Dgarratt: Updated by push_wiki.py

2026-10-15T09:08:28Z

Updated by push_wiki.py

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	[[AutoLab4j]] prints the same template files with the same placeholders and the same [[Label Function Syntax\|functions]], but it is not connected to the database. Its values come from the dataset CSV file that Commander4j writes when a process order is assigned to a line, and the field names are the column headings of that file. The list is on [[AutoLab4j Dataset CSV]]. The <code>^format</code> suffix described above is not applied by AutoLab4j, so dates and numbers are printed exactly as they appear in the CSV.		[[AutoLab4j]] prints the same template files with the same placeholders and the same [[Label Function Syntax\|functions]], but it is not connected to the database. Its values come from the dataset CSV file that Commander4j writes when a process order is assigned to a line, and the field names are the column headings of that file. The list is on [[AutoLab4j Dataset CSV]]. The <code>^format</code> suffix described above is not applied by AutoLab4j, so dates and numbers are printed exactly as they appear in the CSV.

	[[LabelServer4j]] ~~does~~ not ~~use these~~ template ~~files~~. ~~It drives Logopak and similar labellers with its own~~ command scripts~~, which share~~ the same ~~family~~ of functions~~; see~~ [[LabelServer4j Operation]].		[[LabelServer4j]] keeps its own copy of the label files, in its own folders, one set per site. They are not shared with the Commander4j <code>labels</code> folder, so a change made to a Commander4j template has to be repeated in the LabelServer4j copy. Its command scripts can carry the same printer commands, but a value is written as <code>$data_NAME</code>, where NAME is a column of the dataset CSV, and formatted with functions such as <code>SUBSTRING</code>, <code>REPLACE</code> and <code>EXTRACT_DATE</code>. See [[LabelServer4j Operation]] and [[LabelServer4j Dataset CSV]].

	== Barcode variables ==		== Barcode variables ==

Dgarratt: Updated by push_wiki.py

2026-10-15T09:03:33Z

Updated by push_wiki.py

New page

'''Label Fields''' lists every value you can place on a label template. This is the page to open when you want to add something to a label and need to know what it is called.

A value is placed on the label by writing its name between <code><nowiki><*</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>*></nowiki></code>. When the label is printed, Commander4j replaces the placeholder with the real value for that pallet or case.

^FD<*DESCRIPTION*>^FS

prints the product description. Names are written in capitals exactly as listed below. See [[Label Template Syntax]] for how a whole template is put together and [[Label Function Syntax]] for ways to format a value before it is printed.

Which names are available depends on which screen prints the label, because each screen reads a different set of data. The tables below are split the same way. If a name is used that is not available, the label prints the name followed by '''not found!''' in its place, so a mistake is visible on paper rather than silent.

== Pallet labels ==

These fields are available on labels printed from the [[Pallet Label]] screen and from the other pallet screens that can print a label: [[Production Declaration]], [[Pallet Issue]], [[Pallet Return]], [[Split Pallet]] and the pallet label re-print dialog. The values are read from the pallet record together with its material, batch and customer.

{| class="wikitable"
! Field !! Type !! What it prints
|-
| SSCC || text || The 18-digit pallet number.
|-
| MATERIAL || text || Product code.
|-
| DESCRIPTION || text || Product description from [[Materials]].
|-
| OLD_MATERIAL || text || The previous product code held on the material, if you use one.
|-
| EAN || text || GTIN of the unit on the pallet. Usually wrapped in PADLEFT to make it 14 digits: <code><nowiki><PADLEFT(<*EAN*>,14,0)></nowiki></code>
|-
| VARIANT || text || GS1 variant of the unit on the pallet, usually padded to 2 digits.
|-
| QUANTITY || number || Number of units on the pallet. Printed as a whole number padded to 4 digits unless a format is given, for example <code><nowiki><*QUANTITY^0*></nowiki></code> for no padding.
|-
| UOM || text || Unit of measure for QUANTITY.
|-
| LAYERS || number || Number of layers on the pallet.
|-
| BATCH_NUMBER || text || Batch or lot number.
|-
| PROCESS_ORDER || text || Process order number.
|-
| REQUIRED_RESOURCE || text || Production line or resource from the process order.
|-
| DATE_OF_MANUFACTURE || date || Date of manufacture. Prefer the [[Label Function Syntax#PRODDATE|PRODDATE]] function, which formats it for you.
|-
| EXPIRY_DATE || date || Expiry date held against the batch. Prefer the [[Label Function Syntax#EXPIRYDATE|EXPIRYDATE]] function, which picks the batch or pallet date according to the '''EXPIRY DATE MODE''' setting.
|-
| SSCC_EXPIRY_DATE || date || Expiry date held against the pallet. Only populated when EXPIRY DATE MODE is SSCC.
|-
| DATE_CREATED || date and time || When the pallet record was created. Prefer the [[Label Function Syntax#DATE_CREATED|DATE_CREATED]] function.
|-
| DATE_UPDATED || date and time || When the pallet record was last changed.
|-
| CREATED_BY_USER_ID, UPDATED_BY_USER_ID || text || Who created or last changed the pallet record.
|-
| CUSTOMER_ID || text || Customer code from the process order.
|-
| CUSTOMER_NAME || text || Customer name from [[Customers]].
|-
| PRINT_ON_LABEL || text || The customer's print-on-label flag from [[Customers]].
|-
| LOCATION_ID || text || Where the pallet currently is.
|-
| STATUS || text || Pallet status.
|-
| CONFIRMED || text || Y once the pallet has been confirmed, otherwise N.
|-
| DESPATCH_NO || text || Despatch number, blank until the pallet is despatched.
|-
| MHN_NUMBER, DECISION || text || Master hold notice number and quality decision, if the pallet is on hold.
|-
| EQUIPMENT_TYPE || text || The pallet or equipment type.
|-
| GROSS_WEIGHT, NET_WEIGHT, WEIGHT_UOM || number, number, text || Weights held on the material record. For the total pallet weight use the [[Label Function Syntax#PALLET_WEIGHT_TEXT|PALLET_WEIGHT_TEXT]] function.
|-
| PART_NO || text || The customer's part number for this material, from [[Customer Data]].
|-
| CASE_CONTENT || text || Free text describing the case contents, from [[Customer Data]].
|-
| ALT_TEXT_1 || text || Spare free text for this material and customer, from [[Customer Data]].
|-
| BASE_EAN, BASE_VARIANT || text || GTIN and variant of the base unit of the material.
|-
| BASE_UOM || text || The base unit of measure.
|-
| BASE_QUANTITY || number || Pallet quantity converted into base units.
|}

== Case and tray labels ==

These fields are available on labels printed from the [[Case Label]] screen. Note that several names differ from the pallet list: the GTIN is '''PROD_EAN''' here rather than EAN, the description is '''MATERIAL_DESCRIPTION''', and there is no SSCC or LAYERS. A pallet template used as a case label prints "not found!" for those.

{| class="wikitable"
! Field !! Type !! What it prints
|-
| UNIQUE_ID || text || Internal identifier for this print request.
|-
| MATERIAL || text || Product code.
|-
| MATERIAL_DESCRIPTION || text || Product description.
|-
| MATERIAL_TYPE || text || Material type code.
|-
| PROD_EAN, PROD_VARIANT || text || GTIN and variant of the unit being labelled.
|-
| PROD_QUANTITY || number || Quantity being labelled.
|-
| PROD_UOM || text || Unit of measure for PROD_QUANTITY.
|-
| BASE_EAN, BASE_VARIANT, BASE_QUANTITY, BASE_UOM || mixed || The same values for the base unit.
|-
| BATCH_NUMBER || text || Batch number as printed.
|-
| BATCH_PREFIX, BATCH_SUFFIX || text || The parts added to the batch number, when used.
|-
| OVERRIDE_BATCH_PREFIX, OVERRIDE_MANUFACTURE_DATE, OVERRIDE_EXPIRY_DATE || text || Y when the operator overrode the default, otherwise N.
|-
| PROCESS_ORDER || text || Process order number.
|-
| REQUIRED_RESOURCE || text || Production line or resource.
|-
| LINE || text || The production line chosen on the screen.
|-
| LOCATION_ID || text || Location from the process order.
|-
| DATE_OF_MANUFACTURE || date || Date of manufacture. Add a format, for example <code><nowiki><*DATE_OF_MANUFACTURE^dd/MM/yyyy*></nowiki></code>.
|-
| EXPIRY_DATE || date || Expiry date. Add a format in the same way.
|-
| EXPIRY_MODE || text || BATCH or SSCC.
|-
| CUSTOMER_ID, CUSTOMER_NAME || text || Customer code and name.
|-
| PART_NO, ALT_TEXT_1 || text || Customer-specific text from [[Customer Data]].
|-
| LABEL_TYPE || text || Pack or Pallet.
|-
| MODULE_ID || text || The report module that produced the label.
|-
| PRINT_DATE || date and time || When the label was requested.
|-
| PRINT_COPIES || number || Number of copies requested.
|-
| PRINT_QUEUE_NAME || text || The queue or printer chosen.
|-
| USER_ID, WORKSTATION_ID || text || Who printed it and from which PC.
|}

Labels printed by the [[Quality Control Sample]] screen use their own, smaller set of fields and are not covered here.

== Fields that are always available ==

These are added by Commander4j for every label template, whichever screen prints it.

{| class="wikitable"
! Field !! What it prints
|-
| LABEL_NO || The copy number, 1 for the first label of a pallet, 2 for the second and so on. The standard label prints it as L1, L2.
|-
| HEADER_COMMENT || The text of the '''LABEL_HEADER_COMMENT''' system key, but only when the header text tick box on the printing screen is ticked. It is ticked by default. Otherwise blank.
|-
| PLANT || The '''PLANT''' system key.
|-
| EXPIRY_DATE_MODE || The '''EXPIRY DATE MODE''' system key, BATCH or SSCC.
|-
| ZPL_LABEL_COUNT || The number of copies requested, for use with the ZPL <code>^PQ</code> command. See the DEFINE BARCODE COUNT_MODE note in [[Label Template Syntax]].
|}

Values that are not fields but are useful on a label, such as the current user, the date and time of printing, and the Commander4j version, come from [[Label Function Syntax|functions]]: <code><nowiki><USERNAME()></nowiki></code>, <code><nowiki><TIMESTAMP(dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm)></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki><VERSION()></nowiki></code>.

== Formatting a value ==

A format can follow the field name after a <code>^</code> character. It applies to dates, times and numbers only, and is ignored for text.

{| class="wikitable"
! Example !! Prints
|-
| <code><nowiki><*DATE_OF_MANUFACTURE*></nowiki></code> || 2026-03-01 (the default date format is yyyy-MM-dd)
|-
| <code><nowiki><*DATE_OF_MANUFACTURE^dd/MM/yyyy*></nowiki></code> || 01/03/2026
|-
| <code><nowiki><*PRINT_DATE^HH:mm*></nowiki></code> || 16:46
|-
| <code><nowiki><*QUANTITY*></nowiki></code> || 0224 (the default number format is 0000)
|-
| <code><nowiki><*QUANTITY^0*></nowiki></code> || 224
|-
| <code><nowiki><*QUANTITY^000000*></nowiki></code> || 000224
|}

Date formats use the Java pattern letters: dd day, MM month, yy or yyyy year, HH hour, mm minute, ss second. Number formats use 0 for a digit that is always printed and # for a digit that is printed only when needed.

Two things to be aware of:

* Round brackets in a text value are printed as curly braces, so a description of <code>Widget (Blue)</code> appears as <code>Widget {Blue}</code>. This protects the function syntax, which uses round brackets.
* If a date format is invalid the label prints the field name and an error message in place of the date.

== AutoLab4j ==

[[AutoLab4j]] prints the same template files with the same placeholders and the same [[Label Function Syntax|functions]], but it is not connected to the database. Its values come from the dataset CSV file that Commander4j writes when a process order is assigned to a line, and the field names are the column headings of that file. The list is on [[AutoLab4j Dataset CSV]]. The <code>^format</code> suffix described above is not applied by AutoLab4j, so dates and numbers are printed exactly as they appear in the CSV.

[[LabelServer4j]] does not use these template files. It drives Logopak and similar labellers with its own command scripts, which share the same family of functions; see [[LabelServer4j Operation]].

== Barcode variables ==

A name defined with '''DEFINE BARCODE''' at the top of the template can also be used as a field. In the standard label, <code><nowiki><*BARCODE1*></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki><*BARCODE2*></nowiki></code> are the two GS1-128 barcodes with their code-set switching already worked out. This is explained in [[Label Template Syntax]].

== For database administrators ==

The pallet fields are the columns of the database view '''VIEW_PALLET_EXPIRY''' and the case fields are the columns of '''VIEW_LABEL_DATA'''. The columns are the same on MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. A site that needs an extra value on its labels can have these views extended, but the change is overwritten by upgrades, so talk to support first.

== See also ==

* [[Label Layouts]]
* [[Changing a Label]]
* [[Label Template Syntax]]
* [[Label Function Syntax]]

[[Category:Commander4j]]
[[Category:AutoLab4j]]

Label Fields - Revision history

Dgarratt: Updated by push_wiki.py

Dgarratt: Updated by push_wiki.py