Specifications

Table Of Contents
Q. What are the most common bar codes
in use today?
A. Listed below are seven bar codes that are in
very common use:
The Universal Product Code (UPC)
The Universal Product Code, or UPC symbol is
a standardized numbering system which pro
-
vides unique identification of an item and is
used widely in the retail community. The Uni
-
form Code Council (UCC) is the administrator
of the UPC and publishes the specifications for
this symbology. Presently, there are two ver
-
sions of the UPC symbol: Version A (UPC-A)
and Version E (UPC-E). Both versions are de
-
signed for item level identification. The UPC-A
is the more widely used. EAN 13 is the Euro-
pean version. The second version, UPC-E is a
suppressed version of UPC-A, and is mostly
used for packaging that is too small for the
UPC-A bar code (i.e. package of chewing gum).
Version E requires a Number System Character
of Zero. EAN 8 is the European version of
UPCE, but has a major difference, an additional
digit found in the first two digits, being the
country code designator. The rest of the data
layout is the same between UPC and EAN
codes.
Character Set:0-9
Encodation - Two bars and two spaces are
required to encode a character
Start/Stop Pattern: Always starts and stop
with 3 elements: a narrow bar, narrow space,
and narrow bar.
Code Type - Modular, fixed length (twelve
digits with UPC-A, six explicitly encoded but
eight illustrated human readable digits with
UPC-E).
Human-Readable - UPC-A all twelve digits
required: UPC-E six digits required ( the
Number System Character and the Check
980009-001 Rev.F D-3
Appendix D - Bar Code Information