dLSoft Newsletter – March 2006

Contents

1. New products and versions

2. Product updates

3. Recent_announcements_(from December)

4. Current versions and prices

5. Contact addresses

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1. New products and versions

dLSoft is pleased to announce the launch of a range of 64-bit barcode DLLs for Windows XP-64 bit Professional/Windows 2003 64 bit, and major new versions of its 32 bit DLL and Active-X product ranges.

 

1.1  dBarcode-64bit DLLs

dLSoft has released a range of 64 bit DLLs designed for use with Visual Studio 2005 and C/C++. The range consists of

 

dBarcode64 DLL – 1D Universal supports over 50 1D barcode types

dBarcode64 DLL – Code 128 supports Code 128, EAN/UCC 128, EAN/UCC14, SSCC

dBarcode64 DLL – Code 39 supports Code 39, Extended 39, Code 93 & Extended 93

dBarcode64 DLL – EAN/UPC supports EAN-13/8/14, UPC-A/-E (with supplementaries), ISBN, ISSN, ISMN

dBarcode64 DLL – ITF supports 2of5, Interleaved 2 of 5, ITF-6, ITF-14, Matrix 2of5 and IATA 2of5

dBarcode64 DLL – Aztec

dBarcode64 DLL – DataMatrix

dBarcode64 DLL – MaxiCode

dBarcode64 DLL – PDF417 supports PDF417, Truncated PDF417 & MicroPDF

dBarcode64 DLL – QR supports QR Code (Numeric, Alpha & Byte modes - NOT Kanji)

dBarcode64 DLL – RSS

dBarcode64 DLL – 2D Universal supports  Aztec, DataMatrix, Maxicode, PDF417,Truncated PDF417, MicroPDF, QR Code (not Kanji) and RSS

 

Each product includes a sample MFC application (with source code) compiled with Visual Studio 2005 in x64 mode.

The products may be downloaded and expanded on any Windows machine but will install only on an Intel or AMD processor machine running a 64 bit version of Windows.

 

1.2  New versions of dBarcode 32bit DLLs

dLSoft has released new versions of its 32 bit dBarcode DLLs. These new versions provide improved bitmap graphics (including 2 colour bitmaps for GIF and BMP images and black and white images for PNG files), user-definable Code 128 control codes, and fixed size barcode settings. These versions will also pemit metafile images to be created with an X value of 1 (as used in laser engraving systems).

The new version include updated samples for C/C++ (Visual Studio 6 thru Visual Studio 2005), Visual Basic 6 and Delphi 6.

The new versions are version 4.0 for the 1D barcodes, and 4.5 for the 2D barcode libraries.

While a high degree of backwards compatability has been maintained, the use of some members of the barcode2d structure has been modified (for the first time in 6 years) and some users will need to modify their programs to use the new versions. The final release of the previous version of each DLL will continue to be available on our archive site.

 

1.3  New versions of Active Barcode Components

dLSoft has released new versions of its Active Barcode Component range. The new versions (which have new class IDs) provide improved bitmap graphics (including 2 colour bitmaps for GIF and BMP images and black and white images for PNG files), user-definable Code 128 control codes, and fixed size barcode settings for some 2D type through the use of a Columns property.

The new versions are version 4.0 for the 1D barcodes, and 4.5 for the 2D barcode controls and are designed for VB6, VBA and Microsoft Access, and include samples for VB6 and Access 2002/3.

Users of existing versions will need to replace previous versions on their forms and reports to use the new versions. The final release of the previous version of each DLL will continue to be available on our archive site.

 

A current list of product version numbers is at http://downloads.dlsoft.com/testware/versions.htm

 

Testware versions are available from our web site. Users of the earlier versions may upgrade under our normal terms.

 

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2 Other product updates

 

AnyLabels, dLabel-2k, dBarcode-2k and Labels.NET-2D have been updated to support the fixed size Datamatrix symbols (see below). AnyLabels and Labels.NET-2D now also support Truncated PDF417 symbols (see below).

 

Testware versions are available from our web site. Users of the earlier versions may upgrade under our normal terms.

 

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3 Recent announcements (from February 2006 issue)

3.1 Labels.NET components and AnyLabels (version 2.2)

dLSoft is please to announce the release of  version 2.2 of its labelling components for .NET, and the AnyLabels labelling application.

 

The new versions allow a large number of “shapes” to be added to labels and filled with user defined colours or with a selection of hatchings. Shape elements may have different shapes for foreground and background and shaped backgrounds may be used for text elements. The designer windows of these product now offer traditional drop-down menus as an alternative to the pop-up menus provided with earlier versions.

 

These additions greatly enhance the utility of the products. Testware versions are available from our web site. Users of the earlier versions may upgrade under our normal terms.

 

3.2 Datamatrix barcode components

Several industrial users have requested that we allow our components to generate fixed sized Datamatrix symbols. So we have. The following products have been modified to enable the number of columns in a Datamatrix barcode to be specified as an alternative to specifying the security level:

 

dBarcode .NET – 2D Universal  (v 2.2)

dBarcode .NET – Datamatrix (v 2.2)

dBarcode .DLL – 2D Universal (v 4.3)

dBarcode .DLL – Datamatrix (v 4.3)

dBarcode-2D Developers Kit (v 7.3)

Active Barcode Component – 2D Universal (v 4.3)

Active Barcode Component – Datamatrix (v 4.3)

Datamatrix Font Kit (v 4.3)

 

3.3 PDF417 barcode components

We have also been asked to support the Truncated variant of  PDF417. So we have added this to the following components:

 

dBarcode .NET – 2D Universal  (v 2.2)

dBarcode .NET – PDF417 (v 2.2)

dBarcode .DLL – 2D Universal (v 4.3)

dBarcode .DLL – PDF417 (v 4.3)

dBarcode-2D Developers Kit (v 7.3)

Active Barcode Component – 2D Universal (v 4.3)

Active Barcode Component – PDF417 (v 4.3)

PDF417 Font Kit (v 4.3)

 

Testware versions are available from our web site. Users of the earlier versions may upgrade under our normal terms.

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4 Current versions and prices of dLSoft Products

A list of current versions and release dates is maintained at:

http://downloads.dlsoft.com/testware/versions.htm

and a pdf version at
http://downloads.dlsoft.com/testware/versions.pdf

 

The current retail price list is also available from:

http://downloads.dlsoft.com/testware/pplist.htm

and a pdf version at
http://downloads.dlsoft.com/testware/pplist.pdf

 

Please do not use any older links.

 

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5 Contact addresses and internet sites

e-mail: DLSOFT@DLSOFT.COM
Phone: 020 8559 0049  - International +44 20 8559 0049
Fax:   020 8559 0178  - International +44 20 8559 0178


Our main web site is at: www.dlsoft.com

and this contains links to our support site and international mirrors

Testware versions of any of our products can be obtained from any of these locations.

 

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Previous issues of the newsletter may be obtained from the link on the Newsletter page on our web site.

 

DL Technology
PO Box 9, Buckhurst Hill, Essex IG9 5BE, UK
Fax
: (44) (0) 20 8559 0178
E-mail:
DLSoft@DLSoft.com
Web site:
http://www.dlsoft.com/