Label Printing from any Software, any Platform

At times automated printing is required in a multi-operating system environment (Unix, AS/400, Host, etc.) or complex application environments (ERP, WMS, etc.), where it is not possible to write program code using Automation commands.

Deploying NiceWatch, a powerful data detection module, provides an affordable solution in these situations that acts as middle-ware on a Windows-based PC.

Main Characteristics

• Enable printing from other local or remote applications running within the network
  
• Trigger label printing with simple file drop on a shared disk (including data or commands)
  
• Connect with COM port devices (scale, barcode reader) using monitoring or polling
  
• Internet printing (e-mail, TCP/IP sockets)
  
• Data filtering (use existing reports, printer command files, etc.)
  
• Optional VB Scripting for advanced programming control
  
• Could run as a service (no user login required) on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
  
  

Data Detection

NiceWatch is an event-driven application capable of monitoring and detecting data in many different formats to trigger the start of label production.

Click to enlarge

The standard scenario involves writing text files or exporting databases from an ERP system or other application to a shared network drive. Other trigger options include communication from serial port devices (bar code reader, scale, etc.) and monitoring POP3 mail accounts. The TCP/IP trigger option allows you to accept information via TCP/IP ports from other computers or devices on the network.

If your business process requires multi-threaded or high-volume printing solution we recommend the use of NiceWatch Enterprise edition.

Cross application and platform printing utilizing the data-detection module

Should the incoming data be in a non-structured format (reports, printer command files, serial port and TCP/IP data, etc.), there are many ways to process it. NiceWatch provides numerous filters to properly extract data for label printing, leaving the existing application entirely unmodified.