LabelVision Classic: Professional vs. Standard

To help you decide which LabelVision product best fits your needs, the following is an explanation of the differences between the Professional and Standard packages of LabelVision.

LabelVision Professional is the complete application design system, and as such includes many features not available in LabelVision Standard. These differences are explained below.

Application Editor

The following features are available only in the Professional Application Editor:

• Cross Referencing. LabelVision Professional allows you to use the data in one Database or Text file to lookup records in another Database or Text File. In LabelVision Standard, only User Input items may be used to select records in a Database or ASCII Text file.
• Print Conditioning. With the Professional, you can conditionally print labels based on data from any data source. In the Standard, you can only set a condition based on User Input application items.
• Point-And-Shoot Record Selection. Allows an application to select a single record from a database or ASCII text file. The application displays the list of values for a single field from all records or records meeting a condition; the operator then selects one of the values from this list.
• Grouping into Paragraph and List. Allows you to group together multiple records from a database onto the same label (either as separate fields or in a paragraph). This feature is especially useful for efficiently maintaining and using a database of warnings or messages, as required in the Health, Chemical, Food and Pharmaceutical industries.
• Variable Repeat Counter Values. In LabelVision Standard, Repeat Counters always start at 1 and increment by 1. In LabelVision Professional, these can be assigned a value from any data source.
• Variable Application Items. (Label Files, Databases, Sequence Numbers and Text Files). Variable application items let you take the file name of an application item from a database or other data source.
• Run a DOS Program. Allows you to call any DOS program from within your application, optionally capturing its output for use as a data source. Running DOS programs greatly increases the power of your applications, allowing to perform calculations or do tasks not directly supported by LabelVision.
• DOS Command Line Options. Used to pass data to the application when it is printed from within your own program or batch file.
• Port Input. Allows User Input items to accept data from serial ports or network transmission.

Other Features

The following other features are available only with LabelVision Professional.

• Variable Graphics. The Professional Designer lets you print variable graphic files, where the name of the file comes from any data source. A common example is when you want to print the picture of a part on a label, but you don't want to design a different label for every part. With variable graphics, you simply design a single label that takes the name of the graphic file from your parts database.
• Graphic Rotator Utility. This utility rotates multiple external .BMP graphic files in a single batch. It is used when you are printing variable graphics in an orientation other than left-to-right. Because LabelVision Standard does not allow variable graphics, the Graphic Rotator is not included with it. Note that you can rotate constant graphics in the Standard Designer.
• Report Editor. The LabelVision Report Editor allows you to create and print reports of data in your database.
• Menu Editor. Allows you to create customized menus for your applications. Also, the menu system that provides access to the DOS modules (DOS Integrator) is not available from the Standard Designer menu.