Toolbox

Sometimes, when designing a template, you need to add an object whose properties are nearly identical to those of another object that you created earlier, either on the same template or on a different one. The Components pane gives you a place to create and store preconfigured objects and even groups of objects. You can reuse any such component by dragging it from the pane to a template.

Organizing and Navigating the Pane

The Components pane operates like any standard Windows directory. You can switch between tree, icon, and list views by using the View option from the context menu. In any view, you will have the standard context menu options to cut, copy, paste, rename, and delete components. You can navigate between folders and move or copy items as you would in any directory. To move up to the parent folder in the icon or list view, double-click the icon that is labeled Up [Components]. The context menu also gives you the option to create new folders, so you can organize your components into logical sets and subsets.

Creating and Storing a Reusable Component

After you have added a new object to a template and configured its properties, you can store the object for reuse by adding it to the Components pane. To do this, right-click the object and then click Create Component from the context menu. An icon that represents the component will appear in the Components pane (in the currently selected folder) with the temporary name "Component". You can overwrite the temporary name with a new name by typing in the name that you want.

If you plan to reuse an entire set of objects, you can create a component that consists of a group of objects. After you have grouped objects, right-click the group and then click Create Component from the context menu. For more information about grouping objects, see Creating an Object Group.

The Layers pane lists all of the available layers; additionally, you can easily create new layers and modify existing ones. When you add a new object to the template, BarTender will automatically add the object to the selected layer of the Toolbox. Each listed layer contains a preview image, the name of the layer, and the following buttons:

/ Locks the selected layer, preventing further changes or additions.

/ Toggles the visibility of the layer on screen. Note that this setting does not affect whether the layer gets printed. This option is primarily used to make it easier to edit templates by hiding those layers that are not immediately relevant to the layer with which you are currently working.

Double-clicking a layer opens the Layer Properties dialog, where you can configure the on-screen representation of the selected layer and the printed output.

You can change the order of the layers in your document by dragging a selected layer to the position that you want in the layers list. The layer at the top of the list will be printed on top of all the layers below it.

At the bottom of the Layers pane, the LayersToolbar enables you to create new layers and manage the order of existing layers. For more information, refer to Using the Layers Toolbar.

The Data Sources pane in Template Design view lists all of the data sources that are available for use on your template, including database fields, named data sources, and global data fields. By using this pane, you can assign any of these data sources to existing objects by dragging them to the object that you want.

The Data Sources pane groups the data sources by type:

• Embedded Data: Enables you to enter data into an object directly from the keyboard.

• Clock: Populates the contents of an object automatically from the clock on your computer or printer.

• Database Fields: Populates the contents of an object from a field in an external source, including databases, delimited text files, spreadsheets, and ODBC or OLE DB sources.

• Named Data Sources: Populates the contents of an object from the value of a named data source that is saved as part of the document.

• Global Data Fields: Populates the contents of an object from a global data field that is retrieved from the BarTender System Database.

• Object Values: Populates the contents of an object by using the value of an existing object in your document.

• External File: Populates the contents of an object from an external file, which enables you to import binary and text data.

• Visual Basic Script: Populates the contents of an object that is based on a user-defined VBScript.

• Printer Code Template Fields: Populates the contents of an object with data that is received from an external print system such as a keyboard terminal, XML-enabled printer, or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

If a data source is used on the template, you can modify it in the Data Source Properties dialog by double-clicking it in the Data Sources pane. In situations where a single data source is attached to multiple objects, editing the data source through this method will update the values for all connected objects.

The Data Sources pane for forms enables you to easily link data sources and objects on a template to data entry controls on a form. By using the Data Sources pane, you can view the data sources on your template and connect an existing data source's value to a reply box on the data entry form.

The Print Dialog Data Sources directory enables you to link the number of copies or serialized items to a control on the data entry form. This enables you to ask users for the number of copies they want to print each time BarTender runs the print job.

Whenever you give a name to a data source, the data source appears in the Named Data Sources directory. After the data source is listed in this directory, you can link it to a control on the data entry form. Additionally, you can link to any other object value by using the Template Object Data Sources directory.

To link a data source to a control by using the Toolbox