^FE - Field Data Embed Character
Sets the character that embeds one field's data inside another.
^FE names a character that lets one field quote another field's data by the
number ^FN gave it. The ZPL II Programming Guide's command index does not list
^FE at all, so everything below comes from Labelary's reference.
Syntax
^FEaSupport
Accepted and skipped, because it configures the printer rather than the label. It cannot change the rendered output, and Labelary skips it too.
The parser reads the embed character, and the renderer gives it no effect, because Labelary gives it none either. A field carrying ^FE renders identical to the same field without it, measured pixel for pixel on 2026-08-22. Reading the slot is what raises the argument report on a value longer than one character. The ZPL II Programming Guide does not index the command, so Labelary's table is the only documentation. — not pinned by a test
Labelary renders this command.
Parameters
aEmbed characteroptional · single characterCharacter used to embed field data within field data.
- Default
- unspecified
- Invalid value
- not documented, and we have not measured it. Neither the ZPL II guide nor Labelary's table documents the accepted values, and no one measured the command on hardware.
- Test coverage
Behavior
With the embed character set to #, Labelary documents three forms of placeholder
inside field data:
#3#— the whole of field 3's data.#2,F,1,5#— the first five characters of field 2.#4,B,3,3#— the last three characters of field 4.
Only the substring bounds vary: F counts from the front, B from the back.
Labelary documents nothing more. A probe on 2026-07-30 declared ^FE# and
referred to a numbered field in the same label, and the placeholder text printed
unchanged. The conditions the substitution needs, most likely a stored format
recalled with ^XF, remain unknown.
Re-probed on 2026-08-22, in a plain label and through a ^DF format recalled with
^XF: the placeholder [#1#] printed unchanged both times. So Labelary performs
no substitution at all, whatever the surrounding format.
The renderer reads the embed character and gives it no effect, which is what
Labelary does. A label carrying ^FE renders identical to the same label without
it, compared dot for dot at 8 dpmm. A field with a placeholder prints the
placeholder characters literally in both engines.
The slot is one character wide, so a longer value is trimmed to its first
character and the trim is reported. Only the caret spelling is a command: ~FE
reports that it does not exist.
Differences from the specification
Labelary against the ZPL II guide
Where Labelary — our compatibility target — behaves differently from the printed specification.
- Labelary documents
^FE, which the ZPL II Programming Guide's command index does not list. — not pinned by a test
Example
Declaring the embed character and referring to field 3:
^XA
^FE#
^FN3^FDAcme Corporation^FS
^FO50,40^A0N,30,30^FD#3#^FS
^FO50,90^A0N,30,30^FDfirst four: #3,F,1,4#^FS
^XZ
Related commands
^FDField DataSupplies the text or barcode content of the field.^FHField Hexadecimal IndicatorLets the following `^FD` carry bytes as hexadecimal escapes.^FVField VariableSupplies field data the printer clears after the label prints, unlike `^FD`.