Conversion routines for Barcodes Code128 and inteleaved 2

Chuck Miller (7/2/08 8:57AM)
kenajcooper at aol.com (7/2/08 11:24AM)
Chuck Miller (7/2/08 11:58AM)
Chuck Miller (7/2/08 12:08PM)
Chuck Miller (7/2/08 4:03PM)
Christopher Scott Wyatt (7/2/08 8:19PM)
Christopher Scott Wyatt (7/3/08 3:08PM)

Chuck Miller (7/2/08 8:57 AM)

of 5

<FF09FBF1-5722-4F46-95A3-51B28E226353@...

I have tried to print code 128 using code from idautomation as a  

basis, with no success.

If anyone else has success I would love to see the code. Start and  

stop bits are based upon ascii numbers, which are different on macs  

and PCs

Regards

Chuck

On Jul 2, 2008, at 3:34 AM, Amin Khan wrote:

You can also look at this thread:

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.inug-4d.tech/68675

You can also get the 4D source code for printing barcodes using ID  

Automation at their website:

http://www.idautomation.com/fonts/tools/sourcecode/#4D

If you are going to use Mac for printing barcodes ID Automation,  

following is also helpful:

http://www.idautomation.com/kb/fonts-macintosh.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Chuck Miller                      
    Voice: (617) 739-0306

Informed Solutions, Inc.              Fax:
(617) 232-1064
kenajcooper at aol.com (7/2/08 11:24 AM)

Hi All

Just an update on the Barcode printing

Based on pointers received from users of this group and others we have

finally managed to get Barcodes printed and scanning properly

we were pointed to the following website which was a great source of

info for us with sample script (in vb) and conversio programs to try

http://grandzebu.net/index.php

The way we achived the Code 128 was basically as follows

We were given a Tracking Number

eg

DR12345686GB

a checksum was added to this giving

DR123456860GB

This was then converted using Code 128 TableB/C giving

Ă&euml;DRĂ&aring;,BXvĂ&ccedil;0GB"Ă&igrave;

this converted string was displayed on the label using font Code128

a man-readable DR123456860GB was displayed under

this then scans giving DR123456860GB

Many thanks to all for our help

If anyone needs are more details I will try to help

Best Regards

Ken

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Chuck Miller (7/2/08 11:58 AM)

<8CFBAE5B-6C40-469F-BECB-D1EAD20A51A2@...

If willing to share your code,  bet lot's of folks would be  

interested. I know I would.

Regards

Chuck

On Jul 2, 2008, at 11:24 AM, kenajcooper@... wrote:

Just an update on the Barcode printing

Based on pointers received from users of this group and others we  

have finally managed to get Barcodes printed and scanning properly

we were pointed to the following website which was a great source  

of info for us with sample script (in vb) and conversio programs to  

try

http://grandzebu.net/index.php

------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Chuck Miller                      
    Voice: (617) 739-0306

Informed Solutions, Inc.              Fax:
(617) 232-1064
Chuck Miller (7/2/08 12:08 PM)

of 5

<6ADEA431-4457-491C-8C1B-696CDBBD0C1B@...

I have tried scanning plain vanilla 128B bar codes, you need to  

append a start character and append a stop character. You also must  

have a checksum. I am not sure how you got 128B to work with none of  

these.

Regards

Chuck

On Jul 2, 2008, at 9:18 AM, Christopher Scott Wyatt wrote:

I use Code39 and Code128, as well as UPC fonts, with no problems.  

You set the font and then use the text. I simply have a text field  

that uses the barcode font. You don't do anything special at all,  

beyond selecting the font.

The only code I've ever had to write was to verify UPC checksums.
Chuck Miller (7/2/08 4:03 PM)

of 5

<D75DA0D0-B9CD-4855-8ABB-79D7E571334A@...

128 is one of the fonts that uses above 128. I think 2 dimensional  

fonts do as well.

Regards

Chuck

On Jul 2, 2008, at 12:34 PM, Christopher Scott Wyatt wrote:

Most barcode fonts do not go beyond the ASCII-7 range. I code on  

Mac and PC, using the same TrueType barcode font on both. Since  

most of the characters are numbers and the asterisk, there's no  

reason to have any issues with higher range characters.
Christopher Scott Wyatt (7/2/08 8:19 PM)

of 5

On Jul 2, 2008, at 3:03 PM, Chuck Miller wrote:

128 is one of the fonts that uses above 128. I think 2 dimensional  

fonts do as well.

Someone needs to quote the standard, not what companies sell as  

"standard." Any database developer should be familiar with the  

ANSI.org site and its documentation. I had to deal with compliance  

issues on military contracts, causing us to reject a lot of "good"  

scanners and systems.

From ANSI X3.182/ISO 15416 standard (http://webstore.ansi.org/):

Code 128 is a popular barcode symbology. Code 128 is a modern 1D  

symbology that encodes the lower 128 ASCII characters (hence its  

name). No ANSI approved device may encode values outside this range.  

Code 128 is a very high density alphanumeric bar code. The symbol can  

be as long as necessary to store the encoded data. It is designed to  

encode all 128 ASCII characters, and will use the least amount of  

space for data of 6 characters or more of any 1-D symbology.

Each data character encoded in a Code 128 symbol is made up of 11  

black or white modules. The stop character, however, is made up of 13  

modules. Three bars and three spaces are formed out of these 11  

modules. Bar and spaces can vary between 1 and 4 modules wide.

The symbol includes a quiet zone (10 x-dimensions), a start character,  

the encoded data, a check character, the stop character, and a  

trailing quiet zone (10 x-dimensions). For optimum hand-scanning with  

a contact reader, the quiet zone should be at least 0.25 inches.

Any "Code 128" using IBM "extended ASCII" is *not* compliant with the  

standard and dose not meet procurement standards of the GAO.
Christopher Scott Wyatt (7/3/08 3:08 PM)

of 5

On Jul 3, 2008, at 9:36 AM, Chuck Miller wrote:

You are correct in the characters represented, but the start and  

stop bits are above 128 ascii values and there in lies the problem  

with font differences between macs and PCs

From ANSI -- the codes are well within 128, in standard Code 128. I  

started using barcodes back on a 7-bit based mini computer and had to  

do the same on an IBM mainframe that used the dreaded EBCIDIC, for  

which I coded translators. The scanners were generally 8-bit, but the  

hardware receiving wasn't.

Unfortunately for Code 128, IBM's extended ASCII set uses the ANSI-

defined characters for start and stop, but they do function if the  

font is truly Code 128-compliant.

ValueStart CodePattern

B S B S B S

103 (Hex 87)START (Code A)2 1 1 4 1 2

104 (Hex 88)START (Code B)2 1 1 2 1 4

105 (Hex 89)START (Code C)2 1 1 2 3 2

ValueStop CodePattern

B S B S B S B

106STOP2 3 3 1 1 1 2
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