Capabilities

Output Formats

A form layout normally produces consistent results across supported targets, subject to output-format and device capabilities, available fonts and embedding permissions, and format-specific elements such as ZPL-II commands. Supported output formats include:

• Direct Printing Print directly to Windows printers through the Windows GDI printing path. On supported Linux packages, direct printer output uses CUPS when CUPS is installed and configured.

• PDF Generate PDF output with barcode and Unicode support. Fonts are embedded when their embedding permissions allow it.

• PostScript® Generate PostScript output as a file or send it to a supported printer. Linux/UNIX direct printing uses CUPS.

• HTML¹ Generate HTML output files. Some aspects of the index page and the appended footer can be customized.

• Image Formats The built-in image output supports BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, TGA, PNG and TIF formats (including multipage TIF).

• SVG Generate Scalable Vector Graphics as SVG or compressed SVGZ files.

• ZEBRA® Generate ZPL-II files directly. On Windows, ZPL-II can also be sent through an operating-system printer configured with a generic text/ASCII driver.

• ASCII Generate pure ASCII output without graphics for special-purpose requirements.

XML output is also available for diagnostic and test purposes. It describes the generated document rather than providing a visual output format. It is separate from XML data input and the TFORMer.xml configuration file.

Unicode Support

Use the string type and encoding convention of the selected interface. COM exposes BSTR, .NET exposes string, and Java exposes String through JNI. The native API provides wide and narrow string entry points on Windows and uses UTF-8 on Linux/UNIX. Output requires suitable fonts and remains subject to the selected output format's capabilities.

Barcode Support

TFORMer generates linear, 2D, and composite barcodes from document data and barcode properties configured in the form layout. TFORMer SDK does not include the separate TBarCode programming API.

Streaming

The streaming APIs return generated output to the application instead of requiring it to name an output file. Supported formats include PDF, PostScript, ZPL-II and images, including multipage TIFF.

• PDF, PostScript, ZPL-II and multipage TIFF produce one output stream per output operation.
• Image formats that produce a separate image for each page can produce several streams. Use the selected interface's multiple-stream mechanism to receive every page.

Streaming does not always eliminate temporary files. PDF and image output other than multipage TIFF can be generated without output-related temporary files. Multipage TIFF uses a temporary file internally before returning its contents through the stream; other formats may also require temporary-file access.

Reusable, Smart Form Layouts

TFORMer SDK keeps form layouts separate from data and does not bind them to particular printer models or databases. Layout properties, conditional printing, tray control, and individual computations control the output dynamically.

Cross Platform

Standard SDK packages are available for Windows x86/x64 and for the Linux distributions listed in Installation on Linux. Contact TEC-IT if you need another platform or architecture; availability is assessed on request.