Morovia Barcode DLL 3.3: Release Notes

Oct. 30, 2006

Revision History
Revision 3.3Oct 30, 2006
Release Notes for Barcode DLL 3.3
Revision 3.2June 2006
Release Notes for Barcode DLL 3.2

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What's New?
3. Installation and Upgrade Notes
3.1. Installation
3.2. Manifest
3.3. Minimum System Requirements
3.4. Version Compatibility
4. Recent Changes in version 3.3
5. Changes in previous releases
5.1. Version 3.2
6. Known Problems and Workarounds

1. Introduction

This document contains the release notes for Morovia Barcode DLL version 3.3. The following sections describe the release in detail and provide late-breaking or other information that supplements the main documentation. This is second full release of the product. The version 3.3 is a bug fix release with several feature enhancements.

Barcode DLL shares the source code base with Barcode ActiveX product line. It keeps all functionalities of Barcode AcitveX while eliminating registry dependencies. This eliminates possible conflicts resulting from different versions of Barcode ActiveX components installed on the same computer.

To further reduce the conflicts, install the DLL into your own program folder instead of Windows system folder.

Version 3.3 is the second release of Barcode DLL product line. It is so versioned to align with other products shared the same code base. This also means that this version Barcode DLL shares the same features as Barcode ActiveX 3.3, which is scheduled to be released in Oct. 2006.

2. What's New?

  • Added a .Net sample (written in C#) demonstrating using Barcode DLL in .Net environment.

  • Fixed several defects (see below for more information).

  • Morovia has adopted a new publishing system. With the new publishing system we are able to provide multiple formats of manuals from a single source. To view the reference manual online, visit http://go.morovia.com/?name=BDL3MAN.

3. Installation and Upgrade Notes

3.1. Installation

The Barcode DLL is designed to be used to develop custom barcode printing applications. It does not come with an installer. Simply copy all the files into your hard disk. To learn how to integrate the DLL with your VC++ or Classic VB programs, navigate to the samples folder. The barcode object includes several dozen properties and methods. To find out how they fit your proram, see reference manual for details.

3.2. Manifest

This release consists of the following items:

  • Release notes (this file)

  • Core component MrvBarDLL.dll

  • Import Library for Barcode DLL, MrvBarDLL.lib (for Visual C++ 6 and 7)

  • Barcode DLL 3.3 Reference Manual

  • Visual Basic Module File MrvBarDll.bas

  • Samples - 1 for classic VB, 1 for MFC/C++ and 1 for .Net (written in C#)

  • License agreement

3.3. Minimum System Requirements

  • 800 MHz Pentium processor

  • 256 MB Memory

  • 10MB Free disk space

  • Windows 2000, Windows XP or above

3.4. Version Compatibility

Application developed based on previous versions of the software is able to run with the new software without any modifications.

4. Recent Changes in version 3.3

The following issues discovered after the last release have been addressed:

  1. MITS147 - Changing typeface of Font or CommentFont produces no effects on the results. Fixed in version 3.2.1.

  2. MITS156 - Human readable disappears when Rotation is set to mbxRTAntiClockwise_270 and TexAlignment is mbxAlignRight. Fixed in version 3.2.1.

  3. MITS162 - An error is reported from ExportImage method when exporting BMP images from the barcode object to an IStream interface. This issue does not appear when the barcode image is exported to other formats, or exported to a disk file. Fixed in version 3.2.1.

  4. MITS226 - POSTNET encoder creates barcodes as is when data with an invalid length is specified. By USPS standard, a valid postnet barcode encodes either 5, 11 or 13 digits of a zip code. However, in version 3.2 it is possible to encode a 10-digit number without any error reported. Fixed in version 3.3.0.

  5. MITS236 - Invalid data matrix was created under certain circumstances. An example is 4445601261263220QC0003900*GALBEL008*60/316*AQ8500017*. Fixed in version 3.3.0.

  6. MITS259 - Incorrect human readable appears on 2-digit UPC/EAN extension barcode. The barcode is correct, however the human readable text always displays as 00 in the extension barcode.

  7. MITS269 - Data typos in the reference manual. In the table Size of a pixel, chapter Working with low-resolution devices, the pixel size in mm under 240 dpi should be 0.106, instead of 0.160 in the manual.

  8. MITS278 - Random barcodes appear when generating bulk barcodes in a memory-intensive environment. The issue was found in a .Net application which prints multiple barcodes at a time. This error was caused by a memory assignemnt bug. Fixed in version 3.3.0.

  9. MITS280 - Memory leak was detected after barcode object had been destroyed. This issue applies to Barcode DLL only. The type library associated with the object failed to release its memory after the object had been destroyed. Fixed in version 3.3.

  10. MITS285 - Barcode appeared small when a barcode object with Measurement set to mbxMeasurementMetrics is saved to a file and loaded back. The loading process reduced all lengths in this scenario. Fixed in version 3.3.

  11. MITS288 - In the Access, IIS and IE samples, there are barcodes designed to encode a SCC-14 number in Interleaved 2 of 5 format. While technically the barcode is correct, the data encoded does not match a real SCC-14 number. The modulo 10 check digit for SCC-14 number 0077000707723 should be 6, not 4 demonstreated in the samples. Fixed in version 3.3.0.

  12. MITS296 - When Measurement is mbxMeasurementMetrics, setting AutoLabelSize creates a label area of 2 cm by 2 cm, not 2" by 2" as indicated in the reference manual. Fixed in version 3.3.0.

5. Changes in previous releases

5.1. Version 3.2

Version 3.2 is the first release of Barcode DLL.

6. Known Problems and Workarounds

  • MITS276 - HIBC barcodes do not display checksum character when ShowcheckDigit is FALSE. Per HIBC standard, the checksum should appear in the human readable line. Our product adds checksum; however, it adds the checksum character at the human readable line only when ShowCheckDigit is TRUE. To conform to the standard, when you create HIBC barcodes, you should set ShowCheckDigit to TRUE.