M-Designer v8 Release Notes

Customization

How to change the logo on the splash screen?

Create a 24-bit bitmap image with 424px as the width and 220px as the height
Save the image to the hard drive on the computer where M-Designer is installed
Add a key to the Windows registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mapping\M-Designer\Settings with PathLogo as key-name and the image's absolute path as value

e.g. "PathLogo"="C:\\Users\\james\\Documents\\M-Designer_splashscreen.bmp"

How to rename a barcode's displayed name?

Locate the styles directory ("M-Designer App directory > Styles" by default)
Open the XML style file in a text editor e.g. Notepad++
Locate the <barcodes> tag
Locate the barcode you want to rename
Edit the attribute name, save the file, and restart M-Designer to apply the changes

e.g. "<barcode type="EAN13" name="New Product Code"/>

Supported Barcodes

Type	ID used in Style definition
EAN 13	EAN13
EAN 8	EAN8
Code 39	CODE39
Code 39 without checkdigit	CODE39NOCHECK
Code 128 alpha Optimised	CODE128ALPHAOPT
Code 128 alpha non Optimised	CODE128ALPHA
Code 128 numeric	CODE128NUM
Interleaved 2 of 5	INTERLEAVED25
Interleaved 2 of 5 without checkdigit	INTERLEAVED25NOCHECK
Industrial 2 of 5	INDUSTRIAL25
Industrial 2 of 5 without checkdigit	INDUSTRIAL25NOCHECK
EAN 128 alpha optimised	EAN128ALPHAOPT
EAN 128 alpha non optimised	EAN128ALPHA
EAN 128 numeric	EAN128NUM
UPC-A	UPCA
UPC-E	UPCE
MSI modulo 10	MSIMOD10
MSI 2 modulos 10	MSI2MOD10
MSI modulo 11	MSIMOD11
MSI mod. 10 et mod. 11	MSIMOD10MOD11
MSI without checkdigit	MSINOCHECK
UCC / EAN 128	UCCEAN128
Codabar(NW7)	NW7
Postnet	POSTNET
Planet	PLANET
Japan Postal	JAPANPOST
USPS	USPS
PDF417 (2D)	PDF417
QRCode (2D)	QRCODE
Datamatrix (2D)	DATAMATRIX
MaxiCode (2D)	MAXICODE

New Features

Unlink, Unlink Spool and Link functions

Unlink

New "Unlink" function on the right-click menu of fixed zones and groups. This function deletes data recovery information in the input file (row, column and length for text files and input field name for XML type inputs).

Unlink Spool

Calls the unlink function on all objects and removes the entry file from the project. This function allows prepares a project to serve as a template.

Link

Now it is possible to assign new data recovery information by simply dragging and dropping the input file to the Zone or Group by holding the Ctrl key while dragging. An orange border around the Zone indicates that you can assign the selected data to the Zone under the mouse. Note that if the Ctrl key is not pressed, then a '+' icon appears next to the mouse and a new Zone will be created under the mouse. This function also exists from the input file to the Object List view.

Visualization

Zones and Groups having no data recovery information is now shown in the Design View and in the list of objects by an icon.

Barcode adapted to the traced area

New "Fit the Area" option when designing barcodes. The barcode will automatically adapt its size to the specified area.

Barcode fonts no longer installed on the system

Now it is no longer necessary to install the barcode fonts on the system. The fonts are installed in the "Barcodes" folder in M-Designer's installation directory and are automatically used by the application for barcode preview and generation. Therefore, these fonts no longer appear in the list of available fonts.

New "Style" option limits fonts, barcodes and colors available in the project

A new option has been added to the project properties which loads a style file. The style currently limits the fonts, barcode types and colors used by the project. A style is a XML file such as this:

By default, the styles are in M-Designer's "Styles" folder (can be changed in the registry in "PathStyles" in the "M-Designer\Settings" entry). In the application Preferences, you can now select a default style that will be used for all new projects.

Opening multiple projects / components / variable elements

Added the ability to open multiple projects, components or variables elements simultaneously.
Available since version 7.2.

Better viewing of selected items

To better understand and view selected objects, each selected object is now covered with a transparent blue color.
Available since version 7.2.

Simplified Properties window

The formerly grayed out settings are now invisible . The visible parameters are also filtered based on Zone type and sub-type. For example, font settings are no longer available for METADATA Zones.
Available since version 7.2.

Moving the spool view on linked area

When selecting a linked zone or Group, the spool view is automatically positioned on the position of the data retrieved by the selected object.
Available since version 7.2.

Improved performance on opening large spool files

Improved code for the opening of text-input file, allows rapid opening of large text files.
Available since version 7.2.

Preview text before/after for page number zone

Shows printed text before/after zone objects of type "Tools > Page Number" in preview mode
Available since version 7.2 for XPS projects only.

Tooltip on objects

Shows the objects's name and comments in a tooltip appearing when the mouse hovers over the design area or the object's list view.

Add text comments to object

New field to map object properties allows you to type a longer description.
Available since version 7.2.

Improvements

Consistent vertical text position

Vertical position in design mode is now consistent with the position shown in preview mode. The text is aligned to the bottom of the zone in both modes.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Reset rectangle selection once data is dropped

Once the selected data is dropped onto a zone of the conception-view, the rectangle selection of the spool-view is resets. It allows you to select a new data area and drag and drop it quickly to the conception-view.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Uncluttered workspace

Lighten the workspace and put on the screen a few views and panels to make easy the first grip.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Release the selection

When the spool data is dropped onto the conception-view, the rectangle selection is now released. That allows you to trace new selections more easily.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Style tools specific to project

The tools button included into the "Style" ribbon's group are now specific to the project. When you change the pen color, fill color or pen size, the new value will be applied only to the active document and will have not any consequence on the settings of all other opened documents.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Duplicate tool updates objects list

Once the duplicate tool has performed a copy of the selected objects, the list objects is then updated to show the duplicated objects.
Functionality available since version 7.2.

Other improvements

Zoom into the conception-view with Ctrl+Mousewheel
Fix the cut feature (available since version 7.2)
Simpler object filling options into the properties, and into the Styles button ribbon (available since version 7.2)
Colors are always rendered into the properties next to the hex value
Mousewheel scrolls the Object List View
Load a spool even if the Spool-view is hidden
Increase the range of values for the line weight ribbon button

Compatibility

Templates generated with a previous version of M-Designer are compatible with M-Designer 8.0 and higher
Templates generated with M-Designer 8.0 are not compatible with any previous version. In other words, you cannot work with M-Designer 8.0 templates in M-Designer 7.2