How RFID Tags Work in FastReport VCL

RFID tags are a modern way to ID products, quickly replacing barcodes. What makes RFID tags different is they use radio signals. This lets you scan large quantities of items fast, saving a bunch of time. RFID tags are also used to identify employees within companies. In this article, we'll check out how RFID tags work with the new TfrxDeviceCommand object in FastReport VCL.

Features of RFID Structure

The structure of an RFID tag consists of four data banks:

1. Reserved Bank: Contains two passwords: access password and kill password. The first password allows management of access to specific banks or parts of the tag's memory. The second password is used for permanently disabling the tag or its reusability (if such a function is supported). Each password has a length of no more than 32 bits.
2. Product Code Bank
3. Tag ID Bank
4. User Data Bank
   
   

All banks except the first can have varying capacities or may be locked by suppliers; all this is described in the specifications of the tag. The standards for formatting data in these banks are described in this document. For local use, any data formatting that is convenient for the user to work with can be employed. 

TfrxDeviceCommand object was created for the implementation of tags in FastReport VCL, where the RFID tag is one of the possible presets. Currently, this is the only preset, but we plan to expand this category in the future.

In version 2025.1.8, this object is processed only via ZPL export (other exports currently skip it). We plan to extend its processing to other exports upon request.

To configure the processing time, the object has a field called ProcessingTime, which can take 2 values:

• ptBeforeView processes before the entire content of the container);
• ptAfterView (after the content of the container).
  
  

If the container has multiple TfrxDeviceCommand objects with the same ProcessingTime, the Order field (ranging from 0 to MaxInt) will be required.

Suppose there are 3 TfrxDeviceCommand objects in the container with the following parameters:

1. ProcessingTime = ptAfterView , Order = 1;
2. ProcessingTime = ptBeforeView, Order = 0;
3. ProcessingTime = ptAfterView , Order = 0;
   
   

When exporting the container, the processing order will be as follows:

• The second object (ProcessingTime = ptBeforeView, Order = 0);
• The content of the container;
• The third object (ProcessingTime = ptAfterView, Order = 0);
• The first object (ProcessingTime = ptAfterView, Order = 1);
  
  

Additionally, this object has the following fields:

• DeviceType — used to select a preset; currently, there is only one value, dtRFIDLabel, and it cannot be changed for now.
• DeviceProperties — contains fields, the list of which changes depending on the selected DeviceType. This is where the content of the current preset (RFID labels) is stored.

How to Configure the Content of the Object

The content can be configured not only in the object inspector but also in the editor.

Translation into other languages besides English is not available to avoid confusion with specialized terminology.

The editor is divided into tabs, each containing properties for a specific memory bank, along with one tab for additional label options.

Some fields are duplicated to support filling expressions (for example, from the database).

In the reserved data bank, passwords can only be entered in the format of a hexadecimal number consisting of eight characters. Furthermore, without a non-zero access password, it will not be possible to control access modes. In other data banks, you can choose the recording format: either a hexadecimal number or a string in ASCII encoding.

For more information on RFID support in ZPL, you can refer to the official documentation. 

This object for FastReport VCL is the first of its kind. However, new presets for this object will be implemented in the future.