In this topic we have gathered questions we often get about WLinq.

• When I read a barcode with 12 characters I would like to add a zero in the beginning of the text. How do I do it?
• How do I do to send Home, End or similar keys?
• I want to use ÅÄÖ (or other international characters) in a barcode. How do I do it?
• I would like to run two WLinq's, one for COM1 and one for COM2. How do I do it?
• In what order does things happen in WLinq?

When I read a barcode with 12 characters I would like to add a zero in the beginning of the text. How do I do it?

This description assumes you have made all settings in WLinq so you can get the 12 character code simulated in a program window.

1. Start WLinq if it isn't already running.
2. Click on the Settings button.
3. Click on the Data Editing tab.
4. Click on the Formats button.
5. Click on the Add button.
6. Enter the text Twelwe to thirteen digits in the Name edit box.
7. Enter the text "0" + Input() + "<cr>" in the Data Output Format edit box.
8. Click on the Add button.
9. Make sure Length is selected and that both Min and Max are set to 12.
10. Click on OK until the Data Editing Formats dialog box is displayed.
11. Move the Twelwe to thirteen digits format so it is placed first in the list (use the arrow buttons to the right of the list to move the selected data editing format).
12. Click on OK in all dialog boxes until the main window is displayed.
13. Test it.

How do I do to send Home, End or similar keys?

1. Find our what ASCII value the Home key is mapped to by studying the table Key Codes. We find that the Home key is mapped to the ASCII value 83 (Note! The codes in the table are given in hexadecimal notation.)
2. Start WLinq if it isn't already running.
3. Click on the Settings button in the main window.
4. Click on the Data Editing tab.
5. Click on the Formats button.
6. Select the Default format and then click on the Edit button.
7. Change the text in the Data Output Format edit box to Input() + "x83". x83 is a way of expressing a character ASCII value in hexadecimal instead of writing the actual character. The character A can for example be written as x41. When you write codes like these in the Data Output Format edit box they have to be quoted.
8. Click on OK in all dialog boxes until the main window is displayed.
9. Test it. Note that the Home key is simulated after each data string.

I want to use ÅÄÖ (or other international characters) in a barcode. How do I do it?

Mostly, international characters can't be encoded in barcodes. Thus you have to use other characters to represent them and convert them to the correct character in WLinq. An old standard for encoding the Swedish characters åäö ÅÄÖ is to use the characters }{| ][. The characters }{| ][ can the encoded in the bar code type Code 128. The example below show how you can get WLinq to generate the character å when the character } is received:

1. Start WLinq if it isn't already running.
2. Click on the Settings button in the main window.
3. Click on the Keyboard tab.
4. Click on the Character Translation button.
5. Browse down in the list until you see the character } (ASCII value 125).
6. Select the line for the character }.
7. Click on the Edit button.
8. Click in the Scan Code Tester edit box.
9. Press the key on the keyboard that generates the character å (requires a Swedish keyboard).
10. The text dec 221 hex 0xdd is displayed in the Scan Code Tester edit box. This means that Windows internally represents the å key with the value 221. Note! This is NOT the ASCII value for the character å. It is the keyboard scan code. On an english keyboard the same key generates the [ character.
11. Write 221 in the Key Code edit box.
12. Make sure that the check boxes Active and Affected by Caps Lock are the only ones checked.
13. Click on OK until the main window is displayed.
14. Test by reading a barcode containing the } character.

What we've done above is to tell WLinq that whenever the } character is received it should be simulated by pressing the key with the keyboard scan code 221. The key with the code 221 generates the å character assuming a Swedish keyboard driver is used in Windows.

I would like to run two WLinq's, one for COM1 and one for COM2. How do I do it?

WLinq works with what we call profiles. A profile can be given a name and contains all settings you specify in the Settings dialog box. The settings are com port, the port's speed, string replacement, data editing formats and so on. Sometimes you want to use a barcode reader on one com port and some other serial equipment on another port.

A common mistake many users do when they want to use more than one profile/com port is to install WLinq several times. That won't work. Do like this:

1. Create a new profile, give it a name, for example Scanner.
   

2. Click on the Settings button, select all your settings and then click on OK in the Settings dialog box.

3. Make sure the profile Scanner is selected, start the Notepad program and test that the profile is working as intended.

4. Back in the main window of WLinq, create a new profile and give it a new name, for example Scanner2. Click on the Settings button, select the settings for this profile. At least you must select a different com port or the two profiles will have a port collision.

5. Test the profile Scanner2.

6. Now you want both profiles active at the same time and WLinq to be started when Windows is started.

7. Use the Explorer to navigate to the folder where you installed WLinq (usually C:Program FilesWLinq). Find and right-click on the file WLinq.exe. Select the Copy command on the menu that is displayed.

8. Use the Explorer to navigate to the Startup folder. Right-click on the Startup folder and select the Paste Shortcut command on the menu. Repeat this so you get two shortcuts.

9. Right-click on the first shortcut, select the Properties command. Click on the second tab (Shortcut) in the dialog box that is displayed. The first edit box contains the text "C:Program FilesWLinqWLinq.exe" (may be different depending on where you installed WLinq and the language of Windows). Change the text to be "C:Program FilesWLinqWLinq.exe" Scanner. This means that WLinq will be started and the profile Scanner will be activated.

10. Repeat the previous step but use Scanner2 instead. The actual name of the shortcuts are irrelevant. You might want to give them more useful names, for example WLinq, scanner on COM1 and WLinq, scanner on COM2.

11. Restart Windows and check that two instances of WLinq are started automatically. Also check that WLinq isn't displaying an error message about a com port being busy. Test and see if both profiles work together.

In what order does things happen in WLinq?

When WLinq receives a data string a lot of checks, replacements and conversions occur. Many users are interested in understanding the inner workings of WLinq.

Step 1 - Receive the data string from the serial port

How this is done depends on what type of Data String Termination has been selected:

Character: WLinq buffers received characters until the specified termination character is received. The default termination character is CR (ASCII 13). When WLinq receives the termination character, WLinq moves to the next step.

Timeout: WLinq buffers received characters until the serial port has been quiet for the specified period. WLinq will then treat the so far received characters as the data string and move on to the next step.

Step 2 - Conversion to uppercase/lowercase

In this step letters are converted to uppercase or lowercase according to the setting Case Setting. Note! Only A-Z and a-z are affected by those conversions.

Step 3 - String replacement

In this step string replacements are done. A string replacement consist of one or more characters that should be matched and zero or more character the matched string should be replaced with. You can have several string replacements. They are processed in the order in which they appear in the Input Data Replacements dialog box. The top-most replacement is processed first.

Step 4 - Matching the data edit format

In this step WLinq will try to find a data edit format that matches the input string. The formats are processed, beginning with the top-most one, in the order in which they appear in the Data Editing Formats dialog box. When a format is matched WLinq moves to the next step. Only one format can be matched.

Step 5 - Translation and simulation of key presses

Up to this point all data and expressions are ASCII text. In this step WLinq parses the matched data edit format's output format. Functions as Left, Mid, and Right are processed to extract parts of the data string. Please note that the string that were originally received may have been changed by operations in Step 2 & 3. This step works on the result from those operations.

Text that are to be output has to be converted from ASCII characters to key presses. The translation is done via the table Character Translation. In the table you can customize what key an ASCII character should be translated into.

If you've specified one or more window titles in the dialog box Lock Output Window, WLinq will check if the active window's title matches any of the titles before generating key presses.