Fargo DTC550 - Sending the Track Information

FOR RESTRICTED USE only Fargo Electronics, Inc.
DTC550 Direct to Card Printer/Encoder User Guide (Rev. 2.8)
6-61
Sending the Track Information
Magnetic track data is sent in the form of text strings from the application software to the
Printer Driver. Specific characters must be added to the magnetic data (to be encoded)
in order for the Printer Driver to differentiate between Magnetic Track data and the rest
of the printable objects. (Note: These specify the data and the tracks to encode and
mark the start and the stop of the data string.)
• Automatic: In some cases, these specific characters are automatically added to
the string of track data by ID software applications.
• Manual: In most cases, the User must manually add these characters to the string
of Magnetic Track data. (Note: If these characters are not added to the track data,
the text intended for the Magnetic Track will appear as printed text on the card.)
To avoid this, track information must be entered as described below.
Step Procedure
1 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. This is
followed by the data to be encoded.
• Start Sentinel and End Sentinel: 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). (Note: The characters or data
in between the SS and ES can include all of the valid characters
specific to each track.)
• Maximum Character Capacity: The number of these characters,
however, is limited by each track's maximum character capacity.
• Field Separator: When segmenting track data, the appropriate Field
Separator (FS) must be used. (Note: See the table below, which
displays the SS, ES, FS and the valid characters defined for each
track.)