dLSoft Newsletter - October 2003 Contents 1. NEW Products 2. Product updates and bug fixes 3. Recent updates (from September 2003) 4. Current versions and prices 5. How to Upgrade 6. Contact addresses 7. Internet sites -------------------------------------- 1. New products dLsoft is pleased to announce the release of a range of barcode components for Visual Studio.NET. These new components are fully managed and include source code samples in VB, C# and J# Features: * Barcodes may be rotated through any angle. * Margin indicators and bearer bars may be turned on/off for codes which support these features. * Font properties, text justification, bar colour and background colour may be user selected. * Wide/Narrow ratios may be adjusted for barcode type that support this. * Bar width control for wet-ink printing allows 0 - 50% width reduction. The following components have been released: dBarcode_39.NET Component – for Code 39, Extended Code 39, Code 93 and Extended 93 barcodes dBarcode_128.NET Component – for Code 128, EAN 128, EAN-14 / UCC-14 and SSCC barcodes dBarcode_EAN.NET Component – for EAN-13, EAN-14, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E barcodes dBarcode_ITF.NET Component – for Standard 2 of 5, Interleaved 2 of 5, and Matrix 2 of 5 barcodes dBarcode.NET Component Universal – for most common barcode types (over 30 types supported, including all those listed above plus Codabar, DeutschenPost, ISBN. ISSN. ISMN, MSI, Plessey, Postnet, Planet and RM4SCC). Full details are available at http://www.dlsoft.com/barcode/dbcdotnet.htm and testware versions may be downloaded from our web site. -------------------------------------- 2. Product updates Another collection of minor problems have been fixed this month. a) The distribution of the dBarcode DLL Universal package contained an the wrong product Help file. The correct file is now included. b) All image creation products that generate Telepen barcodes have been modified to correctly handle the X character when in numeric mode. c) Small memory leak in our Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file saving routine has been fixed. Between them (b) and (c) effect virtually all our non-font products, including all Active Barcode Components and all dBarcode and dLabel products. Testware versions are available from our web site, and users of the previous versions may upgrade under our normal terms. -------------------------------------- 3. Recent updates (from September 2003) A number of bugs - mostly minor have been corrected over the summer. a) EAN/UPC Barcode Font version 3: this was not a "minor" bug! The TTF version of these fonts were generated for the wrong Windows code page, and so appear to have two glyphs missing. This problem has now been corrected b) Telepen Barcode Font version 3: these have been modified so that the characters no longer include an intercharacter gap. An intercharacter gap is permitted for Telepen barcodes, but some scanners appear to have difficulty reading barcodes created with the gaps included. [The fonts with intercharacter gaps will be available to special order.] c) Small memory leak in Aztec encoding system: All products that generate Aztec symbols have been updated to avoid a memory leak. The product affected are: Active 2D-Barcode Component - Universal Active 2D-Barcode Component - Aztec Aztec Barcode Font Kit Barcode-2D IMG Server for IIS dBarcode-2D Developers Kit dBarcode-2D DLL - Universal dBarcode-2D DLL - Aztec dBarcode-2003 dLabel-2003 Pro d) Incorrect pattern string from RSS Stacked barcodes: The pattern string returned from developers products that generate stacked RSS barcodes was being truncated. The following products have been updated to avoid this problem: Active 2D-Barcode Component - Universal Active 2D-Barcode Component - RSS dBarcode-2D Developers Kit dBarcode-2D DLL - Universal dBarcode-2D DLL - RSS Testware versions are available from our web site, and users of the previous versions may upgrade under our normal terms. -------------------------------------- 4. Current versions and prices of dLSoft Products A list of current versions and release dates is maintained at: http://www.dlsoft.com/services/data/versions.htm Last updated 29 August 2003 The current UK retail and upgrade price list is also available from http://www.dlsoft.com/services/data/pplist.htm -------------------------------------- 5. How to Upgrade to the latest versions If you have purchased a product within the last 12 months and wish to have a free upgrade to the current version you need to e-mail us and specify the product name, your serial number, the name of dealer from whom you purchased the product and the purchase date. We will then send you a new serial number. If you wish to purchase the current CD (15 UK pounds inclusive) just e-mail us your existing serial number, credit card details and delivery address. If you wish to upgrade from an older product you can purchase a new serial number from our on-line store or any of our dealers, or by e-mail or fax to DL Technology. Fax: (44) (0) 20 8559 0178 E-mail: DLSoft@DLSoft.com The DL Technology upgrade price list is at http://www.dlsoft.com/services/data/pplist.htm You will not be able to use the 2003 versions without obtaining a new serial number. ------------------------------------- 6. Contact addresses e-mail: DLSOFT@DLSOFT.COM Phone: 020 8559 0049 - International +44 20 8559 0049 Fax: 020 8559 0178 - International +44 20 8559 0178 -------------------------------------- 7. Internet sites Our main web site is at: www.dlsoft.com and this contains links to our support site and international mirrors We also maintain an ftp site at: ftp.dlsoft.com which contains archives of earlier releases and additional support material, manuals, help files, etc. Testware versions of any of our products can be obtained from any of these locations. ------------------------------------------- End 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: www.dlsoft.com