Character Template

A character template enables you to add characters to the input, which will format the data into a particular arrangement. For text objects on a template, a character template enables you to easily format strings such as a phone number, address, or zip code. In barcodes, a character template adds characters in the human readable area that will not be encoded into the actual barcode. For more information about how a character template is used with barcodes, refer to Character Template.

The Character Template dialog enables you to set or modify a character template. It is accessible using one of the following methods: 

The following options are available: 

ClosedAvailable Characters

Character

Purpose

Example using 5980395957

?

Inserts the next available character from the data source.

"(???)???-????" yields "(598)039-5957".

%

Insert all remaining characters from the current data source.

"Code%" yields "Code5980395957".

*

Inserts all remaining characters from all data sources. Only available as a transform for Human Readable.

"Call * for details" yields "Call 5980395957 for details"

@x

Inserts all characters up to, but excluding the specified character, as defined by "x".

"@7" yields "598039595".

@x?

Inserts all characters up to, and including the specified character, as defined by "x".

"@3?" yields "59803"

~?

Suppresses a single character from the data source.

"????~??????" yields "598095957".

~%

Suppresses all remaining characters from the current data source.

"??????~%" yields "598039".

~*

Suppresses all remaining characters from all data sources. Only available as a transform for Human Readable.

"???~*" yields "598"

~@x

Suppresses all characters up to, but excluding the specified character, as defined by "x".

"~@9" yields "980395957".

~@x~?

Suppresses all characters up to, and including the specified character, as defined by "x".

"~@3~?" yields "95957".

\n

Inserts a line break.

"?????\n?????" yields "59803<<CR>>95957"

\t

Inserts a tab character.

"?????\t?????" yields "59803 95957".

\\

Inserts a literal "\" character.

"?????\\?????" yields "59803\95957".

\?

Inserts a literal "?" character.

"??????????\?" yields "5980395957?".

\%

Inserts a literal "%" character.

"??.????????\%" yields "59.80395957%"

\*

Inserts a literal "*" character.

"??????????\*" yields "5980395957*"

\~

Inserts a literal "~" character.

"\~??????????" yields "~5980395957".

\@

Inserts a literal "@" character.

"\@??????????" yields "@5980395957".

\x##

Inserts an ASCII character using its 2-digit hexadecimal value.

"\x3E??????????" yields ">5980395957".

\u####

Inserts a Unicode character using its 4-digit hexadecimal value.

"??????????\u00B6" yields "5980395957ΒΆ".