Creating Objects - Barcode - Symbology

EAN/UPC-128 Barcode

(Please open “EAN-128” while looking at this document, EAN-128 uses two different barcode generation methods in the “left” label and the “right” label).

SSCC labels contain two barcodes that together use 5 data fields, four of which are contained in the bottom barcode. The contents of this barcode are common for major retailers, and include the AI’s for (02) Item, (15) Best Before Date, (10) Lot or Batch Number and (37) Quantity.

The production system recognizes each AI and checks the data to confirm it is the correct type and length. Illegal barcodes are not printed. If you have problems building a correct barcode, please build one AI at a time until the entire barcode is built and correct. The program independently compresses any resulting numeric digits where more than 4 adjacent digits are found, and prints the delimiters in brackets as the Human Readable.

More complex AIs can be added to the barcode such as 310n which shows the trade weight in Kg for a Pallet. This contains the number of decimals in the “n” position, hence:

(3102)1225 = 12.25 Kg
(3101)1225 = 122.5 Kg
(3100)1225 = 1225 Kg

You will REQUIRE the local publication from the EAN/UPC body in your country, who will verify the barcodes for you where you want to use additional AIs.

There are two basic schemes for production of EAN-128 barcodes.

  1. Construction from a single field containing the full EAN-128 data. The fields can be either fixed length or delimited. The labels named Delimited use this approach, with delimited data.
  2. Construction of the barcode is very simple (just the one field), with construction of the data file requiring AIs, and delimiters if the AI data is not full length. For simplicity, use delimiters throughout – even for fixed fields. No overhead is incurred in the finished label.
  3. We recommend placing the additional field containing EAN-128 data last in the data record.
  4. Construction from individual fields. In this approach the AIs are inserted ahead of the individual fields. Fields must be delimited for variable data that is short, and masked where required.
  5. Construction of the barcode is moderately difficult, however data files are simple to generate and contain just the data from your data base or from a FormTrap Associated File.

Delimited Labels:

The “delimited” approach, precedes each AI with a delimiter (~) and the entire text ends in a trailing delimiter.

Working through the barcode text:

Delimiter ~ (any character, such as / or \ or | etc.)
AI 02 (item) Item data
Key a valid representation of your Item code
link this to the Item field in your file
Delimiter ~
AI 15 (Use by date) Best Before date
Best Before Key in a valid date in yymmdd format (example uses 051231)
link this to the Best Before field in your file
Delimiter ~
AI 10 (Batch or Lot) Lot data
Key in an example batch number for your site
link this to the Lot field in your file
Delimiter ~
AI 37 (Quantity) Quantity data
Key some data, the maximum for your trade units
link this to the Quantity field in your file
Delimiter ~

In this label, the data in the "Delimited" file is already reduced to significant digits only.

Fixed Labels:

The label uses fixed length fields output by your application (fields are space separated in the data file for easy viewing). The barcode inserts AI and delimiter (/) where required. This type of file is normally presented by AS/400 programs as well as some Unix systems. In this sample, variable length AI text is of the required size (6 characters for Lot and 4 characters for Qty).

Working through the text:

AI 02 (Item) Item data

Key a valid representation of your Item code
link this to the Item field in your file
this field is fixed length
field uses a Mod 10 Check Digit which is checked
AI 15 (Use by date) Best Before date
Key in a valid date in yymmdd format (example uses 091231)
link this to the Best Before field in your file
Delimiter / (Lot is variable length, max. 20 characters)
AI 10 (Batch or Lot) Lot data
key in 6 digits (or the number of characters in your Lot number),
link this to the Lot field in your file
Delimiter / (Quantity is variable length, max. 8 digits)
AI 37 (Quantity) Quantity data
key 4 digits (or whatever your organization's standard length is)
for the pieces in your trade unit,
link this to the Quantity field in your file
Delimiter ~

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PDF417 Barcode

PDF417 barcodes are two-dimensional and have additional properties that are easily included into the object by masking additional data onto the front of the text string that will be converted into the PDF417 barcode. These properties are the Number of Data Character Columns, and the Security (used to assist reading of a damaged or obscured barcode). The defaults are 8 data columns, and a security level of 3 (security runs from 1-lowest to 8-highest and impacts the finished size of the barcode. For this application, the default security level is more than adequate).

To change Data Columns and/or Security, mask this string to the front of the barcode text:

~C~S~ where C is Columns and S is Security.
~C~~ Security may be omitted (and defaults to 3).

This is the definition string and resulting barcode.

Barcode

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Australia Post DPID

This barcode uses the DPID value to generate a barcode to Australia Post specification. The value MUST include a check digit, the picture shows a valid value.

Definition tab, Symbology: Australia Post

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