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Format BarCodes
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ActiveReports User Guide > How To > Format BarCodes

Glossary Item Box

The ActiveReports BarCode control offers all of the following barcode styles:

ShowBarcode styles and descriptions

BarCodeStyle Description
Ansi39 ANSI 3 of 9 (Code 39) uses upper case, numbers, - , * $ / + %. This is the default barcode style.
Ansi39x ANSI Extended 3 of 9 (Extended Code 39) uses the complete ASCII character set.
Code_2_of_5 Code 2 of 5 uses only numbers.
Code25intlv Interleaved 2 of 5 uses only numbers.
Code25mat Code 25 Matrix is a two-dimensional version of the linear Code 2 of 5 barcode.
Code39 Code 39 uses numbers, % * $ /. , - +, and upper case.
Code39x Extended Code 39 uses the complete ASCII character set.
Code_128_A Code 128 A uses control characters, numbers, punctuation, and upper case.
Code_128_B Code 128 B uses punctuation, numbers, upper case and lower case.
Code_128_C Code 128 C uses only numbers.
Code_128auto Code 128 Auto uses the complete ASCII character set.  Automatically selects between Code 128 A, B and C to give the smallest barcode.
Code_93 Code 93 uses uppercase, % $ * / , + -,  and numbers.
Code93x Extended Code 93 uses the complete ASCII character set.
MSI MSI Code uses only numbers.
PostNet PostNet uses only numbers with a check digit.
Codabar Codabar uses A B C D + - : , / and numbers.
EAN_8 EAN-8 uses only numbers (7 numbers and a check digit).
EAN_13 EAN-13 uses only numbers (12 numbers and a check digit). If there are only 12 numbers in the string, it calculates a checksum and adds it to the thirteenth position. If there are 13, it validates the checksum and throws an error if it is incorrect.
UPC_A UPC-A uses only numbers (11 numbers and a check digit).
UPC_E0 UPC-E0 uses only numbers.  Used for zero-compression UPC symbols.  For the Caption property, you may enter either a six-digit UPC-E code or a complete 11-digit (includes code type, which must be zero) UPC-A code.  If an 11-digit code is entered, the Barcode control will convert it to a six-digit UPC-E code, if possible.  If it is not possible to convert from the 11-digit code to the six-digit code, nothing is displayed.
UPC_E1 UPC-E1 uses only numbers.  Used typically for shelf labeling in the retail environment.  The length of the input string for U.P.C. E1 is six numeric characters.
RM4SCC Royal Mail RM4SCC uses only letters and numbers (with a check digit).  This is the barcode used by the Royal Mail in the United Kingdom.
UCCEAN128 UCC/EAN –128 uses the complete ASCII character Set.  This is a special version of Code 128 used in HIBC applications.
QRCode QRCode is a 2D symbology that is capable of handling numeric, alphanumeric and byte data as well as Japanese kanji and kana characters. This symbology can encode up to 7,366 characters.
Code49 Code 49 is a 2D high-density stacked barcode containing two to eight rows of eight characters each. Each row has a start code and a stop code. Encodes the complete ASCII character set. 
JapanesePostal This is the barcode used by the Japanese Postal system. Encodes alpha and numeric characters consisting of 18 digits including a 7-digit postal code number, optionally followed by block and house number information. The data to be encoded can include hyphens.
Pdf417 Pdf417 is a popular high-density 2-dimensional symbology that encodes up to 1108 bytes of information. This barcode consists of a stacked set of smaller barcodes. Encodes the full ASCII character set. It has ten error correction levels and three data compaction modes: Text, Byte, and Numeric. This symbology can encode up to 1,850 alphanumeric characters or 2,710 numeric characters.
EAN128FNC1 EAN-128 is an alphanumeric one-dimensional representation of Application Identifier (AI) data for marking containers in the shipping industry.

This type of bar code contains the following sections:

  • Leading quiet zone (blank area)
  • Code 128 start character
    • A allows standard alphanumeric plus control and special characters
    • B allows standard alphanumeric plus lower case alpha and special characters
    • C allows a set of 100 digit pairs from 00 to 99
  • FNC (function) 1 character which allows scanners to identify this as an EAN-128 barcode
  • Data (AI plus data field)
  • Symbol check character (Start code value plus product of each character position plus value of each character divided by 103. The checksum is the remainder value.)
  • Stop character
  • Trailing quiet zone (blank area)

The AI in the Data section sets the type of the data to follow (i.e. ID, dates, quantity, measurements, etc.). There is a specific data structure for each type of data. This AI is what distinguishes the EAN-128 code from Code 128.

Multiple AIs (along with their data) can be combined into a single bar code.

EAN128FNC1 is a UCC/EAN-128 (EAN128) type barcode that allows you to insert FNC1 character at any place and adjust the bar size, etc., which is not available in UCC/EAN-128.

 

To insert FNC1 character, set “\n” for C#, or “vbLf” for VB to Text property at runtime.

RSS14 RSS14 is a 14-digit Reduced Space Symbology that uses EAN.UCC item identification for point-of-sale omnidirectional scanning.
RSS14Truncated RSS14Truncated uses the EAN.UCC information as in the RSS14, but also includes Indicator digits of zero or one for use on small items not scanned at the point of sale.
RSS14Stacked RSS14Stacked uses the EAN.UCC information with Indicator digits as in the RSS14Truncated, but stacked in two rows for a smaller width.
RSS14StackedOmnidirectional RSS14StackedOmnidirectional uses the EAN.UCC information with omnidirectional scanning as in the RSS14, but stacked in two rows for a smaller width.
RSSExpanded RSSExpanded uses the EAN.UCC information as in the RSS14, but also adds AI elements such as weight and best-before dates.
RSSExpandedStacked RSSExpandedStacked uses the EAN.UCC information with AI elements as in the RSSExpanded, but stacked in two rows for a smaller width.

* The RSS and QRCode styles have fixed height-to-width ratios. When you resize the width, the height is automatically calculated.

The following properties help you to customize the exact barcode you need for your application:

ShowBarcode properties and descriptions

Property Description
Alignment The horizontal alignment of the caption in the control. Select from Near, Center, or Far. See CaptionPosition for vertical alignment.
AutoSize When set to True, the barcode automatically stretches to fit the control.
BackColor Select a background fill color for the barcode.
BarWidth Set the width, in inches, of the barcode's narrow bars. Setting the width to 0 expands the barcode to fit the control. The width ratio is 1 to 0.012 inches. So setting the BarWidth to 2 will have a value of 0.024 inches, while a value of 10 yields a bar width of 0.12 inches for the narrowest bars.
CaptionPosition The vertical alignment of the caption in the control. Select from None, Above, or Below. See Alignment for horizontal alignment. None is selected by default, and no caption is displayed.
CheckSumEnabled Some barcode styles require a checksum and some have an optional checksum. CheckSumEnabled has no effect if the style already requires a check digit or if the style does not offer a checksum option.
Code128 Code128 has three settings that work in conjunction: Dpi, BarAdjust, and ModuleSize. This property only applies to the barcode style EANFNC1. You can improve the readability of the barcode by setting all three properties.
  • Dpi sets the printer resolution. Specify the resolution of the printer as dots per inch to create an optimized barcode image with the specified Dpi value. 
  • BarAdjust sets the adjustment size by dot units, which affects the size of the module and not the entire barcode.
  • ModuleSize sets the horizontal size of the barcode module.
Code49 Code49 Options include Grouping and Group.  If Grouping is set to True, any value not expressed by a single barcode is expressed by splitting it into several barcodes, and the Group property may be set to a number between 0 and 8.  The default values are False and 0, respectively. When the Group property is set to 2, the grouped barcode's second symbol is created. When invalid group numbers are set, the BarCodeDataException is thrown.
Direction Specify the print direction of the barcode symbol. Select from LeftToRight (the default value), RightToLeft, TopToBottom, or BottomToTop.
Font Set the font for the caption. Only takes effect if you set the CaptionPosition property to a value other than None.
ForeColor Select a color for the barcode and caption.
PDF417 PDF417 Options only apply to the barcode style PDF417.
  • Column sets column numbers for the barcode. Values for this property range from 1 to 30. The default value is -1 which automatically determines row numbers.
  • ErrorLevel sets the error correction level for the barcode. Values range between 0 and 8. The error correction capability increases as the value increases. With each increase in the ErrorLevel value, the size of the barcode increases. The default value is -1 for automatic configuration.
  • Row sets row numbers for the barcode. Values range between 3 and 90. The default value is -1 which automatically determine row numbers.
  • Type sets the barcode type to Normal or Simple. Simple is the compact type in which the right indicator is neither displayed nor printed.
QRCode QRCode Options only apply to the barcode style QRCode.
  • Connection allows any value which cannot be expressed by a single barcode to split into several barcodes. This property is used in conjunction with the ConnectionNumber property. 
  • ConnectionNumber Use this property with the Connection property to set the number of barcodes it can split into. Values between 0 and 15 are valid. An invalid number raises the BarCodeData Exception.
  • ErrorLevel values are L (7% restorable), M (15% restorable), Q (25% restorable), and H (30% restorable). The higher the percentage, the larger the barcode becomes.
  • Mask is used to balance brightness and offers 8 patterns in the QRCodeMask enumeration. The default value is Auto, which sets the masking pattern automatically, and is recommended for most uses. 
    • Mask000 (i+j) mod 2 = 0
    • Mask001 i mod 2 = 0
    • Mask010 j mod 3 = 0
    • Mask011 (i+j) mod 3 = 0
    • Mask100 (( i div 2)+(j div 3)) mod 2 = 0
    • Mask101 (ij) mod 2 + (ij) mod 3 = 0
    • Mask110 ((ij) mod 2 +(ij) mod 3) mod 2 = 0
    • Mask111 ((ij)mod 3 + (i+j) mod 2) mod 2 = 0
  • Model sets Model1, the original model, or Model2, the extended model.
  • Version indicates the size of the barcode. As the value increases, the barcode's size increases, enabling more information to be stored. Specify any value between 1 and 14 when the Model property is set to Model1 and 1 to 40 for Model2.  The default value is -1, which automatically determines the version most suited to the value.
RowCount Sets the number of stacked rows in the barcode.
Style Sets the symbology used to render the barcode. See the table above for details about each style.
Text Sets the value to print as a barcode symbol and caption. ActiveReports fills this value from the bound data field if the control is bound to the data source.

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