How the pieces fit

Applies to: BarcoderX Basic and Ultimate

Status: Planned. Nothing is released yet and there is nothing to download. This page describes how the parts are designed to work together.

BarcoderX is software that your own developers run on your own infrastructure. Nothing is hosted for you. BarcoderX keeps only your developer account, your license keys, the list of versions that you are entitled to download and a record of your activations (the license ID, a hashed machine fingerprint, the version and the time). No labels, templates, print jobs or other customer data ever reach BarcoderX. It has four parts, and they all use the same engine, so a label looks the same and prints the same whichever part you use.

The parts

The SDK. A set of NuGet packages for .NET 10. Your application loads a label template, binds your data to it, and renders, exports or prints the result inside your own process. You can print straight to a printer from the SDK, without the API server or the print agent. The SDK needs no server and no network connection.

The API server. A server that you install and run. It offers a REST API under /api/v1, described by an OpenAPI document. It does what the SDK does, over HTTPS, for programs written in any language. It also stores your templates, fonts, images and printers, in your own SQL Server database. See Web API.

The label editor. The place where people design labels in a browser. It is delivered as JavaScript packages for React, Angular and Vue, and as a .NET wrapper for Blazor and other .NET applications. It talks to the API only. It contains no barcode or layout code of its own, so every preview comes from the same engine that prints. See The label editor.

The print agent. A small program that you install on a computer on the same network as your printers. It connects out to your server, receives print jobs, and sends them to your printers. Nothing connects in to it. It is needed when a print job starts in the API or in the editor and has to reach a printer on your network. See The print agent.

There are also two smaller things:

• A stateless render host: a container image that serves the barcode and rendering parts of the API without a database. It takes complete templates in each request and stores nothing. It needs an API key in its settings and will not start without one.
• Two barcode display packages for web applications: one for ASP.NET Core and one for Blazor. They show a barcode image in a page. They are planned for a release after the first.

Which parts do I need?

How a print job travels

When you print through the API server, the job takes this route:

1. Your application, or the editor, asks the API to print a template with some data.
2. The server builds the printer commands from the template, in the language your printer speaks, and stores the job.
3. The print agent on your network receives the job over its outbound connection.
4. The agent checks the job and sends it to your printer.
5. The agent reports back, and the API shows the job status.

The server never opens a connection to a printer itself, and a browser never prints to a port on your computer. The agent is the only route from the server to your printers.

Where the license is checked

The SDK and the server check the license on your own machine, without a network connection. The editor and the print agent hold no license key. A license problem never stops a label from printing. At worst the output carries a visible evaluation mark. See Editions and licensing.

BarcoderX is a product of P4 Software.