Differences between NiceLabel 10 and NiceLabel 6

Licensing - All multi-user editions of NiceLabel 10 are consistently licensed using a simple and transparent licensing method based on the number of printers used. For more information, see the Licensing document.

User management - Control Center enables you full user permission management. You can omit label design permissions by installing only a print module on workstations.

Print history logging and label reprinting - You can log printing events to a database. The option is available in LMS editions and accessible via Control Center. You can reprint labels retrieved from printing history on systems running the Automation module. Local printing log and label reprinting are no longer available.

ActiveX API -ActiveX API is no longer available and is superseded by the new .NET API available in PowerForms Suite and LMS editions. The new .NET based API incorporates modern programming concepts and is superior in terms of performance and reliability. You can adapt your applications using the ActiveX API to make them compatible with the new API. See the .NET API User Guide for more.

Desktop Applications - NiceLabel 10 desktop applications are significantly simplified. We adopted and improved many V6 applications and discontinued some of them:

NiceLabel Pro and NiceForm merged into NiceLabel Desktop Designer which now supports both – label and form (solution) designing.

NiceLabel Print and QuickPrint merged into NiceLabel Print.

NiceData is discontinued because the modern database and spreadsheet formats do not require a 3rd party content editing utility.

NicePrintQueue is discontinued – this functionality is available as part of the Control Center.

Download to printer functionality of NiceMemMaster is available with the latest NiceLabel drivers.

Smart Keyboard Downloader utility is discontinued.

Not supported barcodes. Royal Mail, Australia Post 4-state, Code128 Pharmacy, Kix, Pharmacode, all Postnet barcodes. When importing legacy labels, these objects are removed from the label. Support for these barcodes will be added in future releases.

Not supported 2D barcodes. 2D Pharmacode, Codablock F, GridMatrix, DotCode. When importing legacy labels, these objects are removed from the label. Support for non-supported 2D barcodes will be added in future releases.

OLE object. Object linking and embedding (OLE) label design objects are no longer available. When importing the existing labels with such objects, they are removed from the label.

“Stacked text” option of Text object. Stacked text option is not supported with Text object properties.

Size of PDF-417 barcode. When opening a PDF-417 barcode in NiceLabel 10, the aspect ratio adjusts to a value of at least 1.5 to ensure standard compliance. Also, after designing a PDF-417 barcode with value for the rows and columns set to 0, NiceLabel 10 can display the barcode with a slightly different size or ratio. The data remains encoded correctly, but make sure the barcode still fits on the label.

ECC 200 level for Data Matrix barcode. When you open the label with Data Matrix barcode created in NiceLabel 6, the ECC 000-140 level is automatically set to 200. ECC 200 is the latest version of Data Matrix barcode – it uses Reed-Solomon codes for error correction and symbol erasure recovery.

QR Code displays the error message "Contents of item cannot be set, because its value is invalid. Value to encode is too long. Either update the content or barcode properties to allow more content" during printing. This error might appear when you try to print a label that was created in NiceLabel 6 and contains a QR Code with invalid properties. NiceLabel 10 loads such labels and recognizes the incompatibilities during printing. Verify the settings of the erroneous barcode object.

Font point size differences in Text objects. NiceLabel 10 includes an optimized calculation of font point sizes. In some cases, this might cause a Text object to display a font slightly differently when compared to NiceLabel 6. For example, font height might differ by 1 pixel.

Rotating the object with the enabled fill option also rotates the fill itself. When rotating the object with the enabled fill option in NiceLabel 6, only the object is rotated, while the fill retains its absolute orientation relative to the label). In NiceLabel 10, rotating the object also rotates the fill effect – fill settings retaines relative to the object.

The Rectangle object has a uniform thickness setting. In NiceLabel 6 you could define different values for horizontal and vertical thickness. In NiceLabel 10, the Rectangle object has a single uniform thickness setting. When loading a Rectangle object from a label created in NiceLabel 6, horizontal thickness applies.

Picture mirroring. The options to flip pictures vertical or horizontal are not available.

Relative object positioning across label sides. Object position cannot be linked to the position of some object from the other label side.

Printing human readable in Truetype font. In NiceLabel v6, you could design a barcode object to print human interpretation formatted in the printer font. NiceLabel 10 converts the printer font into Arial TrueType font

Global variables. NiceLabel 10 uses a new folder (by default C:\ProgramData\NiceLabel\Global Variables) or Control Center's database to store the global variables. If you want to use the global variables from NiceLabel 6, copy the variables from NiceLabel 6 location to the new location. Global variables with counter rollover settings are not supported – the setting is ignored.

Lookup table is not available. Lookup table was a simple table object with a few fields embedded in the label file. It was used as quick storage for the non-changeable database. The alternative is to use an external data source, such as a formatted text file (CSV) or Excel file.

Custom check digit algorithms are not available. The custom check digit functionality from NiceLabel 6 cannot be used in NiceLabel 10. The alternative is to code a custom check digit algorithm using VBScript or Python.

Non-supported functions: User defined check-digit algorithms, Currency exchange, and PIATS Code. They can be replaced using a custom VBScript or Python script.

Non-supported "label" API object in scripting. This part of the ActiveX API was previously also accessible from the label itself. This functionality was used to set the conditional visibility of objects and to set the values of other label variables. NiceLabel 10 allows direct defining of conditional visibility separately for each object in the design area. To set the label values of other variables, use Designer PowerForms application.

Connection to BDE data sources is not available. Borland Database Engine was a popular database engine years ago (prior to 2000) when Paradox and dBase were predominant file-based database types. Today, the use of BDE data sources is negligible.

RFID "Read & Store". RFID support in NiceLabel 10 allows you to encode RFID tags on a smart label. NiceLabel printer drivers enable this functionality. The "Read & Store" (reads the contents of an RFID tag – usually UniqueID – and saves it to a local database) feature is not supported yet.

Functions no longer have an editable data output format. In NiceLabel 10, the function output format does not allow additional editing, such as adding a prefix or suffix or setting a date format. If you want to change the function output format, define a new variable, use the function data source as an initial value, and set a changed format for its output.

No value used for NULL fields in databases. If a table field contains a NULL value, NiceLabel 10 no longer displays the default field (such as 0) and ignores its content.

No need to define the format of DateTime fields. In NiceLabel 6, you had to set the data type to Date if you wanted to use the localization settings. NiceLabel 10 applies these settings by default.

Consistent handling of DateTime fields. NiceLabel 6 handled data fields differently on a label than on a form. In NiceLabel 10, forms and labels use common data sources. If you have a DateTime field with an empty Time component, its output is the Date component alone (the output format for the field must be a default one with "HH:mm:ss" at the end). If you want to force a format using the empty Time component at the end (00:00:00), you can add a space at the end of the output date format.

Data from linked fields and objects. NiceLabel Desktop Designer Standard 6 had the option to merge values from various objects and to use the merged value in a new object. Such object data merging is not available in NiceLabel 10. However, the functionality of the linked fields loads correctly when you import legacy label files (.LBL) into NiceLabel 10. Concatenate function merges the values.

Database filter with LIKE condition:

Filter with LIKE relation will search for %value% not value%. In NiceLabel 6, LIKE relation was handled differently in Designer Pro and in NiceForm. Designer Pro created a condition for LIKE that queried for value% (wildcard at the end), while NiceForm created a condition that queried for %value% (wildcard at both ends). NiceLabel 10 uses the %value% implementation – same as NiceForm V6.

Unification of LIKE database filter. The implementation of LIKE filter in NiceLabel 6 was done differently for Designer Pro and for NiceForm applications. In Designer Pro, the resulting dataset contained all records if the parameter for LIKE was empty. In NiceForm, the resulting dataset contained no records for the empty LIKE parameter. NiceLabel 10 has inherited the functionality from Designer Pro 6 and returns all records if a parameter for LIKE is empty. The LIKE condition is ignored if it has no value. To use the old functionality in new forms, set the LIKE parameter to an invalid value, such as "<Enter the product>". In this case, no matching record is found, and the returned dataset is empty.

Honoring original newline character for data coming from database sources. NiceLabel 10 keeps the original newline character, like CR, LF, or CR/LF. NiceLabel 6 always reformatted the newline into CR/LF syntax.

Prompting for the value of the data source. NiceLabel 10 prompts you for the value of the data source just once – before the print process starts. The configurable option from NiceLabel 6 to prompt the user for data value mid-printing is no longer supported. In version 10 you can split the print job into several batches, for which you provide data values all at once.

You can't use labels created in NiceLabel versions prior to 5.4.4 without conversion. Print modules in NiceLabel 10, such as NiceLabel Print, NiceLabel Automation, and NiceLabel Desktop Designer .NET API cannot print legacy labels (.LBL) that are saved with NiceLabel older than 5.4.4. When you try to print such labels, you receive the message "File <label> was created by an older label designer and contains design features that cannot be used. To make the label available, open it in V5.4.4. or V6.x and save it." To make these labels available for printing, open them in NiceLabel Desktop Designer 10 or NiceLabel Label Converter and re-save them in the new .NLBL format.

Document Metadata. Metadata about the current document, such as author, keywords, comment, and file version is not available.

Multiband Printing. The option to print a large size label in several bands or stripes is not supported.

Smart replacement of printer fonts. The NiceLabel 6 font replacement feature is no longer supported. You can define custom font mapping rules and apply them to NiceLabel Desktop Designer10 and Automation. See the topic Automatic Font Replacement in the online help.

Custom stocks. NiceLabel 10 does not support the creation of custom stocks. You can select the stock from a predefined library of stocks. The stocks contain label dimensions information, but no printer driver settings are included.

Label is linked to stock. The option to link the current label to a stock is not supported.

Opening a page label with labels across (such as 2x4) for a thermal printer might open differently. In NiceLabel 6, it became a 2x1 or 1x1 label – depending on the maximum label width.

In NiceLabel 10, it becomes a 2x4 or 1x4 label (or even 1x3), depending on the maximum label width and height.

"Identical copies per label" setting is not copied from V6 labels. Within the V6 .LBL file, you could save the number of label copies used at print time. In version 10 auto-generated print form handles the printing functionality. To change the default value, update the value of the variable named PrintingForm_IdenticalCopies which is generated for the printing form. If you build a Designer PowerForms application yourself, you already have full control over the label quantity settings.

Ribbon customization. NiceLabel 10 doesn't support ribbon customization.

EasyForms auto-generated forms. Designer Pro V6 could generate the print form for each label template. You couldn't change the functionality of the forms, but you could change their visual appearance. When migrating labels from version 6 to version 10, the print forms are imported as NiceLabel 10 generates forms with different types of objects. You can easily re-create the forms in version 10.

Running JOB files in command-line parameter. Desktop Designer 10 does not support executing JOB files from a command line. You can use NiceLabel Automation to automate label printing with JOB files.

Downloading images to printer memory. You can't download images to printer memory separately from the label template. This was an optimization technique used with older and slower printers. Downloading individual images does not gain technique with modern printers. You can still download static images from the label template using the "Store/recall" printing mode. You can also download Truetype fonts in the NiceLabel printer driver.

Table object doesn't support the built-in navigator. When you import a NiceLabel 6 form which includes a Table object with a navigator, the importer adds the navigator as a separate control on the form. This does not affect the form functionalities.

BMP images on buttons are not transparent. Usually, images in BMP format do not include transparency. To use the transparent background in NiceLabel 10, convert the images to PNG format which supports transparency by default.

Label Preview rotation. The rotation of a label preview inside the Label Preview object is not supported. If you define a rotation angle other than 0 degrees, your label is displayed without rotation. You can rotate the complete preview control to achieve a similar effect.

Refresh preview. This action was introduced to support manual refreshing of label previews on slow computers. NiceLabel 10 is built using the new .NET technology and does not need this action anymore.

Close label. Keeping a label open does not consume a relevant amount of memory resources and provides for an immediate response the next time the label is required. You can keep all labels in memory. NiceLabel 10 is built on the new .NET technology and does not need this action anymore.

For every label. In NiceLabel 6, this action allowed you to execute a certain set of actions for a group of labels. This action was rarely used. To replicate the functionality with NiceLabel 10, you can define many Open Label actions and assign the appropriate actions to each label.

Acquire image. In NiceLabel 6, this action allowed you to interface Designer PowerForms application with the TWAIN-enabled scanning devices or cameras. There is no substitute functionality available in NiceLabel 10.

View log file. The local is not available in NiceLabel 10. LMS users can configure Designer PowerForms applications to open the consolidated printing history on the Control Center webpage instead.

Custom SQL statement in combination with filter is not supported. In NiceLabel 6, you could define a custom SQL statement and additionally define a filter for it when building a form. This is an atypical combination of double filtering, which is not supported in NiceLabel 10. We recommend you to define a filter just once.

Date variable can have an empty value. When you define a date variable in NiceLabel 6 and connect it to the Edit field object, you can select the value for a date in the date picker, but cannot empty the value. In NiceLabel 10, the date variable has no default value. If you want to assign the current date as a starting value, you can set the initial value of a date variable to "." (dot character). If you want to assign any other date as a starting value, set the initial value to reference another current date variable.

Adding records to a table without a primary key is not possible. When you create a form to manage database records, you might see the error message "Cannot execute requested database operation. Dynamic SQL generation for the UpdateCommand is not supported against a SelectCommand that does not return any key column information." This happens when you try to add a new record to a table that does not have a primary key defined.

Distributed printing is not supported. Distributed printing was used in the past to support printing from Pocket NiceLabel. With distributed printing, the Print button created a NiceLabel JOB file and sent it to NiceWatch for processing. If you need a similar functionality with your desktop Designer PowerForms application, configure it using new actions in NiceLabel 10, such as "HTTP Request".

Automatic events for incoming serial port data are not supported. The form application does not automatically collect the data received on the serial port as it does in NiceLabel 6. As a workaround, you can define OnFormTimer event and read the data from the serial port in time intervals with the action Read Data from Serial Port.

Out-of-the-box support for Python programming language. NiceLabel 10 uses IronPython, a .NET variant of Python programming language. IronPython supports .NET Framework and Python libraries. Support for IronPython is included with NiceLabel 10 and requires no additional installation of Python.

Normal/Data view. A single design surface view displays the current values of objects (if assigned), or displays six question marks (or less if the data source is limited to a shorter length) for variable objects with the assigned current value. To see the data view of the label as it would print out, open the Print dialog which shows you the real print preview.

Stroke fonts are not supported. Stroke fonts use an older font technology and were developed for plotters under Microsoft Windows 3.X. Quality of printed output on other output devices is very poor. Examples of stroke fonts include Roman, Modern, and Script.

Most of label export features are not supported (such as export to graphics, POF, SAP, and general export). You can use the Store and Recall functionality, which exports the label to the printer memory and recalls it with label data at print time. You can export labels to graphics in Designer PowerForms using appropriate actions, such as Redirect printing to PDF, which generates a PDF file.

Export (store) label to printer is not available in NiceLabel Designer Express. To export a label to the printer and store it in the printer's internal memory, NiceLabel Designer Pro product level or higher is required.

Printing text boxes that do not fit into a designed rectangle. If the setting for "Print invalid objects" was set to "True" in NiceLabel 6, a non-fitting text box was still printed with a reported error in preview. NiceLabel 10 shows an error if a text box does not fit. If you want to achieve the same response as with NiceLabel 6, enable the option "Ignore excessive content" for the Text box object.

Move print job from one printer spooler to another. The Print Management tab option which moves a print job from one printer to another is not available in Control Center 10.

Running triggers in a failover cluster. If you enable failover cluster support in Automation, the information about the loaded configurations and enabled triggers is no longer propagated automatically to Automation on both nodes. NiceLabel Automation has its own settings on each cluster node. Make sure you deploy equal configuration on both nodes.