User`s guide

Chapter

Bar Code Information

All rules of bar code symbologies must be followed when creating bar

code commands. Some of the rules for the most commonly used bar code

symbologies are listed below. For more information on bar codes as

supported in Cognitive printers, refer to the BARCODE command

description and Table 2, Printer bar code support.

Uniform Product Code (UPC)

The Uniform Product Code (UPC) family of codes are typically used for

product identification, and include UPCA, UPCA+, UPCE, and UPCE1.

These are numeric codes only, supporting the characters 0 through 9.

All UPC codes start with a number system digit that identifies the type

of product being coded, and end with a checksum digit.

UPCA consists of a number system digit, ten numbers for the product

identification, and a checksum digit. All Cognitive printers

automatically calculate the checksum. The checksum is not printed in

the bar code subtext.

UPCA+ is like UPCA except that extender bars are printed as per

UPCA specification, and the checksum is printed in the bar code

subtext. If a minus sign modifier is specified, the bar code is the same

but the checksum is removed from the bar code subtext.

UPCE is a six-digit variation of the UPC symbology. It always uses

number system zero. You must enter the six numbers of the bar code,

but not the number system digit or the checksum. The printer calculates

the checksum automatically. The bar code is printed with extender bars

and bar code subtext. The bar code subtext shows the system number,

the six digits of the bar code, and the checksum digit. Using the minus

sign bar code modifier removes the checksum from the bar code subtext.

UPCE1 is the same as UPCE, except that it always uses number system

one.