1. ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
  2. ZPL Commands
  3. ^FB
  • ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
^FB

^FB

The
^FB
 command allows you to print text into a defined
block type
 format. This command formats an
^FD
 or
^SN
 string into a block of text using the origin, font, and rotation specified for the text string. The
^FB
 command also contains an automatic word-wrap function.

Field Block

Format:
^FBa,b,c,d,e
Parameters
Details
a =
 width of text block line (in dots)
Values:
0
 to the width of the label
Default:
0
 If the value is less than the font width or not specified, the text does not print.
b =
 maximum number of lines in the text block
Values:
1
 to
9999
Default:
1
 Text exceeding the maximum number of lines overwrites the last line. Changing the font size automatically increases or decreases the size of the block.
c =
 add or delete space between lines (in dots)
Values:
-9999
 to
9999
Default:
0
 Numbers are considered to be positive unless preceded by a minus sign. Positive values add space; negative values delete space.
d =
 text justification
Values:
L =
 left
C =
 center
R =
 right
J =
 justified
Default:
L
 If
J
 is used, the last line is left-justified.
e =
 hanging indent (in dots) of the second and remaining lines
Values:
0
 to
9999
Default:
0
Example:
 These are examples of how the
^FB
 command affects field data.
Comments:
This scheme can be used to facilitate special functions:
\& =
 carriage return/line feed
\(*) =
 soft hyphen (word break with a dash)
\\ =
 backslash (\)
Item 1:
^CI13
 must be selected to print a backslash (\).
Item 2:
 If a soft hyphen escape sequence is placed near the end of a line, the hyphen is printed. If it is not placed near the end of the line, it is ignored.
(*) = any alphanumeric character
  • If a word is too long to print on one line by itself (and no soft hyphen is specified), a hyphen is automatically placed in the word at the right edge of the block. The remainder of the word is on the next line. The position of the hyphen depends on word length, not a syllable boundary. Use a soft hyphen within a word to control where the hyphenation occurs.
  • Maximum data-string length is 3K, including control characters, carriage returns, and line feeds.
  • Normal carriage returns, line feeds, and
    word spaces
     at line breaks are discarded.
  • When using
    ^FT
     (Field Typeset),
    ^FT
     uses the baseline origin of the last possible line of text. Increasing the font size causes the text block to increase in size from bottom to top. This could cause a label to print past its top margin.
  • When using
    ^FO
     (Field Origin), increasing the font size causes the text block to increase in size from top to bottom.
  • ^FS
     terminates an
    ^FB
     command. Each block requires its own
    ^FB
     command.
While the
^FB
 command has a text justification parameter that defines the justification of the text within the block, it also interacts with the justification of
^FO
 and
^FT
 that define the justification of the origin.
The
^FB
 command does not support soft hyphens as a potential line breakpoint. However, soft hyphen characters are always printed as if they were a hyphen.
The
^FB
 command does not support complex text. For complex text support, use
^TB
.