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magnetic track data in order for the printer driver to know which data is to be
encoded, which tracks to encode, when the track data stops and starts, and so forth.
In some cases, these specific characters are automatically added to the string of
track data by customized ID software applications. In most cases, however, the user
must manually add these characters to the string of magnetic track data. If these
characters are not added to the track data, the text intended for the magnetic track
will most likely appear as printed text on the card. To avoid this, track information
must be entered as follows.
When entering track data, the Ò~Ó character is entered first, followed by the track
number (1, 2, or 3) on which you intend to encode the data. The data to be encoded
should then follow. The first character of this data string must be the trackÕs specific
Start Sentinel (SS) and the last character must be the specific End Sentinel (ES). The
characters or data in between the SS and ES can include all of the valid characters
specific to each track. The number of these characters, however, is limited by each
trackÕs maximum character capacity. When segmenting track data, the appropriate
Field Separator (FS) must be used. The following table shows the SS, ES, FS, and
the valid characters defined for each track.
The following example illustrates how track data should be entered for tracks 1, 2,
and 3:
Example: Sending data to Track 1
~1%JULIE ANDERSON^623-85-1253?
Sending data to Track 2
~2;0123456789?
Sending data to Track 3
~3;0123456789?
Appendix A: Magnetic Stripe Encoding Module 77
4250/4225 Card Printer UserÕs Manual
Maximum
Start End Field Number of
Sentinel Sentinel Separator Valid Characters Characters
Track 1 % ? ^ 0-9, A-Z, Punct. (ASCII 32-95) 78
Track 2 ; ? = 0-9, ;, =, ? (ASCII 48-63) 39
Track 3 ; ? = 0-9, ;, =, ? (ASCII 48-63) 106
510291_card printer 11/24/98 12:19 PM Page 77