Introduction

This document describes how you can troubleshoot label printing problems with E-WMS and when using BarTender without BarTender Commander or BarTender Integrations (=E-WMS BarTender 'client' method).  For troubleshooting label printing using BarTender and BarTender Commander or BarTender Integrations ('server' method), please see this document.

Description

These are the steps performed in sequence, when printing labels directly from an E-WMS Control Center or from a RF service, when using the 'client' method.

1. E-WMS: checks for labels to be printed and reads the label configuration

   1. Check if the expected label is configured and 'active' in menu System, E-WMS, Labels

   2. Run SQL Profiler during the process step that should start label printing and check if 'csPickitBTLabels' is accessed, you can re-run the query in Query Analyzer to check for results.
       
       
      

2. E-WMS: checks if the configured view results in records

   1. Run SQL Profiler during the process step that should start label printing and check if the configured view is accessed: E-WMS selects from the view to check for results, before starting label printing

   2. check the view in SQL Query Analyzer for the expected results (same parameters as used in profiler)
       
       
      

3. BarTender: E-WMS calls Bartender (using ActiveX), changing the BT data source to 'select * from <viewname> where <conditions>'

   1. Is BarTender installed on the workstation where the E-WMS process was started (for services, this is the WMS services PC or server) ?

   2. Check the Windows application event log for errors by Bartender

   3. Does SQL Profiler show the application Bartender accessing the configured view?
      If not, then either the view returns no data (and E-WMS does not start BT), or BT could not be started (could be security/installation issue)
       
       
      

4. BarTender: opens the layout and reads the data

   1. Can BT access the configured layout file (check shared folder, drive mapping may not be available to administrator login)

   2. You can enable the 'Save' option in the E-WMS label configuration;
      if the modification date of the 'btw' layout file has changed after 'printing', then E-WMS did start BarTender successfully, and BarTender opened and saved the label.

   3. Can the configured BT data connection user access the used view? If using the WMS services and a trusted SQL connection in the label, this is the service account.

   4. Can the layout be opened and printed manually in BT?

      • verify use the same account as would be used in the regular process

      • is the correct SQL server and database used in the layout ? WMS only changes the data source (view), not the database.

      • verify using the same printer as configured in the WMS label configuration
        
         
        

5. BarTender: prints the layout

   1. Is the Seagull License Server running?

      • Can the Seagull License Server be reached from BT (firewall, configured ports in BT and in the License server) ?

      • Does the Seagull License Server console show error or license messages?

   2. Does the label use the right printer?

      • Was there a specific printer used in the E-WMS label configuration?

      • Is the used printer (driver) installed on the PC where the label was printed?

      • Can you print the layout manually from BT, using the same printer?

      • Using a PDF printer (for test environment) sometimes shows problems caused by the PDF engine. Try a 'real printer', or another image/file printer.

   3. Check if the provided data for the label can be validated properly in the label;
      for instance when you print a GS1-128 barcode and the item ID ('02', GTIN) is too short, this field will fail validation on length in BT, preventing printing.
      This problem may cause some labels to be printed, and others not.

   4. Check the BarTender History Explorer for BT messages
      (requires specific BT components and the BarTender database to be installed from the BT suite)

Related documents

• Troubleshooting label printing when using BarTender Commander or BarTender Integrations
• Configuration of BarTender Commander for E-WMS labels
• Configuration of BarTender Integration Builder for E-WMS labels
• BarTender integration: two techniques
• How to create BarTender layouts based on a text file data source
• Maintenance of WMS labels
• Product Update 409: Use BarTender Commander for all E-WMS labels
• Using Microsoft Process Monitor to trace file-, rights- or registry related problems
   
  
• E-WMS start page