Font and Format Tab
This tab combines the Font and Format tabs from the previous version. Size, style, text font and color, background color, output image format, resolution, and rotation are the parameters that we can define here for a nice looking bar code.
We have the ability to write our own expressions. For example, if we want product names starting with CA to be shown in a different bar color (say, green), we can write a simple expression for the bar color property.
=IIf((Left(Fields!ProductNumber.Value,2) = “CA”), “Green”, “Black”)
Most of the common text, date, and mathematical functions are available with expressions.
Expressions are also available for the value to encode, additional text, bar code dimensions, size, style, weight, bar color decoration, and background color.
Bar Code Symbology Information Center
This tab provides comprehensive details of the bar code symbology that we have selected. This was not available in previous versions and users had to look elsewhere for this information. This page will give us an overview of the selected symbology.
When done, we can view the report.
As these reports come in SSRS, it automatically has the features of SSRS. Exporting to other file formats like PDF or Excel is one of those important features. Imagine that we have to send a bar code to some other location. We can create a report, export it to PDF or Excel, and send it on over. Importantly, the person we send it to doesn’t need a copy of SSRS or Barcode Professional to view the report.
From a performance point of view, a bar code report will take considerable time to load. For example, when I run the above query standard data returns 504 records. To generate a report without a bar code symbology, takes around 1-2 seconds under my configuration. A report with 39 bar code symbologies takes around 48 seconds. Keep in mind that bar code image generation involves complex drawing processing. Given the fact that bar code-enabled reports are not frequently created, I believe you can bear the decrease in performance.
Apart from the help files available in CHM format, there are online demos and links to guides on the Neodynamic Web site.
Even though this review is limited to SSRS, this product is also available for ASP.Net, ASP.Net Mobile, and Windows Forms as well.