A previous post (April, 2010) indicated you could create a calculated field with asterik (*) in front of and behind the dynamics field so the scanner would recognize the barcode font. The instructions were very simple and clear. I tried this, with a variety of tests and I keep getting an error when I try to print the report. The only way to eliminate the error is to delete the new calculated field. We are using MSDynamics 10, and we need to print a scannable barcode on the packing lists for our customers. Has anyone tried the suggestion and got it to work?

I should include how the Calcualted Expression is displayed:

# "*" + popPOLineRollupTemp.Item Number + "*"

The # represents CAT (concatenate), of course. I tried with and without the + between the constant and the field, and it doesn't make any difference. The original tip was written by VicRosenberg on Apr 8, 2010 for smcpartlin. It looked correct; however, I cannot make it work!

What error message are you getting when you run the report?

Lyle
----
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." - Arthur C. Clarke.

Sorry, I though I mentioned this. The error message is "Error in Equation" (equation name). Unfortunately, I am not told what the error is.

# "*" + popPOLineRollupTemp.Item Number + "*"
I believe you are concatinating a number with a string. Or it could be the pluses +

Try this...
"*" # LNG_STR(popPOLineRollupTemp.Item Number) # "*"

Thanks, David... we are getting closer. I had to remove the LNG_STR because the field is already a string field. I no longer get an error when trying to print the report; however, we were not able to scan the printed barcode. To make sure the calculated result is correct, I changed the font back to the default generic Helvetica and printed the report. I get an asterisk at the beginning of the field; but, not at the end.

Example for part number ABC79000654, it now prints as *ABC79000654. In order for the Code 39 barcode font to work, there needs to ba a start and stop character; i.e., the asterisk (*). In other words, the number should print as *ABC79000654*, not *ABC79000654. So, although I am getting a correct start character (*), I am not getting the stop character (*) at the end of the string field.

We are about hald way there. Any suggestions?

You might have to trim the string field. Try Strip in the System-defined Functions

Thank you, David. Adding STRIP worked. We are now able to scan the field on the report.

Thank you, David. Adding STRIP worked. We are now able to scan the field on the report.

Excellent. Glad I could help!

I have been wrestling with my own Report Writer issue and those areas are fresh in my mind.