Administrators can define label templates for label printing in the Serialized Manufacturing application.
The label template must be a valid Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) label design. We recommend you to use a third-party designer tool, for example, ZPLDesigner, to prepare the template and paste that ZPL code in Movilitas.Cloud.
After you defined the label template, you can select it for a printing order. When the printing order is released to printing, the label is printed in the format defined in the template.
List of Procedures
- Creating a Label Template
- Searching for a Label Template
- Updating a Label Template
- Deleting a Label Template
Creating a Label Template
Procedure
1. In the Serialized Manufacturing application, select Labels --> Templates tab. The application displays the list of templates and the Create template form.
Note: When viewing the details of a template, you can open the Create template form by clicking Create.
2. In the Template name field, enter a unique name for the template. Since this name is used for identifying the template, use an expression that is self-explanatory.
3. In the Type field, select a template type from the drop-down.
| Label Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Chinese Product Label | A market-specific label containing batch data and a QR code. |
| GS1 sGTIN Product Label | A standard GS1 trade item label that holds data of product code, serial number, batch, and expiration date. The data can be encoded as a 2D Data Matrix barcode. |
| GS1 Digital Link QR product label | A QR code that holds data of GS1 Digital Link Resolver URL, product code, serial number, batch, and expiration date. |
For each template type, Movilitas.Cloud offers an example template with all the parameters (placeholders) applicable to that template type. After the type is selected, the example template is loaded in the Template field.
Note: When changing the template type, the application keeps the previously loaded code in the template field and revalidates the content according to the selected template type. This can lead to mismatches between the code and the template type that you need to resolve.
4. (Optional) In the Layout field, define the skeleton of the label as ZPL code.
- The layout describes the basic structure.
- The layout is stored on the physical printer when executing the printing order.
- The layout can contain static as well as dynamic information and the layout is applied to each printed label that uses the template.
- If you want to define dynamic information in the layout, first elaborate on the placeholders in the Template field and then refer to these placeholders in the Layout field.
- There is no built-in validator for the content entered in the Layout field.
- You can write the ZPL code separately in a third-party tool, for example, ZPLDesigner, and then you can paste it into the editor field.
- You can completely skip defining the layout here, and you can define all the information in the Template field.
For more information on how to define the Layout and Template fields, see How to Use Layout and Template Fields when Defining a ZPL Template in Serialized Manufacturing?.
5. In the Template field, define the dynamic information of your label as ZPL code.
- Your dynamic information can include only the placeholders displayed on the screen.
- Besides dynamic information, you can define static information in the ZPL code, and you can also include layout-related information here. There is no restriction.
- There is a built-in validator for the placeholders entered in the Template field.
- You can manually define the template on the fly by using the placeholders.
- You can write the template separately by using the placeholders in a third-party tool, for example, ZPLDesigner, and then you can paste it into the editor field.
The following table collects some best practices to help you define the dynamic information:
| # | Best Practice | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Help me(?) icon | Click Help me(?) icon to view more technical information and some basic examples for label templates. |
| 2 | Placeholders ${...} | The placeholder is a variable that is replaced with the actual value when printing the label. For example, when you type ${batch_number} in the template, this value will be replaced with the actual batch number when printing the label. Only the placeholders displayed on the screen are supported. When you include a placeholder in the template, the application displays a number next to the placeholder to denote the number of times the placeholder is used in the template. |
| 3 | Indicator placeholders | An indicator placeholder defines a piece of information that should only be included in the label if the relevant data is present. For example, ${batch?:(10) } means that if the batch is existing, then this value is printed on the label preceded by (10), for example, (10) BATCH010203. |
| 4 | Field numbers (^FN) | To introduce dynamic information in the Layout field, associate the placeholders with field numbers (^FN) in the Template field and then refer to these field numbers in the Layout field. For more information, see How to Use Layout and Template Fields when Defining a ZPL Template in Serialized Manufacturing?. |
The application validates the template if all the required placeholders for generating the QR or 2D Data Matrix are defined and are correct:
- If the template is correct, the application displays a message in green, Template validated successfully.
- While validation is in progress, the application displays a message in turquoise, Validating template text.
- If there is an error, the application displays an error message in red. The error message contains the reason for the failure. The validator exits at the first error found with the relevant error message and it waits for correction.
6. Make sure the template is validated successfully and you see the green message.
If there is an error message displayed, follow the information in the error message and resolve the issue in the editor. Correct all the errors one by one, until you resolve all the issues and see the green message.
EXAMPLE 1
The application displays an error message in red. You can also see how many times each placeholder is used in the template.
- We have a typo for the ${expiration_date} placeholder.
- We do not know if this is the only error in the template or there are further ones. After correcting the error, the application will check the template again and will display the next error found in the row (if any).
EXAMPLE 2
The defined template is validated successfully and is ready for saving. The application displays the green message and you can also see how many times each placeholder is used in the template.
7. Click Create. The template is created and added to the list.
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Searching for a Label Template
Procedure
1. In the Serialized Manufacturing application, select Labels --> Templates tab. The application displays the list of label templates.
2. Enter the label template name in the search field.
- The list of the templates is filtered based on the search criteria.
- You can reset the filter by clicking the Reset filters icon.
3. Select the label template to view its details.
In the following example, we are searching for the template "Vaccine Demo Label" and are viewing its details. The Chinese Product Label type is used:
In the following example, we are searching for the template "Online Help Demo Template" and are viewing its details. The GS1 sGTIN product label type is used:
In the following example, we are searching for the template "QR Barcode with GS1 Digital Link Resolver" and are viewing its details. The GS1 Digital Link QR product label type is used:
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Updating a Label Template
Procedure
1. In the Serialized Manufacturing application, select Labels → Templates tab. The application displays the list of label templates.
2. Find and select the label template in the list you want to update. The application displays the Update template form.
3. Modify the name of the template and the label design, as needed. For a detailed description, see Creating a Label Template.
4. Make sure the template is validated successfully and you see the green message.
If there is an error message displayed, follow the information in the error message and resolve the issue in the editor. Correct all the errors one by one, until you resolve all the issues and see the green message.
5. Click Update.
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Deleting a Label Template
Procedure
1. In the Serialized Manufacturing application, select Labels → Templates tab. The application displays the list of label templates.
2. Find the label template you want to delete.
3. Click the delete icon and confirm the deletion by clicking Yes.
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