UCC/EAN Barcode
UCC/EAN is an international barcode format used widely by many different companies. It uses a list of Application Identifiers (AI) for identifying the structure and format of the data in the barcode. For example, AI 00 is used for identifying a 18 digits Serial Shipping Container Code.
The UCC/EAN uses the Code 128 barcode font and specifically the Code 128 Auto character set.
Barcode Font Details
UCC/EAN uses the Code128 barcode fonts as shown below.
- CCode128_S1
- CCode128_S2
- CCode128_S3
- CCode128_S4
- CCode128_S5
- CCode128_S6
- CCode128_S7
Character Mappings
UPC/EAN barcodes support only numeric characters. However the data characters do not have a direct mapping as in other barcodes. The mapping of the characters depends on a Parity Map table. The mechanism is complex and thus it is recommended to use the Encoder or Macros / Formulas provided in ConnectCode to generate these barcodes.
Control Characters
| Data Character | Barcode Font Character |
| EAN13/EAN8/UPCA Start Character | '[' |
| EAN13/EAN8/UPCA Stop Character | ']' |
| EAN13/UPCA Center Guard Bar Character | '-' |
| UPCE Start Character | '{' |
| UPCE Stop Character | '}' |
| EXT2/EXT5 Start Character | '<' |
| EXT2/EXT5 Separator Character | '+' |
Text Only Characters without barcode bars and spaces (This is only avaliable in the fonts with Human Text)
| Data Character | Barcode Font Character |
| '0' | '!' |
| '1' | '"' |
| '2' | '#' |
| '3' | '$' |
| '4' | '%' |
| '5' | '&' |
| '6' | ''' |
| '7' | '(' |
| '8' | ')' |
| '9' | '*' |
Left Odd Parity
| Data Character | Barcode Font Character |
| '0' | '0' |
| '1' | '1' |
| '2' | '2' |
| '3' | '3' |
| '4' | '4' |
| '5' | '5' |
| '6' | '6' |
| '7' | '7' |
| '8' | '8' |
| '9' | '9' |
Left Even Parity
| Data Character | Barcode Font Character |
| '0' | 'o' |
| '1' | 'p' |
| '2' | 'q' |
| '3' | 'r' |
| '4' | 's' |
| '5' | 't' |
| '6' | 'u' |
| '7' | 'v' |
| '8' | 'w' |
| '9' | 'x' |
Right Parity
| Data Character | Barcode Font Character |
| '0' | 'a' |
| '1' | 'b' |
| '2' | 'c' |
| '3' | 'd' |
| '4' | 'e' |
| '5' | 'f' |
| '6' | 'g' |
| '7' | 'h' |
| '8' | 'i' |
| '9' | 'j' |
How to use the UCC/EAN Barcode Font
It is recommended to use the Encoder or Visual Basic formulas provided to generate UCC/EAN barcodes as there are several steps required for transforming the input data to characters recognized by the barcode font. For example, to encode AI 00 (Serial Shipping Container Code) with the data 123456789012345675
Input (Into the Encoder or Visual Basic formulas):
(00)123456789012345675
The brackets are used to identify the AI(Application Identifier) in the Encoder.
Output:
Concatenating multiple AIs in a UCC/EAN Barcode
Input (Into the Encoder or VB formulas):
(00)123456789012345675(12)1A
Multiple AIs in can be concatenated together as shown above. A total of up to 8 AIs concatenation is supported by ConnectCode.
Output:
