Question Re: Code 128 Barcodes in Crystal Reports - Specific Encoding in Technology Q&A

Code 128 Barcodes in Crystal Reports - Specific Encoding

former_member1252361 — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:39:39 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to reproduce one of our labels in Crystal Reports per customer specifications and need help understanding how to properly encode the specific barcode formatting. Typically, we use auto-generated Code 39 or DataMatrix barcodes, but this customer requires two specific Code 128 formatted barcodes as below:

<Code C>01xxxxxxxxxxxxxy

<Code C>17yymmdd<Code B>10xxxxxxxxx

where the static numbers are Application Identifiers for GS1, x is a variable digit, and y is the check value for the first barcode. Both barcodes should also start with the FNC1 character.

I found that our installed version of Crystal Reports 2016 already has several Code128 fonts installed (e.g., Wide, Very Wide) and several functions from Azalea set up to encode barcodes (e.g., BarcodeC128B, BarcodeUCC128). I can get these to generate some degree of readable barcodes, but I have yet to find a way to create a barcode that exactly matches this formatting and is also readable by a handheld scanner.

I've tried a number of variations, including manually inserting what I believe to be the code switching characters (e.g., È for switching to B from C). However, most of my manual entries fail to be machine-readable.

Could someone please help me understand how to achieve these specific Code 128 barcode formats in Crystal Reports?

P.S. If anyone knows of a way to "peek under the hood" of what is being read and interpreted by the barcode scanner, in terms of Latin characters or bar widths, that may be helpful as well.

Re: Code 128 Barcodes in Crystal Reports - Specific Encoding

former_member27 — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:40:31 GMT

Hi remingtonh,

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Re: Code 128 Barcodes in Crystal Reports - Specific Encoding

ido_millet — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:58:36 GMT

Given that you are using Azalea's UFL to do the encoding, consider contacting them for help.

If they can't handle this use case, there are alternatives for generating barcodes. See review by Ken Hamady here.

Re: Code 128 Barcodes in Crystal Reports - Specific Encoding

former_member27 — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 07:38:44 GMT

Hi remingtonh

Thank you for accepting the answer and looking forward to see you again in the community.

Regards,

Dedi