Advanced Date Fields

Date Offsets using Date Calculation Manager

The following example shows how to setup date offsets using date calculation manager.

1. Open Design.
2. Select the Printer Model as ‘Videojet 1860’ and Variant as ‘12-high’. Select the New Blank Template from the job list. Click Edit and name the job ‘advanced date field example’.
3. Click + on the toolbar and select Text tool in the toolbox to create a text label ‘Use By’. Name this field as ‘txtUseBy’ and click ✓.
4. From the Text Properties window, select Fixed from the Data Type drop down list and enter the text ‘Use By’ in the data box.
5. In the Font tab, set the font as 12-high international and the image design area displays the text.
6. Click on the Date tool in the toolbox. Select Current from the Select Date Type window.
7. Name this field as ‘dtUseBy’ and click ✓. Note that the current date appears, for the example it is 18/06/2018.
8. In the Font tab, select the font as 12-high international. The image design area appears as follows.

9. Click on Date Calculation Manager from the Template Properties window.
10. Click + in the Offset window to generate a new date calculation.
11. Set an offset of 60 days from the current date. Enter the calculation name ‘calcP+60’ under Offset Name. Select Current Date from the Reference Date drop down list. This means the date calculation will be based on the current date.
12. Set the Units as ‘Days’ and Default Value as ‘60’.
13. Click Update and then click ✓.

14. Click ✓ to exit the Date Calculation Manager window. The calculation name appears in the Offset window. Close the window.
15. Double click the ‘dtUseBy’ field. In the Date properties window that appears, from the Date Type drop down list, select Offset Date. Confirm Offset to Use is set to ‘calcP+60’.
16. The offset date is displayed in the image design area. This date is 60 days after the current date (17/08/2018 in this example).

17. Click Save to save the job file and then on Back to return to the Home page.

Referenced Date (Chained) Offsets

A chained date is one which is calculated based on another existing date. In this example, we will create a Sell By date which is a calculated offset date from the current date. Then we will calculate the Display Until date which is a chained date, based on this sell by date.

1. Create a job selecting the Printer Model as DataFlex 6230 Continuous and Variant as 32mm. Enter the job name ‘Chained Dates’.
2. Create a fixed text field ‘Sell By:’ and name this field as ‘txtSellBy’. Keep the Font Size as default ‘10’.
3. Create another text field ‘Display Until:’ and name this field as ‘txtDisplayUntil’.
4. Create a current date field to the right of ‘txtSellBy’ and name this field as ‘dtSellBy’. Leave all the parameters as default for now.
5. Create a current date field to the right of ‘txtDisplayUntil’ and name this field as ‘dtDisplayUntil’. Leave all other parameters as default for now. The image design area should look like the figure.

We will now change the second date field ‘dtDisplayUntil’ as a calculated offset date on the current date.

6. Click on Date Calculation Manager from the Template Properties window.
7. Click + in the Offset window to generate a new date calculation. A date calculation can be used more than once within a job file.
8. In the Offset window, enter the Offset Name ‘calcDisplayUntil’. Leave the Reference Date as Current Date.

Note: Make sure that a unique, meaningful name is entered for the date calculation.

9. Set the Units as ‘Days’ and Default Value as ‘28’. The ‘Sell By’ date will be calculated by adding 28 days to the current date.
10. Click Update and then click ✓.

11. The calculation name appears in the Offset window. Click X to close the window.

12. Double click the ‘dtDisplayUntil’ field. In the Date properties window that appears, from the Date Type drop down list, select Offset Date. The offset (calcDisplayUntil) properties created in the Date Calculation Manager appears as the Offset to Use.

Note: If more calculation fields are available, select ‘calcDisplayUntil’ from the ‘Offset to Use’ drop down list.

13. Design displays the calculated ‘Display Until’ date in the image design area. Note that the Sell By date is still the current date. In the following steps, we will calculate this date based on the ‘Display Until Date’.
14. Click on Date Calculation Manager from the Template Properties window. Click + in Date Calculation Manager window to generate a new date calculation.
15. In the Offset window, enter the Offset Name ‘calcSellByOffset’. From the Reference Date drop down list, select ‘calcDisplayUntil’ to tell Design that the calculation will be based on this date.
16. In the Default Value box, select 2. This means the ‘Sell By’ date will be calculated by adding two days from the ‘Display Until’ Date.

17. Click ✓ to exit the window. Click X to close Offset window, which now has two calculation names in it.

18. Double click on the ‘dtSellBy’ field. In the Date Properties window that appears, from the Date Type drop down list, select Offset Date.
19. Select ‘calcSellByOffset’ from the Offset to Use drop down list. The image will now look like:

Note that the Sell by date is 30 days after current date (which is 10/07/2018) and the display until date is 2 days before the Sell By date.

User Concessions

1. Open the file ‘advanced date field example’.
2. Click on Date Calculation Manager from the Template Properties window.
3. Select ‘calcP+60’ in the Date Offsets box and click Edit. The Offset window appears.
4. Click on the User Concessions tab. Click the check box Allow User to change.
5. Set the Offset Units as Days. Set the Minimum Offset as -10 and Maximum Offset as 10.

By setting the minimum and maximum offsets, we allow the operator to only select a date in the range of 10 days before or after the calculated date.

6. Enter the Prompt Message ‘Please Enter the Date’.

7. Click Update and then on ✓ to close the User Concessions window and click X to close the Offset window.
8. The image design area appears as shown below.

9. Save the job file to the application and click Back to return to home page.
10. Click on ‘advanced date field example’ and then on Download on the job toolbar. The Download Job(s) window appears.
11. Click ✓ and save the job to the required location.
12. Insert the USB memory stick into the PC.
13. Copy the file ‘advanced date field example’ and paste it to the USB device.
14. Remove the USB memory stick from the PC.
15. Insert the USB memory stick into the printer.
16. Turn on the printer. The printer will start up and on completion Home screen will be displayed. The printer will be in SHUTDOWN mode
(See the figure).
17. Login to the printer by selecting the required role and entering the password. Navigate to Tools > File Manager > Import Files. Select the USB device and touch Continue.
18. Select the job file ‘advanced date field example’ and touch Import to copy the job file to the printer.
19. Touch Jobs and confirm the transferred job appears in the job select list.

20. Select the job and touch Run Job.
21. The prompt message created in Design appears.

22. Touch the Prompt Message and the calendar page appears. The only dates selectable are those that will fall within the range of -10 to +10 days of the calculated offset date.

23. Select the required date (21 in this example) from the available dates by touching the required date. Touch Save.
24. A tick mark appears with the prompt message. The preview is updated to reflect the selected date. Touch Approve All and then on Continue to display the next screen. The print preview is displayed.

25. Touch Load Job to close the preview display. The job with the required date is now ready for printing.

Date Avoidance

Date Avoidance blocks specific dates from being selected or calculated.

The following example explains how to set up ‘Avoidance Dates’ using Design and how the ‘Avoidance Dates’ are managed during job selection. We will use the job file from the previous example.

Note: The file ‘advance date field example’ now has the date field set to a calculated offset of ‘60’ days, but the operator can select a date from ±10 days from the calculated date. In this example, we will block 23rd June from being selected.

1. Open the file ‘advanced date field example’.
2. Double click on the ‘dtUseBy’ field. The Date Properties window appears.
3. The offset name ‘calcP+60’ is present under Offset to Use and click .... The Offset window appears.
4. Click the Calendar Rules tab.

5. Click + under Avoidance Dates.
6. Set the Day to ‘23’ and Month to ‘June’.

7. Click ✓. Confirm the date set appears in the Avoidance Date data.
8. Click ✓ to close the Offset window.
9. Save the job file to the application and click Back to return to home page.
10. Click on ‘advanced date field example’ and then on Download on the job toolbar. The Download Job(s) window appears.
11. Click ✓ and save the job to the required location.
12. Insert the USB memory stick into the PC.
13. Copy the file ‘advanced date field example’ and paste it to the USB device.
14. Remove the USB memory stick from the PC.
15. Insert the USB memory stick into the printer.
16. Turn on the printer. The printer will start up and on completion Home screen will be displayed. The printer will be in SHUTDOWN mode
(See Figure 5-21 on page 5‑14).
17. Login to the printer by selecting the required role and entering the password. Navigate to Tools > File Manager > Import Files.Select the USB device and touch Continue.
18. Select the job file ‘advanced date field example’ and touch Import to copy the job file to the printer.
19. Touch Jobs and confirm the transferred job appears in the job select list.

20. Select the job and touch Run Job.
21. The prompt message created in Design appears.

22. Touch the Prompt Message and the calendar page appears. Note that the date ‘23rd June’ is in grey and cannot be selected.

Rounding

We will use the job file from the previous example to demonstrate how to round a selected or calculated date upto the next Monday.

1. Open the file ‘advanced date field example’.
2. Double click on the ‘dtUseBy’ field. The Date Properties window appears.
3. The offset name ‘calcP+60’ is present under Offset to Use and click .... The Offset window appears.
4. Click on the Rounding tab.

5. Select Round Up from the Mode drop down list to round to the next Monday.
6. Select Weekly from the Frequency drop down list.
7. Select Monday from the Interval drop down list.
8. Click ✓ to close the window.
9. Save the job file to the application and click Back to return to home page.
10. Click on ‘advanced date field example’ and then on Download on the job toolbar. The Download Job(s) window appears.
11. Click ✓ and save the job to the required location.
12. Insert the USB memory stick into the PC.
13. Copy the file ‘advanced date field example’ and paste it to the USB device.
14. Remove the USB memory stick from the PC.
15. Insert the USB memory stick into the printer.
16. Turn on the printer. The printer will start up and on completion Home screen will be displayed. The printer will be in SHUTDOWN mode
(See Figure 5-21 on page 5‑14).
17. Login to the printer by selecting the required role and entering the password. Navigate to Tools > File Manager > Import Files.Select the USB device and touch Continue.
18. Select the job file ‘advanced date field example’ and touch Import to copy the job file to the printer.
19. Touch Jobs and confirm the transferred job appears in the job select list.

20. Select the job and touch Run Job.
21. The prompt message created in Design appears.

22. Touch the Prompt Message and the calendar page appears. Only Mondays are now available for selection.

Calendar Rules

The following example explains how to set up Calendar Rules in Design. We will apply calendar rules to the date field to avoid any particular dates.

1. Create a job selecting the Printer Model as DataFlex 6230 Continuous and Variant as 32mm. Enter the job name ‘Calendar Rules’.
2. Create a fixed text field ‘Use By:’ and name this field as ‘txtUseBy’. Keep the Font Size as default ‘10’.
3. Create a current date field to the right of ‘txtUseBy’ and name this field as ‘dtUseBy’. Note that the current date appears, for the example it is
11/07/2018. Leave all the parameters as default for now. The image design area is shown in the figure.

4. Click on Date Calculation Manager from the Template Properties window. Click + in the Offset window to generate a new date calculation.
5. Set an offset of 10 days from the current date. Enter the calculation name ‘calcP+10’ under Offset Name. Select Current Date from the Reference Date drop down list.
6. Set the Units as ‘Days’, Default Value as ‘10’ and Click ✓. Click X to close the Offset window.

7. We will create a calendar rule to automatically re-calculate the date to be one day (20/072018) before the original date. Double click on the ‘dtUseBy’ field. The Date Properties window appears.
8. Set the Data Type to Offset Date. Select ‘calcP+10’ under Offset to Use and click .... The Offset window appears.
9. Click on the Calendar Rules tab.

10. Click + under Calendar Rules. Select the Day to ‘21’ and Month ‘July’. Set the Offset to -1 days.

11. Click ✓ and then on Update. The calendar rule is added in the box. Note that the Date Becomes displays the date ‘20 July’.

If necessary, multiple rules can be added following similar steps.

12. We will now allow the user to change the dates using User Concessions. Click on the User Concessions tab. Click the check box Allow User to Change.
13. Select Days from the Offset Units drop down list and set the Minimum Offset as -3 and Maximum offset as +3. Insert the text ‘Enter the Date’ in the Prompt Message text box.

14. Click ✓ to close the Date Calculation Manager window.
15. The image design area is updated to reflect the calendar rules applied.

16. Save the job file to the application and click Back to return to home page.
17. Click on ‘advanced date field example’ and then on Download on the job toolbar. The Download Job(s) window appears.
18. Click ✓ and save the job to the required location.
19. Insert the USB memory stick into the PC.
20. Copy the file ‘advanced date field example’ and paste it to the USB device.
21. Remove the USB memory stick from the PC.
22. Insert the USB memory stick into the printer.
23. Turn on the printer. The printer will start up and on completion Home screen will be displayed (See the figure).

24. Login to the printer by selecting the required role and entering the password. Navigate to Tools > Databases. The database screen displays the External Database. Touch External to view all the jobs in the USB device.
25. Touch on the job you require, the file size is displayed. Touch Send Job to Database button to import the file from USB to printer.
26. Touch the Job button. The transferred job appears in the job select list.

27. Select the job and touch OK.
28. The prompt message created in Design appears (see the figure).

29. Touch Edit. The calendar page appears.

30. Select the date ‘21 July’. Click OK. The following message is displayed.

31. Click OK. The Job Selection Confirmation dialog box appears.The date in the preview is changed to 20 July based on the calendar rule set.

32. Touch OK. The print preview is displayed.

33. Touch OK to close the preview display. The job with the required date is now ready for printing.

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