User`s guide

Parameterising the Windows Driver
When first installing the Windows driver, it is necessary to parameterise the functions of the magnetic enco-
der. The functions of the magnetic encoder are accessible from the Tools dialog box of the driver by clicking
the Encoding Definition button.
“Magnetic Encoder” dialog box
The Magnetic Encoder dialog box opens on selecting the
Encoding Definition button.
Track format allows us to choose the ISO standard required
for each track. See the table in this Annexe for the infor-
mation concerning the ISO 7811 standards.
Coercivity parameterises the magnetic encoder in high
(HICO) or low (LOCO) coercivity. A magnetic track encoded
in high coercivity is more resistant to exterior disturbances
than a magnetic track encoded in low coercivity.
Direct encoding allows the direct encoding of one or more
magnetic tracks from this window simply by selecting them and entering the data to be encoded. Click on
the « Execute encoding » button to start the encoding cycle.
Automatic extraction allows cards with magnetic tracks to be encoded from Windows applications (such as
Word for example). A text field surrounded by the characters ”|” and ”|” (or another character to be defi-
ned by the user) may be interpreted as an encoding command by the driver.
Only use cards with magnetic tracks conform to ISO 7810 and ISO 7811.
To work properly, the magnetic track must be moulded in the card. Never use a card with a
glued magnetic track.
Cleaning of the magnetic encoder
The head of a magnetic encoder needs regular cleaning to be able to assure the integrity of the data encoded in the cards.
The magnetic encoder is cleaned when the printer is the object of a cleaning sequence with the pre-saturated cards (refer to the
“Cleaning” chapter in this manual for fur
ther infor
mation).
Repeated passes of the cleaning car
d inside the printer clean the car
d transpor
t r
ollers, the cleaning r
oller and the reading / wri-
ting head of the magnetic encoder
.
If between two printer cleaning sessions (ever
y 1000 car
ds inser
ted), the r
eading / writing pr
ocess has failed with mor
e than one
card, it is recommended to manually start a printer cleaning process (refer to the « Cleaning » chapter of this manual for the pro-
cedur
e to be followed).
ISO 7811 encoding standards
Track no. Field separator Track density Types of characters Number of characters
track 1 ^ 210 bpi
1
Alphanumerical (ASCII 20- 95)
2
79
3
track 2
= 75 bpi
1
Numerical (ASCII 48-62)
2
40
3
track 3 = 210 bpi
1
Numerical (ASCII 78-62)
2
107
3
1
Bit(s) per inch
2
Except the “?” character
3
Including the Start, Stop and LRC characters. These characters are generated automatically by the magnetic encoder.
38