Using the ABarcode ActiveX control for barcodes

ABarcode Activex can be used in any ActiveX-enabled container, but the way to insert an ActiveX control depends on such container, and its name may vary too: Component, Control, Object, COM, ActiveX.

Below are some examples of using our ActiveX control. For applications not listed here, search your application's help file for information on how to use ActiveX controls.
Click here to see how to include ABarcode ActiveX in your .NET applications.

Access

You can use the ABarcode ActiveX control in Access forms and reports, with fixed data or linking the bar code to a database field or a formula.

With your form or report in design mode, choose Insert - ActiveX Control, then select ABarcodeX.Barcode from the list of available controls, and press OK. After this right click on the control and choose Properties to adjust the control properties.
For Access 2007 and 2010, you can find the Insert ActiveX Control under Controls in the Design tab at Form/Report Design Tools.

To link the bar code to a data source, select the field -o enter the formula- in the Control Source property. The rest of properties are explained in a separate chapter since they are common for all the applications.

Excel

To insert an ActiveX control (not only ABarcode) into an Excel spreadsheet, you must first make visible the Controls toolbox choosing View - Toolbars - Control Toolbox.

For Office 2007 and 2010, there is no Control Toolbox but the Developer tab in the Office Ribbon, where you will find the Insert - More Controls button:
- Office 2007: click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options. Click Popular in the Categories pane, and then select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box.
- Office 2010: click the File tab, and then click Options. In the categories pane, click Customize Ribbon and then select Developer in the list of main tabs.

In the tool box -Developer tab for Office 2007/2010- click the Insert More controls button and select ABarcodeX.Barcode. Then click and drag an area for the control to appear in the spreadsheet and size it as necessary. To change the properties of the control, right click on it and choose Properties.

To link a cell to the data you want to barcode, enter the cell address in the LinkedCell property of the control.

When you are finished, you may exit design mode by choosing the design mode button . Note that you must be in design mode to edit the properties of a control.

ABarcode Wizard for Excel

The ABarcode Wizard is the easiest way to insert bar codes in your Excel spreadsheets. If you do not see the ABarcode button in the toolbar (Add-ins tab for Office 2007 and 2010), choose Tools - Add-Ins and search for ABarcodeWizard.xla in the ABarcode installation folder.

Press the ABarCode button to open the wizard (Add-ins tab for Office 2007 and 2010). Click the barcode image to change its properties.

Insert Barcode: click to insert a copy of the barcode in the current worksheet position.

Selection to Barcode: this button will insert a barcode for each selected cell.
Use Static to create fixed images that will be stored with in your Excel file, so anyone will be able to view and print it, even without ABarcode installed in their machines.
Use Dynamic to insert ActiveX controls linked to the cells, so the barcode will change when the cell content changes. Other users can not see the barcode unless they also have ABarcode installed in their machines.
NOTE: we recommend the Static option for a big number of barcodes in a spreadsheet, since Dynamic ones are high CPU time and memory consumers.

Delete cell text is obviously enabled only for static barcodes. The cell will be erased when the image has been created.
Select Resize cell height to automatically adjust the row height to the same height of the barcodes.
Use the Offset by columns/rows to tell the wizard where do you want the barcodes to be placed. In the example, a barcode for the cell A1 will be placed at B1, barcode for A2 at B2, and so on.

The Remove ALL Barcodes button will remove all the barcode images/controls in your worksheet. Note that deleted cell texts will not be recovered.

Word

To insert an ActiveX control (not only ABarcode) into a Word document,  you must first make visible the Controls toolbox choosing View - Toolbars - Control Toolbox.

For Office 2007 and 2010, there is no Control Toolbox but the Developer tab in the Office Ribbon, where you will find the Insert - More Controls button:
- Office 2007: click the Microsoft Office Button, then click Excel Options. Click Popular in the Categories pane, then select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box.
- Office 2010: click the File tab, and then click Options. In the categories pane, click Customize Ribbon and then select Developer in the list of main tabs.

In the tool box -Developer tab for Office 2007/2010- press the more controls button and select ABarcodeX.Barcode. The control will appear in the document with a default size. After this, you may size it as necessary. To change the properties of the control, right click on it and choose Properties.
When you are finished, you may exit design mode by choosing the design mode button . Note that you must be in design mode to edit the properties of a control.

ABarcode Wizard for Word

Although ActiveX controls can not be linked to mail-merge fields, but the ABarcode Wizard may easily convert mail-merge fields into barcode images.  If you do not see the ABarcode button in the toolbar, choose Tools - Add-Ins and search for ABarcodeWizard.dot in the ABarcode installation folder.
Press the ABarCode button to open the wizard (Add-ins tab for Office 2007 and 2010). Click the barcode image to change its properties.

Insert this barcode: click to insert a copy of the barcode in the current document position.

Barcode selected text: select the text you want to barcode in your document, then press this button.

Barcode any <> enclosed text: the wizard will search your entire document for pieces of text enclosed between brackets (<>) and convert into barcodes. This way you may barcode a mail-merge document, just enclosing the field you want to barcode between a <> pair.
When you merge the data, no text but merge data is found in the document. You must Merge to new document -click Edit individual letters/labels in the Mail Merge Wizard- then use the new document.

The Remove ALL Barcodes button will remove all the barcode images in your document. First the wizard will ask you if you want to restore the replaced texts. Anyway we would recommend to ever save a copy of your document before you barcode it.

Visual Basic 6

In Visual Basic, choose Project - Components from the menu, then select ABarcode ActiveX Control. The control should appear in the toolbox for you to add to your forms, set its properties in design time or runtime, and use the available methods.

In order to distribute the ABarcode ActiveX control with your applications to users without a license, you must have a developer license.