IDAutomation MSI Font Advantage Package
A license is required for each computer this
software is installed on;
this software may only be used according to the
License Agreement.
Demo versions of this software may be used for
evaluation purposes only |
NOTE: IDAutomation provides several
Font Tools that are free to use with
IDAutomation fonts. The font tools
automatically format characters to the barcode
font. Implementation tutorials are provided with each font tool. When it is only necessary to create a single barcode, IDAutomation recommends
using the
Online
Font Encoder.
The MSI Plessey barcode was designed in the 1970s by the Plessey Company
in England and has been used primarily in libraries and retail
applications. The symbology of the MSI Plessey character
set consists of barcode symbols representing the numbers 0-9, the start
character and the stop character. In the MSI Plessey font, the parentheses
are used for start and stop characters.
MSI as a barcode font may be difficult to implement without
one of IDAutomation's Font Tools, due
to the required check digit calculation. If an easier-to-use barcode font is preferred and
MSI is not required, consider
IDAutomation's Codabar barcode font
which does not require check digit characters. IDAutomation also provides many
barcode components
that may be easier to implement in applications and development environments such as Microsoft®
Access, Visual Basic, .NET and Java due to their ability to automatically calculate the checksum and
format the bar-code.
Details of the MSI Plessey Font
Advantage Package are as follows:
- Font Tools Included - For easy integration into applications,
IDAutomation provides
several
Font Tools that are free to use with
IDAutomation fonts. The font tools
automatically format the data to the barcode
font. When it is necessary to create a single barcode, IDAutomation recommends
using the
Online
Font Encoder. Available font tools include:
- Versions Provided - The MSI Plessey barcode fonts are scaleable and should be printed at the correct font size to suit
the application and scanner equipment.
The MSI font is designed to be printed from 6 to 18 points.
Four (4) versions of the MSI Plessey barcode fonts are provided to support
different width/height requirements. For more information, please view the
specifications.
- Multiple Formats Provided - When purchasing a license for this font,
the customer will receive all versions
in a single ZIP file. The manual is supplied in a file named
"readme" in the ZIP file. The following fonts are included:
- TrueType fonts are supplied in PC and Macintosh format. The TrueType TTF
fonts are compatible with Macintosh OS X and all versions of Microsoft
Windows, including
Pocket PC. Macintosh formatted MTT TrueType fonts are compatible with
Macintosh System 7.1 and above.
- OpenType OTF fonts with PostScript outlines are provided. These are
compatible with Windows, Macintosh OS X and other systems supporting the
OpenType format.
- PostScript Type 1 fonts are supplied in binary,
ASCII and Macintosh Classic MacBinary versions.
- Also included in this package are PCL laserjet soft fonts in 5,
7.4, 9.8, 12.2 and 17 points.
- The Developer License grants the right to convert IDAutomation fonts to
other formats as necessary including TrueDoc and OpenType.
- For
the most up to date installation procedures for
other operating systems, please visit IDAutomation's
Technical
Support Site.
NOTICE: When printing the barcode fonts at less
than 12 points, a high quality printer with a 600 DPI or greater
resolution should be used; it may also be necessary to reduce the print
intensity, if you have increased this in the past to a value greater than
normal. If you need to print barcodes smaller than 12 points with
a 203 DPI printer, it is recommended you print at point sizes 6, or 11.5
to create a high quality barcode. For a 300 DPI printer, it is recommended
you print at point sizes 4 or 7.8.
To install the TrueType fonts in Windows:
- Click on Start, select settings and click on Control Panel.
- Click on Fonts, click on File in the main tool bar, and select
Install New Font.
- Locate the font that needs to be installed.
- The font will appear and look like this: font name (true type)
- select the appropriate font and Click on OK.
- Click Start and choose to shut down and restart the computer.
- The font should be active after the computer restarts.
Installing the fonts on Macintosh OS X:
- Drag or copy and paste the TrueType font file(s) ending in TTF
to the Library/Fonts folder.
- To activate the fonts, restart the application - some applications
may require you to restart the computer.
- The font should now be active in the font menu of your application.
To install the TrueType font on the Classic
Macintosh (OS 7.1 - OS 9):
- Download and install Stuffit Expander on your Macintosh if you do
not have an expander utility that can open ZIP files and decode
MacBinary files.
- Open the ZIP distribution file that contains the fonts by dragging
the ZIP file on the Stuffit Expander icon. The font files will be
extracted from the ZIP distribution file and will appear in a subfolder
of the folder you placed the ZIP file in. Open this subfolder to view
the font files. At this point, you may want to view the documentation
supplied with the font files. To do so just drag the file "readme.html"
to the Netscape or Internet Explorer icon.
- Now we must decode the files from MacBinary format. Drag the font
files that you wish to use that end with "mtt" to the Stuffit Expander
icon.
- Drag the decoded font files to the System - Fonts folder.
- Restart the application you wish to use the font with.
- The font will be active in the font menu of your application.
PCL Fonts:
To obtain information about installing PCL fonts, please refer to the
PCLinfo.html document provided in the PCL folder of the package.
Font
installation procedures for other operating systems are provided here
Eight different versions of the MSI Plessey barcode fonts are provided to
support human readable versions and different height requirements. Fonts with
the letter "H" in the font name are "human-readable" versions. The last characters in the MSI Plessey barcode font name
determines the height of the barcode, with the shortest being "XS" and the
tallest being "L". Because each single font can be printed at
various point sizes, there are several height/width combinations that
can be produced. (click
for font names prior to July, 2003)
Font name of purchased version |
Font name of eval version* |
Font height at 12 points* |
MSI Plessey Fonts with no
text below the barcode: |
IDAutomationMSIXS |
IDAutomationSMSIXS |
1/4" (.25") or .6 cm |
IDAutomationMSIS |
IDAutomationSMSIS |
1/2" (.5") or 1.2 cm |
IDAutomationMSIM |
IDAutomationSMSIM |
1" or 2.5 cm |
IDAutomationMSIL |
IDAutomationSMSIL |
1 1/4" (1.25") or 3.1 cm |
MSI Plessey Fonts
with text below the barcode: |
IDAutomationHMSIXS |
IDAutomationSHMSIXS |
1/4" (.25") or .6 cm |
IDAutomationHMSIS |
IDAutomationSHMSIS |
1/2" (.5") or 1.2 cm |
IDAutomationHMSIM |
IDAutomationSHMSIM |
1" or 2.5 cm |
IDAutomationHMSIL |
IDAutomationSHMSIL |
1 1/4" (1.25") or 3.1 cm |
* Measurements are approximate and were measured
when printed at 12 points which should work for most scanners. Measurements
for Human Readable fonts do not include the text below. At 12 points, the X
dimension is about 8 mils.
To print at a different height, find the font that has the height closest
to what is needed and use this formula to find the point size to
print the font at to get that height:
12 * (height wanted) / (height at 12 points) =
(point size converted to integer)
For example, using IDAutomationMSIS at a height of .75"
tall, print it at 18 points because:
12 * .75 / .5 = 18 |
IDAutomation also offers the
Universal Barcode Font Advantage™, designed to support most
linear barcodes as a single font on multiple operating systems and locales. This
Universal Font can provide wide to narrow ratios of 2:1, 2.5:1 and 3:1.
IDAutomation provides several
free
font
tools, plugins, macros and source code samples that automatically format the data to the barcode fonts. Additionally,
IDAutomation's Barcode
Components automatically perform all necessary calculations. Therefore,
manual check digit calculations are usually not necessary.
To manually calculate the check digit for the MSI barcode:
- In this example, the number to be encoded is 173946. Starting from the right side
of the number (the units position), collect all of the odd position digits
(i.e. digit 1, digit 3, digit 5, etc.) and create a new number leaving the
digits in their left to right order. The new number would be 796.
- Multiply the new number by 2. (796 x 2 = 1592)
- Add the digits of the product created in Step 2. (1 + 5 + 9 + 2 = 17)
- Starting from the right side of the number (the units position), collect
all of the even position digits (i.e. digit 2, digit 4, digit 6, etc.) and
create a new number leaving the digits in their left to right order. The new
number would be 134.
- Add the digits of the number created in Step 4. (1 + 3 + 4
= 8)
- Add the sums obtained in step 3 and 5. (17 + 8 = 25)
- Determine the smallest number, when added to the result of Step 6 (25),
which will produce a multiple of 10. This value is the remainder obtained
when dividing the result of Step 6 (25) by 10. 25 divided by 10 = 2 with a
remainder of 5. Therefore, the check digit is 5.
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