Frequently Asked Questions

When attaching to a database in Microsoft SQL Server using BadgeBuilder 6.x, a message appears saying “Cursor Type Changed” when opening the database or adding/updating/deleting a record.

BadgeBuilder expects that the Datakey field will include a unique index on it. When the index is not present because the database table was created outside of BadgeBuilder, SQL Server changes the cursor type. The result, while completely benign, is an error message alerting the user that the cursor type has changed.

The fix for this problem is to add a unique index to the datakey field using the SQL Server management interface.

Q. I’ve added a JPG image to a Bitmap rectangle or the background of my card and the image isn’t displaying correctly/it crashed BadgeBuilder. How can I fix this?

A. There are several JPG color-encoding formats that will give BadgeBuilder trouble with display. These include:

• CMYK Color-Encoding
• Grayscale Color-Encoding

If you experience a crash or corrupted display of a bitmap rectangle or card background, we suggest that you convert the image to 24-bit, RGB color-encoded. This should display and work normally

Please note if buying a PC for use with BadgeBuilder that it MUST have an Intel- or AMD-based X64 processor.

PC’s such as the Microsoft Surface 7th Generation laptop that run on a Snapdragon ARM-based processor are NOT compatible with the USB license dongle hardware for BadgeBuilder and will not install. Without the license dongle functional, BadgeBuilder cannot read the license and will not run.

Q. When using Magicard’s version 2.x printer driver, certain barcodes including Extended Code 3 of 9, EAN8 & EAN13 will not print on the card.

The barcodes will display fine on the screen and will print to other printers just fine.

A. There is an issue with the 2.x series driver that incorrectly detects a ~ character in barcodes and text fields as mag encoding data.

You can address this problem with the following procedure using any version of BadgeBuilder:

1. Open your database in BadgeBuilder
2. Open the BadgeBuilder “Print” dialog
3. Click the “Printer Setup” button
4. In the “Print Setup” dialog, click “Properties…”
5. In the “Magicard Rio Pro Properties” dialog, go to “Encoding”
6. On the “Encoding” screen, click the “Advanced” button near the bottom right
7. In the “Advanced Encoding” dialog, change the “Start Character(s)” from ~ to ^
8. Click “OK” to close the “Advanced Encoding” dialog.
9. Click “OK” to close the “Magicard Rio Pro Properties” dialog
10. Click “OK” to close the “Print Setup” dialog
11. Click “Print” to print the badge on the printer

Note that this change you make here will only persist during this session of BadgeBuilder. To make it permanent, separately go in and change the same setting in the Magicard Rio Pro via Windows’ Devices and Printers area.

IMPORTANT: If you ARE mag encoding cards, please see the Mag Encoding section below. Otherwise you are done.

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MAG ENCODING

If you are mag encoding cards, the procedure above will stop that from working. This is because there is now a mismatch between what BadgeBuilder sends to the printer to indicate the start of mag encoding data and what the printer driver expects for the start of mag encoding data.

To address this, we have released version 6.1.12 of BadgeBuilder which contains a new feature to allow you to match the revised encoding start character with that in the driver.

To make this adjustment in BadgeBuilder:

1. Open your database in BadgeBuilder
2. Go to the “Configuration” menu and select “Set Magnetic Encoding”
3. In the “Magnetic Encoding Configuration” dialog, make certain that the Printer Type is “Magicard (High Coercivity)”
4. Go to the “Customization” section and change the “Start Character(s)” from ~ to ^
5. Click “OK” to save the change

This change will match the adjustment to the Magicard printer driver above and will ensure that ONLY data designated for encoding in BadgeBuilder will be encoded.

NOTE: If for some reason you are using the ^ character on your badge in text or a barcode, please select another character or group of characters that is unique and substitute that for the ^ in both the driver and BadgeBuilder Mag Encoding settings.

Issue:

I added the four required fields and linked to an existing database. The information came in but when I make a change to an existing record or take a picture it doesn’t save. What’s wrong?

Answer:

You need to populate the datakey field with unique numbers. The datakey is a number which must be present so that each record in the database is guaranteed to be different. The badging program will take over control of putting this number in for all new records.

Question:

When importing data into a database from a CSV file, the last field in the database has data in for some records that shouldn’t be there. What’s wrong?

Answer:

In order to properly import text into the database, all text-based entries, including blank ones, must be surrounded by double-quotes.

For example: “first name”,”last name”,””,””

Q. I’ve installed the HD Image CAM PRO software and now BadgeBuilder crashes when I try to take a picture

A. The HD Image CAM PRO software is NOT required and will cause issues with image capture in BadgeBuilder. Drivers for the camera are BUILT-IN to Windows.

Since the HD Image CAM PRO software contains no drivers for the hardware, you should completely uninstall the HD Image CAM PRO software and then reboot your computer. BadgeBuilder should now capture images normally with no crash.

Issue:

If you use the 64-bit ODBC administrator in the Windows® Control Panel, you will find that you cannot see all of your ODBC data sources and drivers (such as Microsoft Access).

Answer:

This happens because the default ODBC manager in 64-bit Windows is the 64-bit version. BadgeBuilder is a 32-bit program, so it needs the 32-bit ODBC manager.

In order to run the 32-bit ODBC manager that contains all the drivers that BadgeBuilder uses, please do the following:

1. Click on the Windows Start button
2. In the “Search programs and files” box, enter: c:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32
3. Hit Enter

The 32-bit ODBC manager, which looks visually identical to the 64-bit version, should display all of your data sources and drivers.

Issue:

Using the Oracle 11g ODBC driver provided by Oracle, the following error occurs when attempting to open an Oracle database using BadgeBuilder: ORA-01410: invalid ROWID

Answer:

The Oracle 11g ODBC driver has a bug that prevents it from working properly.

We have tested the Progress Data Direct Oracle ODBC driver and can confirm that it works properly in all respects while talking to exactly the same Oracle server as the Oracle-supplied ODBC driver. Please visit the Progress Oracle Database ODBC Driver web page to find a reseller.

Prior versions of Oracle, including 10g, have been tested and do not exhibit this problem.

Question:

Why do I keep getting a message that my card is outside of the usable print area when I print?

Answer:

The printer that you are using is setting the usable page size which is often somewhat smaller than full page size. You can check this by going to the print dialog and checking in page info. You will need to reduce the size of your card to be under the usable page width and height listed.

See the FAQ item titled Reducing the size of a badge for details.

Issue:

You are using a Topaz signature capture device along with the WinTab driver and every time you attempt to capture a signature, BadgeBuilder® crashes.

Answer:

This happens on some systems when the WinTab32.dll driver is installed in its default Windows location. This location varies depending on the bit structure of your Windows installation:

• On 32-bit systems: c:/windows/system32
• On 64-bit systems, c:/windows/SysWOW64

NOTE: If you have had a crash of the system, you MUST reboot BEFORE taking the next step.

The process you should follow is to locate the WinTab32.dll driver in the appropriate folder above and move it to:

• On 32-bit systems: c:/program files/badging/badgebuilder [classic|select|elite]/
• On 64-bit systems: c:/program files (x86)/badging/badgebuilder [classic|select|elite]/

Please try your signature capture again. If you can now capture signatures, you are done and do not need to read further.

If you are still having trouble with crashing after moving the file:

• With BadgeBuilder closed, please rename WinTab32.dll to WinTab32.dllx
• Start BadgeBuilder. Go to the signature capture area and attempt to capture a signature. It should not crash and you should be able to sign with your mouse/touchpad.
• Close BadgeBuilder
• Rename WinTab32.dllx back to WinTab32.dll
• Open BadgeBuilder and test to see if the signature capture now works without crashing

If you continue to have problems, please contact support

Issue:

When using the Microft SQL Server and the “Native Client” ODBC driver (sqlncli.dll), opening the TeamTracer® Action Capture dialog causes a program crash.

Answer:

Please use the standard “SQL Server” ODBC driver (sqlsrv32.dll) for your connection to SQL Server instead.

Issue:

A card that uses a Bitmap-type box in BadgeBuilder® with Transparency to the background turned on will correctly display on the screen. However, when the card is printed, you get a solid color where the transparency should allow the background or element underneath to show through.

Answer:

Microsoft introduced a bug in Windows 10 with the patches released on March 9th and March 15th, 2021. As of the date of this bulletin, a fix is in progress at Microsoft that should correct this problem.

We will post again when Microsoft has released a patch that corrects the problem.

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UPDATE (April 7, 2021)

Microsoft has issued a patch which fixes the transparency issue during printing.

For Windows 10 Builds 2004 and 20H2

The official Microsoft article about the patch is:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/march-18-2021-kb5001649-os-builds-19041-870-and-19042-870-out-of-band-ebbe0617-3a63-467a-aaaa-2a4c68a6de33

The standard Windows 10 update panel may not offer this update. If this is the case, you will need to download and install it manually. The update can be downloaded from here:

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB5001649

You will need to select the correct update based on your current Windows build and PC architecture. If you are not familiar with this information, we recommend you reach out to a IT advisor for assistance.

For Windows 10 Builds 1903 and 1909

The same problem was caused on the 19XX builds. They have a similar patch but the KB numbers are different.

The official Microsoft article about the patch is:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/march-18-2021-kb5001648-os-build-18363-1443-out-of-band-e843b94e-c4ca-4ab6-ae4d-250f07a37bf1

The standard Windows 10 update panel may not offer this update. If this is the case, you will need to download and install it manually. The update can be downloaded from here:

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB5001648

You will need to select the correct update based on your current Windows build and PC architecture. If you are not familiar with this information, we recommend you reach out to a IT advisor for assistance.

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As always, we strongly urge that you take a full backup of your computer PRIOR to any updates on the off-chance that the Windows update goes badly.

Issue:

When trying to use BadgeBuilder® with a SafeNet security dongle plugged into a USB port on your PC, you may notice one or more of the following issues:

• BadgeBuilder starts in DEMO mode even though you have the full program
• BadgeBuilder starts and allows you to login but then becomes non-responsive shortly afterwards
• BadgeBuilder comes up with an error indicating that the security dongle is no longer present
• BadgeBuilder comes up with a dialog indicating your dongle is not for the right version and presents a dongle number of 0

Answer:

It would appear that the Sophos suite of anti-virus/malware/spyware on Windows10 interferes with the connection between the program and the USB dongle. You can prove this by uninstalling Sophos and seeing that normal BadgeBuilder operation is restored.

Please try a different anti-virus suite or contact Sophos for support.

If you MUST use Sophos on the PC in question, you can install the BadgeBuilder Dongle Server application on another PC in the same subnet as the PC you wish to use for BadgeBuilder. Once installed, plug the USB dongle into that machine. BadgeBuilder will scan the network subnet for available dongles and will use the one provided by the other PC via the dongle server application.