | Converts the input into a valid Code25 symbol.
No check character is appended. | Code25 Fontware |
| Code25Check(text) | Converts the input into a valid Code25 symbol.
Appends a check digit. |
| ITF25(text) | Converts the input into a valid interleaved 2 of 5 barcode.
No check digit is appended in this function. | Interleaved 2 of 5 Fontware |
| ITF25Check(text) | Converts the input into a valid interleaved 2 of 5 barcode.
Appends a check digit. |
| MSIMod10(text) | Converts the input into a valid MSI/Plessey symbol.
Check digit is calculated based on Modulo 10 algorithm. | MSI/Plessey Fontware |
In this tutorial, we add a column called
barcode, which encodes the table column
CustomerID in code128 format. Function Code128Ex is used
to make barcodes as short as possible.
Procedure 1. Adding Code128 barcodes in Report Designer
- If you are adding barcodes into an existing project, skip to
step 8. Now we start a new project. From Visual Studio, select
| | .
In the Project Types list box, click on
Business Intelligence Projects. In the
Templates box, select
Report Project Wizard. Give the project a name and click
OK.
- On the next screen, the Report Wizard asks for the
data source. For simplicity we use the
NorthWind database here,
which is installed by default when installing SQL Server. You can type
the connection string in the edit box directly, or you can have the wizard fill
out for you by clicking the Edit... and select the appropriate
choices from the Data Link Properties... dialog followed.After you finish constructing the connection string, click
Next.
- At this step, the Report Wizard asks for
a query string which will be used to populate the data set in the report.
You can enter something like
Select * from Customers; or you can
click on Edit to pop up Query Builder
to build the query. Make sure that you include CustomerID
in the result set. - Next, select the type of the report
(tabular or matrix). Click Next.
- Now select the fields which will be displayed in the
report. In the
Available fields list box,
use your mouse and
CTRL key, select CustomerID, CompanyName and ContactName fields.
Click on the Details< to move them to the right. - Follow the instructions to complete the wizard.
- On the left side, switch to Solution View. Click on
the Reports node to find the report just created.
Double click on the report file name to bring it up to the right side.
You will notice that
three tabs appear on the right view, and the current position is
at Layout
tab. In the report, a filed name is expressed something
like
Fields!CustomerID.Value. - We now start to add a new column to hold the barcodes.
Click on the
Company title once, the report
responds by showing a header row on the top. Right click on the header row, and select
. Give the new column a title
“Barcode”. - To define the value for the column, you need to tell that you are going to use the
the assembly from Morovia. When the current view is the report, the
menu is visible on top of Visual Studio. Select
followed by
to bring up the Report Properties dialog.
- Click on the reference tab.
In the top list box, click on the
button.
Click on Browse button once to locate the assembly:
Morovia.SupportTools.ReportService.dll. - Click on the General tab (or you can click
>>Basic button to see a simple form.
Move the cursor to the Value edit box. Enter
the following:
=Morovia.SupportTools.ReportService.FontEncoder.Code128Ex(Fields!CustomerID.Value)
The name is a little long. But we are working in
the .Net world. Make sure that you entered them correct.
The last part of the definition is the function name.
- Click on the Font tab. From the
font list, select
MRV Code128S. In this dialog you
also have the opportunity to adjust barcode size by changing the
font size. After you have done with font selection, Click
OK to dismiss the dialog. - Click on the Preview tab to view the
report. The report should show as below:
- You need to make sure that there are sufficient spaces in the
barcode field so that the complete barcode is visible. Unlike normal text
a barcode can not wrap to the next line while retaining readability.
If you found that some barcodes are wrapped into next line,
go back to the Layout
view and use your mouse to make appropriate adjustments.
- After you are satified with the report, click
|
,
to deploy the solution to the Report Server.
When there is an encoding error, for example, the backend COM dll is
not found on your computer, the function returns an error message in the
place of the barcode. To view the detail error message, format the barcode
field with a text font (such as Arial).
Since the barcodes created are actually text formatted with barcode fonts,
the fonts must be available on the client computer to view and print reports.
Also you should note that Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Service does not embed fonts
when exporting reports to PDF documents. As a result, in order to view and
print exported PDF documents each client computer will also need to have the fonts
available.
For more information about PDF rendering, see the related
section in MSDN.
