User guide

Bar Code Printing on the LA600 MultiPrinter
20.7 Characteristics of the Supported Bar Code Styles
20.7.3 Code 128
As shown by Figure 20–5, Code 128 encodes a character repertoire of 128
ASCII characters, 4 control characters (FNC1, FNC2, FNC3, FNC4), and 4
special characters (CODE A, CODE B, CODE C, SHIFT).
Code 128 includes three character subsets:
• Subset A provides standard alphanumeric keyboard characters, control,
and special characters.
• Subset B includes all standard alphanumeric keyboard characters, lower
case alphabetical characters, and special characters.
• Subset C provides 100 digit pairs from 00 to 99 inclusive, plus special
characters. Code 128-UCC/EAN uses subset C only.
Three start characters and one stop character are automatically printed. All
printable ASCII characters may be printed as HRC. The following codes at the
beginning of a Code 128 bar code symbol have special meaning:
• FNC1 (5D 43 31 hex) identifies a Code 128-UCC/EAN.
• FNC2 (5D 43 32 hex) may control the reader equipment for multiple read
operations.
• FNC3 (5D 43 33 hex) is reserved for special functions of the reader
equipment.
• FNC4 (5D 43 34 hex) is reserved for special advanced applications.
The following characteristics also apply to Code 128:
• Check digit for Code 128 is a modulo 103 check digit, as illustrated by
Figure 20–6, automatically calculated and inserted in the bar code symbol.
The start code is included in the modulo 103 check digit algorithm.
• Check digit for Code 128-UCC/EAN is a modulo 10 check digit that must
be programmed by the application.
• Minimum symbol height is 15% of symbol length—at least 0.25 inches.
Bar Code Printing on the LA600 MultiPrinter 20–21