Sending The Track Data - HID FARGO DTC 1500 User Manual

4.5.1.2 Sending the Track Data

Magnetic track data is sent in the form of text strings from the application software to the printer
driver.
In order for the printer driver to differentiate between magnetic track data and the rest of the
printable objects, specific characters must be added to the magnetic data to be encoded.
These specify the data that is to be encoded the tracks to encode and mark the start and stop of the
data string. In some cases, these specific characters are automatically added to the string of track
data by ID software applications.
In most cases, the user must carefully add these characters to the string of magnetic track data. If
these characters are not added to the track data, the text intended for the magnetic track appears
as printed text on the card. To avoid this, track information must be entered as described.
When entering track data, the ~ (tilde) character is entered first, followed by the track number (1, 2,
or 3) on which the data should encode. The data to be encoded follows the track number.
The first character of this data string must be the track's specific start sentinel (SS) and the last
character must be the specific end sentinel (ES).
The characters or data in between the SS and ES can include all of the valid characters specific to
each track.
The number of these characters, however, is limited by each track's maximum character capacity.
Note: When segmenting track data, the appropriate field separator (FS) must be used. The
following shows the SS, ES, FS and the valid characters defined for each track.
Reviewing the ASCII Code and Character Table
ASCII Code
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
52
Printer Preferences
Character ASCII Code
space 56
! 57
58
# 59
$ 60
% 61
and 62
' 63
( 64
) 65
* 66
+ 67
' 68
- 69
. 70
/ 71
Character ASCII Code
8 80
9 81
: 82
; 83
< 84
= 85
> 86
? 87
@ 88
A 89
B 90
C 91
D 92
E 93
F 94
G 95
PLT-03159, Rev A.0
Character
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
[
\
]
^
_
September 2017