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Using Cloud Print for Shipment Server

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Malene Tidemann
Updated

Cloud Print is a cloud-based solution for Shipment Server that lets you print in multiple ways:

  • Documents are generated from Shipment Server to the default printers.

  • Documents are generated from Shipment Server and are routed to specific Drop Zone
    installations and specific printers using default import keys.

  • Documents are generated from an ERP plugin where the printer is selected by the user.

The documents are stored in a queue in the cloud and Drop Zone installations are downloading
the documents that belong to them.

 

Setting up Cloud Print

Download the setup file for Windows (run the installation file as administrator). If the file does not download, try to right-click the link and open it in a new window

When you launch the Drop Zone application for the first time, all fields will be empty. Once you have made and saved your configuration it will be saved in future versions of Drop Zone.

  1. Launch Drop Zone.

  2. Choose which language you want Drop Zone to use by clicking on the Language menu in the top left corner:

    drop-zone-language.png

  3. In the Ticket Connection tab, enter your Portal username and password. You can test the connection by clicking the Check Connection button. If the user requires a proxy server to connect to Ticket, then the proxy server information must be filled in. Click Apply to save. (Note: you can't use credentials configured for both Ticket and Shipment Server)

    drop-zone-main.png

  4. Go to the Printers tab to configure one or more printers. Click New, select a printer, and click OK to add it. (Note: If no printer is configured and a file import is made, all of the shipments in the file will be listed in Failed Prints.)

    drop-zone-printers.png

  5. By default, the printer type is set to A4-sized PDF. You can change this once you have added a printer, by selecting the printer and clicking Advanced. In the Settings tab, select another printer type. You can also configure if the printer should be set as default for freight documents or labels. (Note: For freight letters an A4 printer must be selected and Printer type PDF together with a tick in Freight documents). 

    dz-printers-advanced.png

  6. In the Import tab, under the Advanced printer settings, you can define default import keys for each printer, to be able to assign specific printers in the import files. 



  7. The Computer Name field specifies a user-friendly name for the active Drop Zone installation. This is used to specify which Drop Zone installation should receive the documents. The Check Interval field specifies the frequency in which Drop Zone checks the document queue. This is a backup mechanism, it should not be set to low values unless it is really needed. The main communication to the server side is almost instantaneous and is using push notifications.

    cloud-print-DZ.PNG

    The list at the bottom of the Cloud Print tab shows the document printer mapping rules. This function does not work for Shipment Server, it is intended for Ticket. Definition of printer rules is defined by adding default import keys, as shown in step 6.

  8. The Label printer type drop-down will now reflect the printers added in Drop Zone. Select a printer and click Save.

 

Including Cloud Print information in Shipment Server requests

If you want to print a label from Shipment Server using Cloud Print, you must include information for Cloud print in the request to Shipment Server.

Cloud Print works with the SubmitShipment method. You must include the Options object with the following parameters:

Name Field type Description
Labels string
  • none - Returns no labels (default value)
  • EPL - Returns EPL label, suitable for printers like LP2844, GK420D, ZM400, and others that are compatible with EPL
  • ZPL - Returns ZPL label with top margin 30(LT30) suitable for LP2844-Z printers
  • ZPLGK - Returns ZPL label with top margin 0(LT0), suitable for printers like GK420D, ZM400, and others that are compatible with ZPL II
  • PNG - Returns label as a PNG image
  • PDF - Returns label as PDF
TicketUserName string The Username that is typed in Drop Zone under the Ticket Connection tab.
WorkstationID string The Drop Zone installation ID found by clicking About in the Drop Zone menu. Example: 4C8A993X-D6D0-4350-AC4X-13485F5CXXXX
DropZoneLabelPrinterKey string The printer key specified in Drop Zone for a label printer
DropZoneDocPrinterKey string The printer key specified in Drop Zone for a document printer


The Options object is a separate JSON string submitted together with the SubmitShipment request.

Example:

{
  "Labels": "ZPLGK",
  "TicketUserName": "CSEditor",
  "WorkstationID": "4C8A993X-D6D0-4350-AC4X-13485F5CXXX",
  "DropZoneLabelPrinterKey": "GK"
}

If you have specified a default printer in Drop Zone, this can be used without including the printer key.  

 

System requirements

Operating Systems Minimum hardware Supported Browsers
Server versions:
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2022

PC versions (enterprise / pro):
Windows 8 - 10
 
  • 2GHz processor (2cores)
  • 2 GB Ram (dedicated for nShift Ship)
  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox (latest version)
  • Safari (latest version)
  • Edge (latest version)
  • Opera (latest version)

Running HTTPS is required.

Drop Zone always uses ports 80 and 443 or 8089. It is a configuration choice to use either port 443 with SSL/TLS protocol, or port 8089 without. Port 8089 may be configured to another number.

Note: We have seen issues if a customer is using Trusted Sites under Internet Options. The workaround is to turn this off or use Chrome.

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