Intermec EasyCoder PL-Series, Programmer'S Reference Manual

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Chapter 5— Linear Bar Codes
36 EasyCoder PL-Series Printer Programmer’s Reference Manual
UPC and EAN/JAN Bar Codes
UPC and EAN/JAN bar codes are typically used for marking products
with a unique code used to look up prices and to track inventories of
goods sold. They are also used for store coupons, periodicals, and
paperback books. UPC and EAN/JAN bar codes are generally rectangular,
contain a fixed amount of data, and in most cases are accompanied by
human readable text printed below them. For best results, this text should
be an OCR-A (resident font 2), a sans serif font (resident font 7), or an
OCR-B font.
The first number in the UPC/EAN bar code is the number system
character. The specification lists use of characters 0 through 9 as follows.
0 Regular UPC codes (UPC-A and UPC-E)
1 Reserved
2 Random weight items, like store packaged meat (UPC-A only)
3 National Drug Code and National Health Related Items Code in
current 10-digit code length (UPC-A only)*
4 In-store marking of non-food items without code format restriction
and with check digit protection (UPC-A only)
5 Coupons (UPC-A only)
6 Regular UPC codes (UPC-A only)
7 Regular UPC codes (UPC-A only)
8 Reserved
9 Reserved
* Number system 3 has the following note in the specification: “…the
symbol is not affected by the various internal structures possible with
the NDC or HRI codes.” The users should determine what effect this
statement may have on their program. It will not change how bar
codes are printed.
The checksum is the last number in the bar code and can be used to make
certain that the bar code is decoded properly. This digit is automatically
calculated by the printer. The UPC bar code specification has the full
instructions for calculating this checksum. The methodology for a bar code
of 01234567890 is as follows:
Step 1: Starting at the left, including the number system character, add up
all the numbers in the odd positions (0 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 0 = 20).
Step 2: Multiply this sum by 3 (20 x 3 = 60).
Step 3: Starting at the left again, add up all the numbers in the even
positions (1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25).
Step 4: Add the results from Step 2 and Step 3 (60 + 25 = 85).