Loftware Label Manager®: Release Notes

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Version 10.x

Version 10.0  

Version 9.x

Version 9.8  |   Version 9.7  |   Version 9.6.1  |   Version 9.6  |   Version 9.5.3  |   Version 9.5.2
Version 9.5.1  |   Version 9.5

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Loftware Label Manager 10.0 - Release Notes Oct 2011

What are the new features of this release?

• Printer Family Drivers - Added new printer family drivers for Zebra ZPL II, Zebra Eltron EPL2, Intermec IPL, and Intermec FingerPrint Direct Protocol printer control languages. Family drivers allow you to reuse the same labels with different printer models, and drive new printers.
• Printer Language Pass Through Fields - Added the ability to enter printer control language such as ZPL2, IPL, and PCL5 within a field's data and pass the printer language through the driver, directly to the printer.
  
• Detailed Printer Status - Added support for retrieving detailed printer status from ZPL2, IPL, and FingerPrint/DP printers.
  
• LPS Data Reporting Tool - Added the Loftware Reporter Utility (LWReporter), a command line tool that reports on your Loftware Print Server or Label Manager system including labels, templates, configuration files, and printers.
• QR Code - Added QR Symbology as a bitmap option for all printers.
  
• Aztec Code - Added Aztec Code bar code support for all printers.
  
• Bearer Bars - Added Bearer Bar support for ITF-14 and I2of5 symbologies for all printers.
  
• GS1 - Enhanced GS1 support including GS1 Data Matrix support, and new compliance templates.
  
• Data Matrix - Added Rectangular Data Matrix support for all printers.
  
• USPS Intelligent Mail - Added USPS Intelligent Mail bar code support for all printers.
  
• Intermec Printer Support - Added support for Intermec PD42 (IPL) and PD42 (FP) via Printer Family Drivers. Added 406 DPI resolutions to the Intermec PM4i Loftware Driver. Added support for Intermec PB22 (2 inch) PB32 (3 inch) and PB50 (4 inch) printers via IPL or Direct Protocol Printer Family Drivers.
• Custom Commands - Ability to send label level custom commands to Intermec printers using the IPL famly driver.
  
• Sato Printer Support - Added the option to not send options to Sato printers - A Send Options checkbox was added to the Printer Specific Options for Sato printers.
• Operating System Support - Added support for Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit).
• XML Validation - The Loftware Print Server upgraded to MSXML 6.0 for XML parsing. As part of this update, LPS switched to XML Schema validation from DTD validation. This change resolves a number of issues related to the label.dtd file not being present in the location specified in the XML. However, if you previously validated your XML against the label.dtd, you must take action if you want to continue to validate against the Loftware XSDs.The Loftware Print Server runs as a 32-bit application on 64-bit operating system.
  

  Note: If you upgrade to the Loftware Print Server version 10.0, labels that contain the DTD DOCTYPE declaration will still print by default, but the XML will not be validated.

  See the XML Files section of the Loftware Print Server User Guide for more information on XML validation.
• True Type Fonts - Added the ability to use decimal point sizes in True Type Fonts
• Device Configuration - Added a Description column to the Device Configuration grid.
• Field Positioning - You can now position fields more precisely by using decimal values. For example, you can set a field to be 15.5 millimeters from the top of a label.
• Samba - The Loftware Print Server now supports polling (dropping files) to a Samba 3.0 file share.

What fixes are available in this release?

• Field Level Scripts - Scripts are now properly evaluated when using the PCL driver.
• Label Errors Notification - Label Errors appear in the Label Description section of the File | Open dialog.
• Label Preview - Labels with both dimensions less than 2 inches appear properly in the Design32 preview.
• Device Attributes - The Attributes column in the Device Configuration grid displays attributes when Print Manager / Spooling is used.
• UTF-8 - Loftware now maintains UTF-8 formatting if the data is first passed to a non-printing field on the On Demand Print Form
• INC/DEC in Zebra - ZPL Leave Leading Zeros in Native INC/DEC now works in Zebra printers.
• Backup and Restore - Improvements were made to the Backup and Restore utility (LPS_SYNC).
• Invalid FORMATs in PAS File - A Stacked pas file with 200 or more invalid FORMAT lines will now display an error properly.
• TEC B-SX5T printer - Cut After Each Job setting now functions as expected on TEC B-SX5T printer.
• Labels with LST files - You can now copy a field with a max character setting from one label to another when both labels are associated with the same LST file.
• Labels Designed for Other Printers - The Label Not Designed for Selected printer message now appears as expected when attempting to test print from Design.
• Print Speed Command - Increased the range of the Print Speed command for the Direct Protocol Printer Family Driver.
• Label Preview - Label preview is now available in ODP & Range Print when language is set to non-English.
• RFID Tags - Adding a tag to a label without the Properties window open will no longer cause incorrect block configuration.
• Time Stamps - All print jobs in the pending queue will have the correct time stamp.
• Failed Job Errors - The Status Client now uses more accurate error messages when jobs fail.
• Invalid Database Key Field - A label will now fail as expected if an invalid database key field is provided when using an ODBC datasource.
• Test Device - Pressing the Test Device button on the Device Configuration for Loftware Web Listener window of the Loftware Web Listener Configuration Utility prints a test label on the Device.
• On Demand Print Client - The active data entry field now displays entered data unobscured.
• On Demand Print Preview - The Zebra label specific options Mirror Image and White on Black are now reflected in the label preview.
• FNC1 in Datamatrix - You can now encode an FNC1 function in Datamatrix bar code
• Load Last Label Used - Loading the last label used (Options | Preferences | Design Options) now works as expected.
• Reassign Printers - You can now select the Reassign option from the right-click menu on the last printer in the Device Configuration grid.
• EPL Option – The Write Graphics to Image Buffer setting is now disabled by default for printers that use EPL and EPL2 control languages. If you have previously enabled this setting, it will NOT be disabled by upgrading.

Note: Older EPL control language printers do not support this option.

• Back Feed on Toshiba TEC - The Backfeed option on the Toshiba TEC B472 now functions properly.
• Scientific Notation in On Demand Print - Database Number fields will no longer be displayed in scientific notation in On Demand Print when there are more than 7 digits in the number.
• File | Open Change - Changes to the default Label location (Options | File Locations) will now be picked up immediately in On Demand Print or Range Print. The File | Open dialog will now default to this location when it is opened.
• Printing in Color - Images now print in Color using Windows PostScript Driver
• Zero KB Files - Zero KB files with a .TXT file extension will no longer block the processing of valid PAS and XML files when FIFO is enabled on the Scan Path. These files will be ignored.

Note: Zero KB PAS, XML, and CSV files WILL block the processing of valid PAS, XML, and CSV files until the Zero KB files are removed.

• Sato Printers - True Type font fields now print on Sato M8400RV and M5900RVe printers using the
  native driver.
• Field Level Script Errors - False errors no longer appear when saving labels with script data
  sources that reference formulas that in turn reference fields after the labels are saved multiple times.
• Zebra Inc/Dec - The Zebra Native Increment/Decrement setting now works correctly with Code
  128 bar codes if Always Download Format is enabled in Printer Settings.
• ZPL ~EG command - Zebra is no longer supporting the ~EG ZPL command. This has been
  replaced by the ^ID command. The ZPL II family driver will use the ^ID command instead of the
  ~EG command. Refer to the ZPL Programming Guide for more information.
• Windows Printers - Improved performance when many Windows spoolers are being used
  simultaneously.
• Labels with Layouts - Labels using Layouts now work correctly when printed from the On
  Demand Print Client.

What issues are known about this release?

• NULL Characters in PAS File - A PAS file that contains a NULL character may print correctly, but
  it will not appear complete in the Status Client using the Resend function.
• Intermec Direct Protocol family driver - A non-printing field that is off the label can cause the
  printer to fault with a "Field out of label" error.
• IP Printer Error Could Shut Down LPS - Labels sent to a printer can appear to have printed
  when they did not if an IP-port connected printer is paused, causing it to error, the print buffer is
  filled, and then the LPS is shut down. *As a workaround for Zebra (ZPLII) and Intermec (IPL or Direct Protocol) printers you can enable Detailed Status (with Pre-Label Status and Wait on Errors enabled). This will prevent a label from being sent to the printer until any errors at the printer are cleared.
• Batch Print Error - A batch print error when multiple printers are offline may be related to a Microsoft issue. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898468
• Canceled Install - When canceling an install, a Loftware_Group user group may be created even if the installer indicates the system has not been modified
• Windows Printers - LPS/LLM do not account for Windows printer margins.
• QR Code Modes - The current implementation of QR Code does NOT support Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) mode or FNC1 modes in the Loftware Print Sever or the Loftware Label Manager.
• I2of5 with Bearer Bars Resizing - When using the drag handles to shrink an I2of5 bar code with bearer bars, the bar code may actually grow.
• Force Max # Char - The Do not force Max # Char setting is not honored on text fields when processing drop file .
• Detailed Status - When Fail on Errors is enabled, the wrong status type is reported after failure.
• Adobe Acrobat Printer - The Loftware Print Server will eventually stop printing and jobs will go into a pending state when using an Adobe Acrobat printer version 9.0 or higher. This occurs when the LPS is run as a service, and the cause appears to be a defect in the most recent versions of Adobe Acrobat. *Adobe Acrobat version 7.0 does not exhibit this behavior, nor does it occur when the LPS is run in Interactive mode. Other PDF creators, such as CutePDF™, do not exhibit this behavior.
• Disabling Detailed Status - When you disable Detailed Status, the Disable Status Checking and Force Extended Mode options remain enabled (they are enabled when Detailed Status Checking is enabled) on the Configuring Existing Device Connection Settings dialog. You must clear these options after disabling detailed status to disable them.

Where can I get more documentation on the Label Manager?

1. The Loftware Print Server and Label Manager Installation Guide on your CD or download package.
2. The Loftware Label Manager and Loftware Print Server User's Guides from the Help menu in Loftware Label Manager.
3. The loftware.com Document Center or Knowledge Base.

Who should I contact for more information?

For specific questions regarding this release, please contact the Loftware Product Management team ProductManagement@loftware.com

 

Loftware Label Manager Version 9.8 - Release Notes Feb 2011

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.7 - Release Notes June 2010

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.6.1 - Release Notes March 2010

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.6 - Release Notes January 2010

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.5.3 - Release Notes June 2009

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.5.2 - Release Notes February 2009

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Loftware Label Manager Version 9.5.1 - Release Notes November 2008

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Loftware Print Server Version 9.5 - Release Notes August 2008