RocketShipIt

FedEx Doc Tab Labels

Doc tab label stock is thermal label stock with an extra tear-off tab. FedEx can print shipment data on the tab, either a standard set of fields or fully custom content arranged in up to 12 zones.

Doc tabs are supported by the FedEx-REST carrier for SubmitShipment requests using a thermal image_type (ZPLII/EPL2) and a doc tab label_stock_type such as:

  • STOCK_4X6.75_LEADING_DOC_TAB
  • STOCK_4X6.75_TRAILING_DOC_TAB
  • STOCK_4X9_LEADING_DOC_TAB
  • STOCK_4X9_TRAILING_DOC_TAB
  • STOCK_4X8.5_TRAILING_DOC_TAB
  • STOCK_4X10.5_TRAILING_DOC_TAB

Standard doc tab#

Choosing a DOC_TAB label stock is all that is required for FedEx to print its standard doc tab data:

{
  "carrier": "FedEx-REST",
  "action": "SubmitShipment",
  "params": {
    "image_type": "ZPLII",
    "label_stock_type": "STOCK_4X6.75_LEADING_DOC_TAB",
    ...
  }
}

Custom doc tab zones#

The label.doc_tab parameter customizes the doc tab content. Each zone prints a header and a value. The value is either free-form text (literal_value) or a field FedEx fills in from the shipment request/reply (data_field).

Zone parameters:

Parameter Description
number Zone position on the tab, 1-12. Defaults to the zone's position in the zones list.
header Printed header for the zone, e.g. PO Number.
literal_value Free-form text printed as-is.
data_field Request/reply path FedEx fills in, e.g. REQUEST/PACKAGE/weight/Value or REQUEST/SHIPMENT/ShipTimestamp.
justification LEFT or RIGHT.

Example:

{
  "carrier": "FedEx-REST",
  "action": "SubmitShipment",
  "params": {
    "image_type": "ZPLII",
    "label_stock_type": "STOCK_4X6.75_LEADING_DOC_TAB",
    "label": {
      "doc_tab": {
        "zones": [
          {
            "header": "Customer",
            "literal_value": "ACME Corp",
            "justification": "LEFT"
          },
          {
            "header": "Weight",
            "data_field": "REQUEST/PACKAGE/weight/Value",
            "justification": "RIGHT"
          },
          {
            "header": "Date",
            "data_field": "REQUEST/SHIPMENT/ShipTimestamp"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    ...
  }
}

Doc tab type#

The doc tab content type can be set explicitly with label.doc_tab.type: STANDARD, MINIMUM, ZONE001, BARCODED, or CUSTOM. It defaults to ZONE001 when zones are provided and STANDARD otherwise, so most requests do not need to set it.

BARCODED prints a single zone as a barcode. The first zone is used and the barcode symbology is set with symbology (e.g. CODE128):

"label": {
  "doc_tab": {
    "type": "BARCODED",
    "symbology": "CODE128",
    "zones": [
      {
        "header": "PO",
        "data_field": "REQUEST/PACKAGE/customerReferences[0]/value"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Migrating from the legacy FedEx API#

RocketShipIt v1 doc tab parameters map to label.doc_tab as follows:

Legacy parameter New parameter
docTabType type
docTabZone[N]Label zones[N-1].header
docTabZone[N]DataField zones[N-1].data_field
docTabZone[N]FreeForm zones[N-1].literal_value
docTabZone[N]Justification zones[N-1].justification

Note that FedEx changed the data_field path syntax in their REST API. Legacy SOAP paths do not carry over verbatim; the REST API uses paths like REQUEST/SHIPMENT/ShipTimestamp, REQUEST/PACKAGE/weight/Value, and REQUEST/PACKAGE/InsuredValue/Amount.

See also#