User's Guide

60 July 2019
Printing preferences PLT-02931, Rev. A.1
3.3.3 Sending track information
Magnetic track data is sent in the form of text strings from the application software to the printer driver.
The printer driver must be able to differentiate between magnetic track data and the rest of the printable
objects, specific characters must be added to encode the magnetic data. These characters specify the data
that is to be encoded, the tracks to encode, and marks the start and stop of the data string.
In some cases, these specific characters are automatically added to the string of track data by ID software
applications.
In most cases the user must carefully add these characters to the string of data. If these characters are not
added to the track data, the text intended for the magnetic track appears as printed text on the card. To avoid
this, track information must be entered as described here.
When entering track data, the ~ (tilde) character is entered first, followed by the track number (1, 2 or 3) on
which the data should encode. This is followed by the data to be encoded.
The first character of this data string must be the track's 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 track's maximum character capacity.
■ When segmenting track data, the appropriate Field Separator (FS) must be used. The ASCII code and
character table shows the SS, ES, FS and the valid characters defined for each track.
Reviewing the sample string
Track 1: ~1%JULIEANDERSON^1234567890?
Track 2: ~2;1234567890987654321?
Track 3: ~3;1234567890987654321?
ASCII code and character table
Track Start
Sentinel
End
Sentinel
Field
Separator
Valid Characters Maximum Number of
Characters
Track 1 % ? ^ ASCII 32–95 (See the table) 78
Track 2 ; ? = ASCII 48–63 (See the table) 39
Track 3 ; ? = ASCII 48–63 (See the table) 106
ASCII Code Character ASCII Code Character ASCII Code Character
32 space 54 6 76 L
33 ! 55 7 77 M
34 56 8 78 N
35 # 57 9 79 O
36 $ 58 : 80 P
37 % 59 ; 81 Q
38 and 60 < 82 R
39 ‘ 61 = 83 S