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Codabar is a
linear barcode symbology developed by Pitney Bowes Corp in 1972.
It and its
variants are also known as Codeabar, Ames Code, NW-7, Monarch,
Code 2 of 7, Rationalized Codabar, ANSI/AIM BC3-1995, or USD-4.
Although Codabar has
not yet registered U.S. federal trademark status, its hyphenated
variant, Code-a-bar, is.
Codabar codes can
even be printed using a typewriter-like impact printer, allowing
many codes with consecutive numbers to be created without the
use of computer equipment. Each time a code is printed, the
printer's imprint mechanically advances to the next number, like
a mechanical mileage counter.
The Codabar barcode
is a linear barcode that is widely used wherever serial numbers
are required. The Codabar is designed to be read accurately even
when printing multi-part forms such as FedEx air waybills and
blood bank forms on dot matrix printers. As of 2007 Variations
of these tables are still in use. Although newer symbologies
contain more information in smaller spaces, Codabar has a large
installed base in libraries.
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Codabar has 4 bars
and 3 spaces (total 7 cells), each narrow or wide width
represents a character (letter). 7 bars and spaces represent one
character. It contains a 20-bit character set: the numbers
"0-9", the four English capital letters A, B, C, and D, and 6
special characters ("-", ":", "/", ".", " +", "$"). There is any
one of A, B, C or D (a, b, c or d) at the beginning and end of
the barcode (start/terminator).
It uses 4 bars and 3
spaces (a total of 7 cells) to represent a character, and each
bar or space can be narrow or wide.
It consists of 20
character sets, including the numbers "0-9", the four English
capital letters A, B, C, and D, and 6 special characters ("-",
":", "/", "." , "+", "$").
It uses asterisk (*)
as start and end characters. |