I am trying to access the barcode field in a batch gift record. Does anyone use barcodes for regular mass mailings? What I am trying to do is use barcodes for regular mass mailings. You see, by design, appeal cards in mail prints bar codes that will generate a PLEDGE in batch, and not a CASH gift. I do not know why it was designed this way, but when you do a mass mailing, you want cash, not pledges! The only way to generate cash barcodes is to use pledge reminders, but obviously to generate a pledge reminder, you need a pledge. When mailing to 50 000 constituents, you do not have pledges, you are hoping for cash. Altenate sollutions were to change the first letter in the the barcode from an A to a C (A is generated by appeal cards and C by pledge reminders). Although this is an interesting sollution, this will not work because I am using packages as well. When using packages in Appeal Cards, it generates a K barcode. When entered in batch, the K barcode generates a pledge. I do not wish to further complicate any part of the system, whether it is exporting mailings or entering batches. There is a lot of staff working in RE, and the system is already quite complex. Asking extra steps like global change in batch to change from pledge to cash is a step backwards. Asking data entry staff to do these extra steps allows too much space for error. In peek times, there can be 14 people entering batches at once. It is imparative to keep it simple. My sollution to this problem was to use VBA and change the pledge to cash when the line changes in batch (on record validation). The reason I want to read the barcode field is to make sure there is a barcode. There are some batches that willingly contain pledges. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks William da Silva ---------------- eSimpleIT [Email Removed]

Just got a response from BB. There is an event I overlooked called Batch_BeforeBarCodeLookup . With the passed parameters, I will be able to place the barcode in the reference field (or other field) and then pull it out later on the Batch_BeforeValidateRecord event. Thanks to Brandon Winchester from BB for the tip. William da Silva ---------------- eSimpleIT [Email Removed]

Hi folks, In a previous position we used gift bar codes extensively to mimimize work in a complex membership processing environment. We exported the constituent record id, fund id, and package id (contains the appeal) and assembled them in a simple FoxPro program. Then we had the mailhouse print them in 19-digit Bar128 format. If memory serves me correctly, we used the "K" prefix to create a cash gift - there is a BB article on the formats which I never can find. Anyway, the gift code format is a the prefix ("K"), 8-byte constituent record id, shorter fields for the fund and package ID (you need a "P" to indicate you are using this and the field length is only event though RE7 will go higher). There is a modulus 10 check-digit which must be created from the sum of all "non-alpha" characters which is the final character. Anyway, it worked great and the staff was amazed about not having to enter the various fields separately. I can dig out the stuff later this week if this sounds like what you need. Let me know. Peace, JAS

Hi James, The article with the barcode info is BB26876. In this article you will find that for a gift barcode, appeal cards generate either a A or K barcode (A = Appeal, K = Package). Both these codes generate a pledge, not a cash, when entered in batch. I have found a nice one line workaround to use Appeal cards with barcodes. Mind you it is probably noy considered kosher! In the Batch_BeforeBarCodeLookup event, change the sBarCode from ByVal to ByRef (not kosher part). Then in the code, add this line. sBarCode = "C" & Mid(sBarCode, 2, 12) & "P" & Mid(sBarCode, 15) This will change the barcode from a K Pledge with Package to a C Cash with the added P in position 14 for the Package. You should add extra code to make sure it is a K barcode... William da Silva ---------------- eSimpleIT [Email Removed]