 |
» |
|
|
|
Barcodes are those black and white stripes found on grocery store products, parts within manufacturing processes, invoices, US Postal Service letters, etc. They are everywhere.
Barcodes encapsulate a small amount of data and are read with a wand, or barcode reader. It is just another way of writing. Barcode languages are called symbologies. Each symbology has a different use.
Click here to see what products are available.
Code 39 or 3 of 9 - This is one of the most popular barcodes used in non-retail barcode applications. It is often used for ID badges, inventory tracking, etc. Code 39 contains 44 alphanumeric characters. Each character has three wide elements and six narrow elements for a total of nine elements. Code 39 is a discrete symbology, meaning every character stands alone and is separated from the next by an inter-character gap. This gap contains no information. Each Code 39 symbol starts and stops with an asterisk. The symbols can be of variable length, and Code 39 has error detection at a character level. Available character set - Alphabet upper case and numbers 0 through 9
Postnet (USPS) - This is a numeric symbology that is widely used by the U.S. Postal Service. It uses five bars and four spaces for each digit that is encoded. The symbol uses a constant width and spacing of the bars. In each encoded digit, two of the bars are tall and the other three are short.
UPC - The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a numeric symbology designed to uniquely identify a product and its manufacturer. The UPC code is a twelve-digit code with the first six digits representing the manufacturer of the item, the next five digits uniquely identify the product and the twelfth digit is a check character. U.P.C. is a fixed length symbology that uses four element widths. Two versions of the U.P.C symbology exist. Version A encodes twelve digits, and Version E encodes six digits.
Code 128 - Code 128 is a high-density alphanumeric symbology. It is used in a variety of applications. Each character has eleven modules with three bars and three spaces. Code 128 encodes the full 128 character ASCII character set using three different character sets, A, B, and C.
UCC/EAN1-128 - Specific format for shipping container codes.
There are four different versions of this symbology.
Set A - Includes 0 through 9 and upper case alphabet along with ASCII control characters.
Set B - Includes 0 through 9 and both upper and lower case alphabet characters.
Set C - Encodes pairs of numbers 00 through 99, yielding dense symbols.
Interleaved 2 of 5 - Interleaved 2 of 5 is a high-density, self-checking, numeric symbology. It is the most popular symbology in the distribution industry. Each 2 of 5 character encodes two digits. One digit is encoded in the bars, and the other character is encoded in the spaces. There are five bars. Two of the bars are wide and the other three are narrow. The same applies for the spaces.
OCR-A and OCR-B - OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR-A is used on book covers to format the ISBN number. OCR-B is used for the human readable digits displayed under UPC.
PDF-417 - PDF-417 is a high-density, two-dimensional barcode symbology that consists of stacked sets of smaller barcodes. The symbology is capable of encoding the entire ASCII set. PDF stands for "portable data file", and is used in various industries including hazardous materials labeling, encoding fingerprints, photographs on drivers' licenses, and storing technical specifications and calibration data on various instruments.
MaxiCode - Developed by the United Parcel Service, it was originally called DenseCode and then UPSCODE. It is also, at times, referred to as Hex Code. It is used for automatic sorting and tracking of packages. MaxiCode is a fixed length, alphanumeric symbology that is made up of interlocking hexagons that surround a circular pattern.
Codabar - Codabar is a self-checking, discrete symbology that is used in libraries, blood banks, and certain air parcel express applications. The symbology has sixteen characters in a set, the numbers 0 through 9, and the $ : / . + - characters. Each character is composed of four bars and three intervening spaces.
Code 93 - Code 93 is a variable length symbology using four element widths. Each character has nine modules containing three bars and three spaces.
Copyright © 2000, 2004 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. This information is subject to change without notice and is provided "as is" with no warranty.
Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this material.
|
| |
|
Printable version
