Microplate Barcode Labeler User Guide - Agilent Technologies

Chapter 6: Running a print job
VCode User Guide
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About print jobs and schemas
Introduction
You can use VCode Diagnostics to perform simple labelling operations,
but for production labelling of plates you use PlateTag.
This topic relates together the concepts that you must understand to be
able to use PlateTag.
Print jobs
In PlateTag, setting up a print job allows you to apply labels that are
different from:
❑ Plate to plate
❑ One side of a plate to another
A print job uses one schema for each side of the plate that you want to
label.
Schemas
A schema is a collection of information that includes:
❑ The label format to use
❑ The vertical position of the stage during the labelling operation
❑ A general definition of each field in the label
Each schema is given its own name.
Field definitions
In the schema, the general definition of each bar code field includes:
❑ The data type for the field
❑ The name of a variable that holds the actual data that goes into the
field
Data type
A field’s data type is one of the following:
Data type
Data Source
Constants
Counters
Clones
Description
An external file from which PlateTag can import
field data
A constant, the value of which remains the same
for each label
A counter, the value of which changes in a
regular way with each label
A value copied from another side of the plate
Variable name
A schema does not contain the actual data that is printed on a bar code.
A schema contains the name of a variable that holds the actual data.