Code Snippet: How Can I Create a Timestamp for a Unique Package ID?

Code Snippet: How Can I Create a Timestamp for a Unique Package ID?

Using timestamps is a workaround if you cannot use persistant serial fields. The following expression creates a 12-digit alphanumeric timestamp for a unique package ID (incremented with each print job).

CStr(Chr(65 + Year(Now()) % 26)) +
CStr(Chr(65 + CLng(Format(Now(), "MM")) - 1)) +
CStr(Chr(47 + CLng (IIF (Day(Now()) >10, 7, 0)) + Day(Now()))) +
CStr(Chr(65 + Hour(Now()))) +
Format(Now(), "mmss") +
Format(PrintedItems, "0000")

• Converts year, month, hour to A-Z to save space.
• Converts day to A-Z, 0..7
• Includes the actual label copy as a 4 digit counter

Put this expressions into a calculated field like clPackageID (data type Text). If you use individual label copies calculate it per Record Copy.

8 Digit Version

With 8 digits, we can remove the year and the seconds and limit the serial part to 3 digits.

CStr(Chr(65 + CLng(Format(Now(), "MM")) - 1)) +
CStr(Chr(47 + CLng (IIF (Day(Now()) >10, 7, 0)) + Day(Now()))) +
CStr(Chr(65 + Hour(Now()))) +
Format(Now(), "mm") +
Format(PrintedItems, "000")

This auto-package id consists of a 5-digit timestamp (month/day/hour/minute) followed by a 3-digit sequence number. That means the number of items/pallets in one job is limited to 999 and the minimum time between print jobs must be 1 minute. The package id can repeat itself every year.