Data Entry Forms

Data Entry Forms allow users to enter values and control label workflows. You can create custom forms directly in the Label Designer, using input fields, dropdowns, checkboxes, buttons, etc.

Forms can be used to collect values such as batch numbers, dates, quantities, or any other data that is not stored in your data source. They can also be used to select printers, choose label templates, and control the printing process.

In addition, forms can be used to prepare or generate print data using scripts — for example, by reading external sources such as Excel files or other data inputs.

Depending on your workflow, Data Entry Forms can appear automatically before printing, run independently, or be used for auxiliary tasks such as automation and data processing.

Forms used during printing

Forms used during printing are shown before Preview or Print. They are used to review or enter data before labels are generated.

How a form interacts with print data

When a form is used as part of the printing process (not standalone), it receives the current label print data. This data can come from embedded print data, the Label Print Data table (manually added or imported), data imported just before the form is shown, or, for custom forms, a Before Form Show script.

After the user enters or modifies values and continues with Preview or Print, the form updates the print data:

• If no print data records exist, the form creates a new record.
• If a single record exists, the form updates it with the entered values.
• If multiple records exist, the form can either update all records at once or process them one by one.

When the Repeat Data Entry after each print option is enabled (Label Properties → Print Data Setup → Data Entry), the form is shown for each record individually, allowing the user to review or modify values before printing.

The built-in form provides a fixed interface with a single action to continue the process, while custom forms can define multiple buttons with different behaviors.

When a form is shown

To configure when a form is shown, go to the Print Data Setup → General tab.

Use the Data Entry Form dropdown to control the form display behavior.

• Auto (show if needed). The form is shown only if print data is not already available.

  A label can receive print data from multiple sources, in the following priority order: Embedded Print Data, Import Data, and Data Entry Form. If print data is already provided by a higher-priority source, the form is not shown.

  When using the REST API, the enableUI flag must be enabled for the form to appear.

• Force (always show). The form is always shown before Preview or Print.

• Deny (never show). The form is never shown.

Common form settings

These settings apply to both built-in and custom forms used during printing.

To configure these settings, open Label Properties and go to the Print Data Setup → Data Entry tab.

• Show Print Quantity Field. Adds a field to specify the number of labels to print. For custom forms, this field is added automatically if it is not already present.

• Default Print Quantity. Sets the default number of labels to print if no Print Quantity value is provided in the print data.

• Repeat Data Entry after each print. Repeats the form for each record until canceled.

Built-in form

The built-in data entry form is used automatically when no custom form is defined in the label. It provides a simple way to enter values required for printing without creating a custom interface.

You can control which fields are displayed in the form. It can show all fields used in the label, only fields without values, or a user-defined set of fields.

The form can also include a print quantity field, allow setting a default quantity, and optionally repeat the data entry process after each print.

The built-in data entry form is shown before Preview or Print depending on the Data Entry Form setting in the label properties. It can be displayed always or only when required — for example, when some fields used in the label have no values.

The form is displayed as a simple key–value table. The set of fields depends on the label and its settings, and some fields may already contain default values defined in those settings.

Setup

To set up the form, open Label Properties and go to the Print Data Setup → Data Entry tab.

• Field Display Mode. Select which fields the form should display.

  • All fields used in the label. Displays all fields used in the label.
  • Only fields with no value. Displays fields used in the label that have no values.

  • User-defined field list. Displays only the fields defined here. You can also set default values for these fields.

    

Custom forms

Custom forms allow you to create fully tailored data entry interfaces using the Label Designer. You can add input fields, dropdowns, checkboxes, buttons, and other controls, and define how they interact with label data and scripts.

Custom forms are part of the label template and can be configured to collect input, modify print data, or trigger actions during label workflows.

Creation

Click the Add button 1, select New Data Entry Form 2, click OK, and enter a name for the form, for example "Data Entry Form".

Open Label Properties and set the Form Size if needed.

Form elements

Use standard label tools such as Text, Shapes, Barcode, Image to add non-interactive elements to the form.

Use the Form Controls tool to add interactive elements such as Input Field, Dropdown, Checkbox, Listbox, Button.

Each form element can be linked to label fields or used to trigger actions. The following example shows how to create a simple data entry form step by step.

Selecting a label template

A custom form can be used to select which label template is used for printing. If the print data contains a field named label, the program uses its value (template name or path) to determine which template is used for each record. If this field is empty, the current label template is used; otherwise, the template specified in this field is used.

To enable this:

1. Add a form control that provides a list of label templates (names or paths), for example a Dropdown, to the form.

2. On the Data Source tab of the element properties, define the list of label templates.

   

   In this example, the list is defined as static text for simplicity. It can also be dynamic and provided from sources such as a data field, a formula, or a script, depending on the Type selected for the data source.

3. Bind the form control to the label field by setting Target Data Field to label on the Form Control tab of the element properties.

   

Note: When using a dropdown, the program displays only template names, while the label field stores the full value (such as the template path).

Standalone forms

Standalone forms are custom data entry forms that are opened independently of the Preview or Print process. They can be started by using a Task with the Open Data Entry Form action or from the command line (CLI).

They can be used as focused standalone tools for collecting input, preparing print data, triggering printing, or performing other actions.

Standalone forms creation

Create a label or open an existing one. Then add a custom form to the label as described in Custom forms > Creation.

Note: The label can contain only the form — you can remove all label designs if they are not needed.

Note: You can add multiple forms to a label. When using the command line (CLI), you can control which form runs. See Command-line interface (CLI) in the Automation & Integration Guide for details.

Running standalone forms

From a Task

1. Create a task from Menu → Catalogs → Tasks, and set Task Type to Open Data Entry Form.

2. Add label(s) that contain the standalone form to the Label for Data Entry and Printing list in the task settings.

   

You can start the task when the program starts by configuring the options on the Run tab of the task settings.

You can also start the task from the Actions → Start a Task menu in the Label Print Data table.

Alternatively, you can start the task via CLI. See Command-line interface (CLI) in the Automation & Integration Guide for details.

From CLI

You can start forms via CLI. See Command-line interface (CLI) in the Automation & Integration Guide for details.

If multiple forms are available

If multiple forms (labels) are added to a task or specified via CLI, they are treated as a single set. The program shows the first form when the form is started. When running from CLI, the behavior may differ depending on the parameters used.

A Label dropdown is displayed at the top of any form in the set, allowing you to switch between forms.

Each form may use its own label print data. Forms can differ in size, elements, and behavior based on their settings.

Custom Data Entry Form creation examples

Data Entry Form creation example (before printing)

The following example shows a form that appears before Preview or Print. It includes interactive elements for entering data such as batch number, production date, which are displayed on the labels.

The form also includes an input to set the number of labels to print, and a dropdown to select the printer.

1. Create a new label. See Creating labels for details.

2. Add text elements that display data from the Production Date and Expiration Date fields.

   Add a barcode element that displays data from the Batch Number field.

   

3. Click the Add button 1, select New Data Entry Form 2, click OK, and enter a name for the form, for example "Data Entry Form".

   

4. Use the Text tool to add labels for all input elements on the form.

   

5. Add an input field for the batch number and connect it to the Batch Number data field.

   1. Use the Input Field tool and place it next to the Batch Number text.

      

   2. Connect the input field to the data field.

      1. Open Element Properties and go to the Form Control tab.
      2. Click the Target Data Field field.
      3. Select Batch Number and click OK.

      

   3. Set the default value on the Data Source tab.

      

6. Add an input field for the production date and connect it to the Production Date data field, as described for the Batch Number field.

   

   Then:

   1. Set the input mask on the Form Control tab.

      

   2. Set the default date on the Data Source tab.

      

7. Add an input field for the expiration date and connect it to the Expiration Date data field, as described for the Production Date field.

   

8. Add an input field for the print quantity and connect it to the PrintQuantity data field, as described for the Production Date field.

   

   Set the default print quantity.

   

9. Add a dropdown for printer selection using the Dropdown tool.

   

   Set the Initial Value Source to Printer List.

   

10. Add a button to continue after the form is filled using the Button tool.

    

    Set the button text to CONTINUE on the Data Source tab in the element properties.

    

    Set the Click Action to Print on the Form Control tab in the element properties.

    

11. Add a button with the text CANCEL to close the form without proceeding to Preview or Print.

    

12. Click Form Preview 1 to preview the form, or click Preview / Print 2 to test it in the full workflow.

    

Data Entry Form creation example (standalone)

A standalone form is a custom form used independently.

1. Use the example above to create the form and stop before adding the Continue button.

2. Add a Label Template text element and a dropdown for label selection using the Dropdown tool.

   

   Open Element Properties, go to the Data Source tab, and define the list of label templates:

   [PredefinedLabels]\Examples\Data Entry Forms\Test Label
   [PredefinedLabels]\Examples\Data Entry Forms\Test Label 2

   

   Connect the dropdown to the label data field.

   1. Go to the Form Control tab.
   2. Click the Target Data Field field.
   3. Select Label Location and click OK.

   

3. Add a button to print labels using the Button tool.

   

   Set the button text to PRINT on the Data Source tab in the element properties.

   

   Set the Click Action to Print on the Form Control tab in the element properties.

   

4. Add a button to preview labels in the same way as the PRINT button, but set the text to PREVIEW and the Click Action to Preview.

5. Add a button with the text CANCEL to close the form without proceeding to Preview or Print.

   

6. Click Form Preview to preview and test the form.

   

7. To run the form in production, see Running standalone forms.