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ESL User Manual
Electronic Shelf Labeling System
ESL
User Manual
All information subject to change without notice.
© 2012 copyright Opticon. All rights reserved.
This manual may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any written, electronic or
machine readable form without prior written consent of Opticon.
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Summary of Contents for Opticon ESL
- Page 1 All information subject to change without notice. © 2012 copyright Opticon. All rights reserved. This manual may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any written, electronic or machine readable form without prior written consent of Opticon.
- Page 2 Opticon assumes no liability for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages arising out of use or inability to use both the hardware and software, even if Opticon has been informed about the possibility of such damages.
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
3.1.3 Installing the ESLs ........................11 3.1.4 Installing the Optional Barcode Terminal ................... 12 3.2 Linking a Back Office System to the ESL Server ................12 3.3 Resetting the ESL System ........................ 12 3.3 Designing the ESL image layout ....................... 13 4. - Page 4 7.8 Version .............................. 34 8. Version history ........................35 9. Appendices .......................... 36 Appendix A: Editing the ESL Template Files ..................36 A.1 Editing the Information Template ....................36 A.2 Editing the Image Layout Template ....................37 ...
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Page 5: Features And Specifications
ESL User Manual 1. Features and Specifications 1.1 Abstract This manual describes how to set-up the e-Paper Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) System and includes pre-loaded software for demonstration and pilot project purposes. Contents The ESL demo kit consists of the following components: Ethernet ESL base station (EBS-10) •... -
Page 6: Interface Specifications
ESL User Manual 1.4 Interface Specifications The radio interface of both the base stations and ESLs have the following specifications: • 2.4gHz IEEE 802.15.4 compatible • Transmission speeds: up to 250 kbps 1.5 Hardware Specifications Items Specifications Remarks CC2530-F128 (EE200) -
Page 7: Main Battery
ESL User Manual 1.6.2 Main Battery: The main batteries in the EE200 are 2 CR2450 Li-Mn batteries: • Nominal capacity: 2x600 mAh • Nominal voltage: 3V. • Low voltage: Less than 2.8 V • Operating time: >7 years (default settings; 4 refreshes/day; 15-25° C) •... -
Page 8: Serial Number
RF-module. However, the first 6 digits of the MAC address (00124B) have been replaced by the letter “A.” The default barcode that is shown on the display of the ESL is identical to the bar code on the back of the ESL. -
Page 9: Solution Overview
ESL User Manual 2. Solution Overview The current solution operates by running the provided ESL server application that monitors an incoming folder in which any mutations in the product database are being placed by the back office system of the user. Any detected changes will be automatically processed and sent to the ESLs and displayed. -
Page 10: Getting Started
ESL Server application requires it to run. Select the components that you wish to install. If you havenʼt installed Appload or the Opticon USB drivers on your PC before, make sure you install those components as well. -
Page 11: Installing The Base Station
When a base station is turned off, or an ESL is moved out of range, an ESL will time out after a couple of minutes and start seeking for another base station in range. -
Page 12: Installing The Optional Barcode Terminal
If the back office link to the ESL system is not yet available, then itʼs also possible to manually place (and rename) some CSV files in the Input folder for demonstration purposes and testing. -
Page 13: Designing The Esl Image Layout
Probably the most important step in the customization process of the ESL system is determining the design and format of the images that should be displayed on the ESLs. When designing the layout of an e-paper ESL itʼs important to know the limitations of what can and what canʼt be displayed. -
Page 14: Back Office
ESL User Manual 4. Back Office The back office triggers the ESL server application by placing a file containing either only product modifications or a complete product database in a predefined folder. Only one file may reside in this folder to enforce sequential handling. This means that the Back office may only store another file, when the current file has been processed and moved to a different folder. - Page 15 For this reason, only the middleware applications have to be customized or configured and not the ESL server application itself. Note 1: Due to the 1-to-1 relation between a product and an ESL, it is currently not possible to link multiple ESLs to the same product.
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Page 16: Esl Server Application
The server application will pick up the CSV file as soon as it detects this rename file event. • The numbers in the filenames should be sequential, and the interval is 1. The ESL server • application currently does not check the number of these files. -
Page 17: Handling Of Modified Esl-Product Links (Linked.csv)
If no barcode terminal is being used and the ESL are linked using a different method (i.e. using the existing cash register), then the linked.csv file should be placed in the Output folder as follows: When moving/copying the link-file a temporary name should be used, i.e., linked.tmp... -
Page 18: Detecting New/Changed Esl Image And Configuration Files
Images in folder. Once it has successfully processed a file, by sending the image to an ESL, it moves the files to the sub-directory /Completed of the Images in folder. The middleware application will only generate new configuration and images files for products that are not found in the Completed subfolder or have been changed. -
Page 19: Configuring Esls
ESLs to control, customize and to regulate power consumption. To edit configurations of an ESL, go to the base station tab to which the ESL is currently linked and right click on the ESL. After doing so, a settings dialog should appear, showing the current status and settings of that ESL. -
Page 20: Associate Interval
ESLʼs is operating. If ESLs are not being used for a long period of time the associate interval can best be set to a much longer interval like 300 seconds. For an even longer period of time, removing the batteries might be the best option. -
Page 21: Poll Timeout
By default, the channels 11 to 15 (i.e., 11, 12, 13, 14, and15) are enabled. Channel 11 canʼt be disabled. This is to ensure that when an ESL that is not associating to any base station, and the ESLʼs RF channel range is unknown, it can always be retrieved by configuring a nearby base station to channel 11. -
Page 22: Configuring The Rf Channel
RF channel range on all ESLs before configuring the base stations. (See section 5.4.5). If an ESL is not associating to any base station, and its RF channel range is unknown, then configure a base station to channel 11. This channel can... -
Page 23: Changing The Name Of A Base Station
192.168.100.100, with subnet mask 255.255.0.0. If a DHCP server is available, then the base station can be found using an external tool called XTAdminXXL, which is included in the Tools folder of the installation. The base stations are clearly identifiable under “OPTICON, ESL BASE STATION, XT-NANO- XXL-F0.”... - Page 24 ESL User Manual To configure the network settings of the base station, use telnet with the found IP address (i.e. C:\>telnet 192.168.0.17) or press ʻTelnetʼ in XTAdminXXL. When using Windows 7, telnet can be enabled as follows: 1. Start > Control Panel 2.
- Page 25 If for some reason all network settings have been deleted, for instance, when the “Factory settings menu” was used, you can restore the desired settings by uploading a configuration file via FTP server. Contact Opticon for the latest configuration file and upload instructions.
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Page 26: Setup Of The Esl Server Application
ESL User Manual 5.7 Setup of the ESL server application By opening the setup window of the ESL server application, most settings of application can be configured. The image below shows a typical ESL pilot configuration and a matching file system tree. -
Page 27: Input Folder
Delete Database removes the complete (combined) database file (dbase.csv) from your system. Be aware that a new, full database will have to be placed in the Input folder in order to get the ESL system to fully operate again. See section 3.3 for more information about resetting an ESL system. -
Page 28: Image Generator
The Info Template provides the formatting for the automatically-generated XML files for each linked ESL. In most situations, this template can be left untouched. Only if the positions of the unique ID or the product description arenʼt located at, respectively, field 1 and field 3 in the CSV database, then these field numbers can easily be corrected. -
Page 29: Log Files
ESL User Manual 5.7.12 Log Files The Log Files will contain all ESL status information (EslLog.txt). The SentImages subfolder is used by the server application to store the last-sent image to an ESL. 5.7.13 Apply The Apply command saves all settings, and restarts the Application. -
Page 30: Middleware Applications
The ESL server application uses middleware applications to process the information from the back office into file formats that the ESL server application uses to update ESLʼs. The main tasks of the middleware are divided into 2 applications: the CSV Parser and the Image Generator. These will be described in the following sections. -
Page 31: Image Generator
6.2 Image Generator The task of the Image generator is to generate BMP and XML files for each linked ESL from the combined product database (dbase.csv) and the link database (linked.csv). As long as there are no MAC addresses in the link database (linked.csv), the middleware wonʼt generate any images for ESLs. -
Page 32: Application For The Optional Barcode Terminal
Tools folder of this installation. If the ESL Linking Application is not yet loaded on the terminal, or needs to be updated, then the software can be loaded by using the Update Firmware option in the Setup window of the ESL server manager. -
Page 33: Creating Links Between Esls And Products/Locations, Using The Optional Barcode Terminal
1 key on the terminalʼs keypad (for Link ESLs), and then select the used ESL variant by pressing the 1 key again (for 2" e-paper), or the 2 key (for 2.7" e- paper). -
Page 34: Deleting Existing Links
It is possible to check whether a product has been correctly linked by pressing the “3” key (for Product Info) on the optional barcode terminalʼs keypad. To show the product information and the linked ESL, either enter the product ID, or scan the product barcode, or scan the MAC address of the ESL. -
Page 35: Version History
ESL User Manual 8. Version history V0.1 First final release February 21, 2012... -
Page 36: Appendices
ESL User Manual 9. Appendices Appendix A: Editing the ESL Template Files The ESL template files are XML-based and can be manually edited to design your own label layout. The ESL server application uses two templates. An image template that specifies the actual image layout of the images that will be generated •... -
Page 37: Editing The Image Layout Template
The image layout template is also XML-based and can be manually edited to design your own label layout. The default location of the image template is ./Templates/Image.xml. The image template currently supports 5 types of objects for designing the ESL layout: Text (fixed and dynamic) •... - Page 38 The “Variant” field specifies the hardware variant of the ESL for each template. Multiple templates can be added if more than one hardware variant is used.
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Page 39: Adding Or Editing Text
ESL User Manual A.3 Adding or Editing Text Text can added to the template using the following format: <Object> <Text> <Content>%3%</Content> <Color>1</Color> <X>0</X> <Y>3</Y> <Width>200</Width> <Height>28</Height> <Font> <Type>Arial</Type> <Size>11</Size> <Italic>1</Italic> <Bold>1</Bold> </Font> <Lines>2</Lines> <HAlignment>CENTER</HAlignment> <VAlignment>CENTER</VAlignment> </Text> </Object> <Condition> (optional) Displaying conditions •... -
Page 40: Adding Rectangles
ESL User Manual A.4 Adding Rectangles A (filled) rectangle can be added to the template using the following format: <Object> <Rectangle> <X>0</X> <Y>0</Y> <Width>200</Width> <Height>32</Height> <Color>0</Color> </Rectangle> </Object> <Condition> (optional) Displaying conditions • <Color> Color (0=Black; 1=White) • <X> <Y> <Width> <Height> Specify the position and size of the rectangle •... -
Page 41: Adding Images
ESL User Manual A.5 Adding Images An image (fixed or dynamic) can be added to the template using the following format: <Object> <Image> <File>Templates\demo.bmp</File> <X>173</X> <Y>33</Y> </Image> </Object> <Condition> (optional) Displaying conditions • <File> Image file path (absolute or relative to working directory) •... -
Page 42: Barcode Types
ESL User Manual A.7 Barcode Types The barcode type can be one of the following values: 1. UPC-A 2. UPC-E 3. UPC 2 Addon/supplemental chars 4. UPC 5 Addon/supplemental chars 5. EAN-13 6. EAN-8 7. Interleaved 2of5 8. Standard 2of5 9. -
Page 43: Format Trouble Shooting
3. Incorrectly configured field numbers: Make sure that the field numbers (Unique ID, barcode, and description) in the Setup window of the ESL server application match the field sequence of your CSV export. (Remember that field numbering starts at 0, from left to right). -
Page 44: Appendix B: Example Barcodes
ESL User Manual Appendix B: Example Barcodes The quickest way to setup an ESL demonstration is to simply use the included sample database and example templates. After installation of the software and hardware, the only configuration step necessary are configuring the IP address of the base station and the serial port of the barcode terminal in the Setup windows of the ESL server application. -
Page 45: Appendix C: Example Esl Layout Illustration
ESL User Manual Appendix C: Example ESL Layout Illustration Copyright Opticon. All rights reserved. This information is subject to change without prior notice. For availability, contact your local representative. - The Netherlands: Hoofddorp Opticon, Inc. - Japan: Warabi City - France: Issy Les Moulineaux...
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