Dotnet Linear Barcode Windows Forms Control Manual & Tutorial

Our Linear Barcode Control supports several linear barcode symbologies including Code 39, Extended Code 39, Code 128, UCC/EAN-128, Interleaved 2 of 5, LOGMARS, Codabar, UPC-A, UPC-E, MSI, EAN-8, EAN-13, Code 11, Code 93, Industrial 2 of 5 Planet and POSTNET.

Our ActiveX Controls are easy to use "drag and drop" automation tools that will work in any Windows application that supports ActiveX control technology. Using our controls is a simple 3 step process:

Step 1 - download and unzip the control package

Download and unzip the package. We suggest you place the DLL in a local directory such as C:\IDAutomation that is easy to remember.

Step 2 - register the control in your application

After you have installed the control on your PC, you have to tell your application where it is. We have examples below that should help you.

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

1. Open your project and display the form that you want to add the barcode to. Choose View - Toolbox to display the Toolbox. Right-click on the Toolbox and choose Customize Toolbox. Choose the .NET Framework Components folder. Choose Browse and select the IDAutomation Linear Barcode Control.
   
2. After the control appears in the Toolbox, add it to your form.
   
3. You can also choose Project - Add Reference if you do not wish to add it to a form.
4. To print the barcode or copy it to an image control, look at the VB Example provided in the ZIP file.

Step 3 - adjust the properties of the control

After you insert the control in your application as described in step 2, you may adjust the properties of the control. To do this, you can change the properties with program code or you can right-click on the control and choose Properties.

This section explains the main configuration parameters of the control:

NOTE: Many of the barcode sizing parameters are calculated in CM (centimeters). To convert inches to CM, multiply the value in inches by 2.54. To convert mils to CM, multiply the mils value by .0254.

• DataToEncode - this is the data that is to be encoded in the barcode. If you connect the control to a control source, then the source will override this field.
• SymbologyID - this is the type of barcode to be used. The default is code 128. For more information on barcode types, visit our barcoding for beginners site.
• BackColor - the background color of the barcode.
• ForeColor - the color of the foreground text and bars in the barcode.
• BarHeight - the height of the barcode in CM. Default is 1 CM.
• leftMarginCM - the space of the left margin in CM.
• XDimensionCM - width in centimeters of the narrow bars. The default is 0.03 CM which is about .012" or 12 mils. You may need to increase this value if your scanner cannot read barcodes with small X dimensions. If you have a high quality laser or CCD scanner, you may decrease this value to obtain a higher density barcode.
• Orientation - indicates the orientation of the barcode. Valid values are 0 (normal), 90 (vertical),180 (inverted) and 270 (inverted vertical).
• TopMarginCM - the top margin in CM.
• Wide2NarrowRatio - this is the wide to narrow ratio of symbologies that only contain narrow and wide bars such as Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5 and MSI. Usually, this value is between 2 and 3. The default value is 2.
• AddCheckDigit - automatically adds the check digit to the barcode. The check digit is required for all symbologies except Code 39, Industrial 2 of 5 and Codabar. When using symbologies that do not require the check digit, you may disable the check digit.
• AddCheckDigitToText - automatically adds the check digit that is encoded in the barcode to the human readable text that is displayed. 
• CodabarStartCharacter - the start character for CODABAR. Valid values are "A", "B", "C" or "D".
• CodabarStopCharacter - the stop character for CODABAR. Valid values are "A", "B", "C" or "D".
• Code128CharSet - the set of characters to be used in code128. Valid values are: AUTO, A, B or C. The default is AUTO. For more information on Code 128, review our Code 128 FAQ.
• EANUPCSupplement - this is the number of digits the UPC or EAN supplement will contain.
• ShowText - if this value is yes or true, the human readable text will be displayed with the barcode.
• SupplementToEncode - this is the supplement to be encoded after the UPC or EAN barcodes. We suggest just adding the supplement to the DataToEncode property. For example, a 14 digit number in the UPC-A symbology will create a 12 digit UPC-A barcode with a 2 digit add-on.
• UPCESystem - the encoding system to be used for UPC-E, valid values are 0 and 1.

Symbology specific notes

UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13
Enter the data to be encoded without any spaces or dashes. You can enter the +2 and +5 add-on codes by just adding them to the end of the string. If the check digit is added, it will be ignored and regenerated to ensure that the code can be scanned. If you rotate the barcode by 270, you may need to increase the top margin. For UPC-E, you must enter the full 11 or 12 digit UPC-A code and the barcode will be compressed if possible.

POSTNET and PLANET
When using the POSTNET barcode, the NarrowBarWidth of .045 CM should be used. For barcodes to be acceptable to the US post offices, they must be between 22 and 24 bars per inch. Setting the NarrowBarWidth to .045 should produce about 23 bars per inch. You should adjust this setting for your printer if your results are different.

Code 128
The "AUTO" character set setting for Code 128 will automatically switch character sets in the barcode as necessary. To encode alpha-numeric UCC/EAN-128, the character set is set to "AUTO" for automatic. Then, ASCII 202 or character Ê is entered as the FNC1 before each AI. For example, the UCC number of (8100) 712345 (21) 12WH5678 should be entered as: Ê8100712345Ê2112WH5678. In most cases the AIs will be properly represented in the human readable text.
Review the Code 128 Data Sheet and FAQ for more information on this barcode.

• For more information about this, please refer to the UCC/EAN 128 section of our Code 128 FAQ or visit the UCC website.

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Technical support

To obtain technical support for this product, please visit the Dotnet Windows Forms Technical Support Site.

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