When the Datasource is Fixed, the text box in the user interface provides an efficient and robust way to assist you in keying in the data for the barcode. Many different checks will be carried out. For example, the user interface will restrict the number of characters that can be entered etc.. These checks will ensure that the data that is used to generate the barcode adheres to industry specifications. In the case where the Datasource is Database, incorrect data might exist in the tables or text files. SmartCodeStudio Database Engine will read in the data and make sure that the data adheres to the industry standard. In the event that the data does not adhere to the standard, padding or truncating of characters will be carried out to correct the data.

These procedures are based on industry best practices to provide a powerful and flexible yet intuitive way of managing barcode data. In extreme cases, where the data cannot be corrected or interpreted, a default 'empty' data will be generated. The description below details the operations that the Database Engine carry out when importing data into barcodes. The information is important for you before attempting to read in data from your database to generate barcodes.

Code 39

Characters Supported

'0'..'9','A'..'Z, '-', '.', ' ', '$', '/', '+', '%' Lower-case alphabets will be made upper-case automatically. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 39 ASCII

Characters Supported

Full ASCII including special characters like NULL etc.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 93

Characters Supported

'0'-'9', 'A'..'Z, '-', '.', ' ', '$', '/', '+', '%' Lower case alphabets will be made upper case automatically. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 128

Characters Supported

The Full ASCII set including special characters like NULL.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 128 A

Characters Supported

The Full ASCII set, except for the 26 lower case letters. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 128 B

Characters Supported

The Full ASCII set, except for the 26 "control" characters. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

Code 128 C

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

If data exceed 255 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

DataMatrix

Characters Supported

The Full ASCII set including special characters like SOH etc..

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

DataMatrix can encode different number of characters depending on the contents of the input data and the size of the matrix. If the data exceed the maximum number of characters supported, then a default barcode with data '000000' will be generated.

EAN13

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 12 digits.

Truncation

If data exceed 12 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

EAN8

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 7 digits.

Truncation

If data exceed 7 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

ISBN

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. A prefix of '978' will be automatically added to the incoming data. It is thus assumed that the field in the database or text files does not include the '978' prefix.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data together with prefix '978' is less than 12 digits.

Truncation

If input data together with prefix '978' exceed 12 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

ISSN

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. A prefix of '977' will be automatically added to the incoming data. It is thus assumed that the field in the database or text files does not include the '977' prefix.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data together with prefix '977' is less than 12 digits.

Truncation

If input data together with prefix '977' exceed 12 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

MSI

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Not Applicable.

Truncation

If input data exceed 34 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

PDF417

Characters Supported

The Full ASCII set including special characters like NULL etc..

Padding

Not applicable.

Truncation

PDF417 can encode different number of characters depending on the contents of the input data. If the data exceed the maximum number of characters supported, then a default barcode with data '00000000' will be generated.

Postnet

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. 5, 9 or 11 digits are expected.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 5 digits. Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 9 digits but more than 5 digits. Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 11 digits but more than 9 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 11 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

Rational Codabar

Characters Supported

'0'-'9','-',':','/','.','+' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. 'A','B','C','D' is used to start and stop the barcode and is thus expected to be in the input data. Otherwise the Database Engine will attempt to correct the data.

Padding

Not Applicable.

Truncation

If input data exceed 255 characters, the rest of the characters will be trimmed.

RSS 14

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. The (01) prefix for RSS is not expected to be in the input data.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 13 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 13 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

RSS Limited

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. The (01) prefix for RSS is not expected to be in the input data. The input data needs to be in the range of 0000000000000 to 1999999999999. If the input data value is greater than 1999999999999, then a barcode with the value 1999999999999 will be generated.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 13 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 13 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

RSS Stacked

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. The (01) prefix for RSS is not expected to be in the input data.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 13 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 13 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

RSS Stacked Omnidirectional

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. The (01) prefix for RSS is not expected to be in the input data.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 13 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 13 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

RSS Truncated

Characters Supported

'0'-'9'. Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. The (01) prefix for RSS is not expected to be in the input data.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 13 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 13 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

UCC/EAN

The Application Identifiers without brackets (‘(‘ or ‘)’) is expected to be present in the data. Based on the AI, the database engine will detect whether the correct data is present. If the data is incorrect, a correction will be carried out based on the UCC/EAN specifications.

Characters Supported

According to UCC/EAN specifications.

Padding

According to UCC/EAN specifications.

Truncation

The number of characters or digits supported is according to the UCC/EAN specifications.

UPCA

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 11 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 11 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

UPCE

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed. In the Fixed Datasource (Barcode Properties->Data Tab) the full UPCA data is keyed in and the appropriate UPCE will be generated. In the case when the Database Datasource is chosen, the data in the database field is expected to be already in UPCE. Thus a 6 digit number is expected.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 6 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 6 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

UPC Extension 2

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 2 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 2 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.

UPC Extension 5

Characters Supported

'0'..'9' Characters that are not supported will be trimmed.

Padding

Leading zeros will be padded if input data is less than 5 digits.

Truncation

If input data exceed 5 digits, the rest of the digits will be trimmed.