Add Barcode Font to Business Objects Web Intelligence XI 3.1

Recently I needed to add a barcode on a Business Objects Web Intelligence report.
The barcode font was available on de server and client but it was not showing up in Business Objects Web Intelligence.

The first option I tried was to create a cell with HTML code to force the font.
This worked great but there was one problem. You cannot print the report in HTML mode.
When you want to print it will always convert to PDF format first and then you will loose the correct display of HTML in the cell.

According to SAP it is not possible to add extra fonts to Business Objects Web Intelligence.
After searching the internet I have found different ways of adding fonts with mixed results reported by different people.
The following worked for me om Business Objects XI 3.1

I use the barcode font : C39HrP24DlTt
This is a Truetype freeware barcode font.

Follow the following steps to add the barcode font to Business Objects Web Intelligence:

  1. Install the font on de Business Objects server in C:\Windows\Fonts
  2. Copy the .ttf to the following locations also
    1. If you have the following location available add the font here : <BO_INSTALL_DIR>\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\j2sdk1.4.2_08\jre\lib\fonts
    2. Else add the font to : <BO_INSTALL_DIR>\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\javasdk\jre\lib\fonts
      and/or to : <BO_INSTALL_DIR>\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\javasdk\jre6\lib\fonts
      If you have another jre directory place the font in there.
  3. Edit the following file : <BO_INSTALL_DIR>\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\win32_x86\fonts\fontalias.xml
    and add the following after de first tag (<FONTALIASMANAGER>) .<FONT NAME=”c39hrp24dltt”>
    <FONTFAMILY PLATFORM=”ttf” NAME=”c39hrp24dltt (c39hrp24dltt)”>
    <FONTATTRIBUTE BOLD=”false” ITALIC=”false” LOGICAL=”c39hrp24dltt” PHYSICAL=”c39hrp24dltt.ttf”/>
    </FONTFAMILY>
    <FONTFAMILY PLATFORM=”win” NAME=”c39hrp24dltt”/>
    <FONTFAMILY PLATFORM=”java” NAME=”c39hrp24dltt”/>
    <FONTFAMILY PLATFORM=”html” NAME=”c39hrp24dltt”/>
    </FONT>Make sure you first make a backup of the file in case you mess something up.

 

  1. Edit the following file : <BO_INSTALL_DIR>\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\win32_x86\scripts\i81n.xml
    Between the tag <FontFinder> add the following:<font key=”c39hrp24dltt” value=”c39hrp24dltt”/>Between the tag <FontFinder2> add the following:<font key=”c39hrp24dltt” value=”c39hrp24dltt”/>

 

Between the tag <TTF> add the following :

<font name=”c39hrp24dltt”>
<os type=”all”>
<Attributs style=”0″ filename=”c39hrp24dltt.ttf” encoding=”” aliaspsname=”c39hrp24dltt”/>
</os>
</font>

Also make a backup first before editing the file.

  1. Now restart the Business Objects webserver.
  2. Now create a new report in Business Objects Web Intelligence and the font should be available in the font list.
  3. You will see the correct font when viewing the report in html view and not while editing the report.

    Edit view

 

HTML View

6 comments

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    • Jason on 17 January 2013 at 18:33
    • Reply

    Worked like a charm! Thanks for putting this together.

    I was able to get a similar barcode font installed and working without copying it to the jre locations or restarting any servers. I only placed it in C:/Windows/Fonts and edited the two XML files, then it popped up.

    1. Hi Jason, i’m happy this worked for you! Thanks for posting your results.

    • roar h on 18 April 2013 at 10:40
    • Reply

    Thanks for the tip!
    The barcode is visible only on HTML- mode though.
    In PDF- mode (for printing) the barcode is invisible. (Shows numbers)
    Any ideas on how to make it work in PDF- mode too? 🙂

    1. Hi Roar, this works for me on the PDF also. Did you perform all the steps ?

        • roar h on 19 April 2013 at 08:56
        • Reply

        Yes I performed all the steps. It works on the windows platform with an old version of BO. However It does not work on my Linux platform. My Linux skills are poor.

        1. Hi Roar, this post was intended for a windows environment. Unfortunately i cannot help you with your Linux environment. If you do succeed please let me know so i can also add that information on the blog.

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