Features

Everything ceelab does

Version described: ceelab 0.3.3. Every screenshot comes from the application itself.

Generation

Filterable list of all document types; the last one chosen is remembered on the computer.
One line per field asked of the operator; errors appear under the field, and a counter shows its next number.
Lines build up in the batch, which can mix several types; preview without using anything up.
Earlier date: the documents, the PDF metadata and the counter period follow the chosen date.
The button tells you what will come out: “Print 12 labels”, “Generate 12 documents”.
Keyboard: Enter moves to the next field and adds the line on the last one; Ctrl+Enter generates; Ctrl+N clears the batch.

Numbers are reserved and every document is recorded in the history in a single operation.
Parallel compilation, then all the labels of the batch go to the spooler at once, in order.
For each document: Preview, Open PDF (documents), Reprint and 180° Rotate (labels), without using up a number.
With the first batch of labels, only one is printed for checking (orientation, alignment, content) before the rest of the batch; this check happens once per installation.

Eight field kinds: text, number, date, choice list, Yes/No, counter, combined, formula.
Options: required, asked of the operator or fixed value, default value.
Each field has a variable in English, {product}; “Rename the variable” updates everything that refers to it.
Document language set per type: dates and hyphenation in the documents produced.
Pattern for PDF file names, with a live preview.

Numbers reserved in blocks, in one atomic operation; the numbers of a batch are contiguous, with no ceiling.
Reset never, every year, every month or every day, based on the document date.
A reserved number is always traced: a failed output is regenerated with the same number.
Example: 2026-10-0042 comes from a counter reset every month and the combined field {year}-{month}-{serial}.

A text with gaps {…}, each gap being an expression: {prefix}{format_date(date, "yymmdd")}-{pad(rank, 2)}.
Functions text, number, round, decimals, pad, upper, lower, left, right, replace, format_date, add_days and lookup; operators, comparisons and if … then … else.
Checks on saving: unknown names, incompatible types, circular calculations, with the result on the sample values.
A formula that fails blocks generation without using up a number; results are frozen in the history.
The same expressions can be written in template texts.

Text elements, images, shapes, lines, CE and ATEX markings; label of any size or A4 page.
The “Insert a variable” palette offers the fields of the type and the ceelab elements ({date}, {copy}, {location}…).
Several templates per type; those checked “Produced on every generation” come out for each copy.
Drafts saved automatically, .ceet import and export, import of Word and ODT documents.

Gallery filterable by type, “Not attached” included, with a fitted preview and sample values.
Edit, duplicate, export, attach to a type.

History by batch, accent-insensitive search, status of each output.
Identical regeneration: same values, same language, same date, same original layout, no number used up.
Excel export of the filtered history.
Database table explorer, Excel import and export, import of a .db database.

Interface language, output folder, location ({location} variable), label and document printers.
Backup as a ZIP archive (database and settings) and full restore.

Administration is protected by a password set on first launch and asked once per session.
Five failed attempts send you back to generation mode, with a deliberate delay after each incorrect attempt.
The password is never stored in plain text; if you forget it, it can be reset (see the guide).

Commands types, describe, preview, print, history, reprint and edit.
The -- options depend on the variables of the type: --product "Stainless screw" or --set product="Stainless screw".
JSON response (--json) and stable exit codes, for scripts and scheduled tasks.
Same safeguards as the application, all checked before a single number is reserved.