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Tech Corner:
How
BarTender’s
“Toolbox”
Speeds Label
Design
for the
Cougar
Mountain
Accounting
Software
BarTender
7.0 (since
superceded
by 7.1)
introduced a
“Toolbox”
design aid
that can
greatly
speed up
label
creation.
Toolboxes
are
on-screen
windows that
display
numerous
functions in
a
convenient,
easy-to-use
list. Even
better,
multiple
lists of
functions
can be
defined for
the user to
quickly and
easily
switch
between. We
first became
aware of
them through
our own use
of
Microsoft’s
world-renowned
Visual
Studio
development
products.
The Visual
Studio
Toolbox
supported a
variety of
simple and
advanced
design
procedures
with fewer
menu and
mouse clicks
than would
otherwise be
required. As
is often the
case when we
see a
Windows
standard we
like, we
decided to
add the
feature to
BarTender,
where we use
it mainly
for quicker
object
creation,
easy data
linking, and
the creation
of reusable
label
components.
By
default, the
BarTender
toolbox
displays
along the
left side of
the screen
(although
you have the
option of
moving it
anywhere on
the screen
that you
want).
Bearing some
resemblance
to the
“button”-based
toolbars
that have
appeared
along the
top of
Windows
programs for
years,
toolboxes
differ from
toolbars in
a number of
key ways:
1)
Toolboxes
often
provide
multiple
Window
“panes” to
allow users
to quickly
and easily
switch
between
multiple
categories
of
functions.
2)
Toolbox
options are
most often
stacked
vertically.
(In
contrast,
the buttons
of a toolbar
can
typically be
configured
either
vertically
or
horizontally.)
3)
Whereas
traditional
toolbar
buttons
usually
employ just
an icon, the
items in a
Toolbox
usually
contain one
or more
descriptive
words next
to each
button icon.
The Most
Important
BarTender
Toolbox
Functions
Although the
Toolbox
simplifies
and
streamlines
a variety of
BarTender
design
functions,
three in
particular
stand out:
1)
Single-step
bar code
creation.
2) Easy
creation of
reusable
“components.”
3)
Single-step
“drag and
drop” data
linking.
Now,
let’s
examine
these three
capabilities
in a little
more detail.
 Nearly
Instant Bar
Codes
With most
label
software,
bar code
creation is
at least a
two-step
process:
first you
press a key
or click a
button to
create a
“default”
bar code and
then you
fill in a
dialog
window full
of settings
if you need
anything
except the
“default”
bar code
style.
BarTender
now gives
you the
option of
instead
using a
single,
quick mouse
motion to
“drag” any
one of
literally
dozens of
bar code
“components”
onto your
label. These
components
define not
just the bar
code
symbology
(or
language),
but every
single
aspect of
the
appearance
of the bar
code. You
can use our
predefined
bar code
components
“as is” or
customize
the settings
as desired.
Reusable
“Components”
The ability
to quickly
“drag and
drop” bar
code
components
into your
label
designs is
just the
beginning.
You can also
easily group
together any
combination
of bar
codes, text
and graphics
from an
existing
label design
and save
these
objects
together as
a reusable
component.
That
component
will then
appear with
a name of
your choice
in the
Components
pane of the
Tooblox.
Anytime you
want to
reuse this
component in
a future
label
design, you
can simply
drag it from
the toolbox
into the
label design
area. By
creating
reusable
components
in this
manner, you
can greatly
speed up the
label design
process
anytime you
have to
design
multiple
labels that
share
certain
common
design
elements.
Single-Step
Data Linking
Whether it’s
in a
BarTender
label design
or a
Microsoft
Word
mail-merge
document, if
there’s one
final task
that
sometimes
slows down
users, it’s
specifying
how external
data will
flow into a
document.
BarTender
6.0
introduced a
“Database
Setup
Wizard” to
simplify the
selection of
databases
and tables
and specify
the
relations
between
them. Now,
with
BarTender 7
(and
higher), the
Data Sources
“pane” of
the Toolbox
greatly
simplifies
the task of
specifying
which data
source items
will connect
to which
objects on
the label. A
list of your
available
data fields
is displayed
in a single,
convenient
location in
the Toolbox.
All you do
to connect
data sources
to label
objects is
“drag” the
desired
field names
from the
toolbox and
“drop” them
on top of
the
appropriate
label
objects. It
makes
defining
your data
sources
about as
fast and
easy as it
can possibly
be.
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