bar code, computer coding system that uses a printed pattern of lines or bars to identify products, mail and packages, customer accounts, and the like. Bar codes are read by optically scanning the printed pattern and using a computer program to decode the pattern. In a linear bar code system, the code itself contains no information about the item to which it is assigned but represents a string of identifying numbers or letters. When the code is read by an optical scanner linked to a computer, the computer can provide and record information about the item, such as its price or the quantity sold, from and to databases.
The original North American Universal Product Code (UPC), which dates to 1971, used a set of two dark (usually black) and two light (usually white) bars of specified thicknesses to represent 12 numbers, but beginning in 2005 the Uniform Code Council, now known as GS1 US, adopted the similar European Article Numbering Code (EAN), which encodes 13 numbers and had become the international standard. The standards for the international product bar code system are managed by GS1, formerly known as EAN International, which is based in Brussels. The dark bars may be from one to three units wide and the light bars from one to four units. For registration purposes two one-unit dark bars are placed at each end and in the middle. Each item is assigned a unique numeric code, which is printed as a bar code on the item's packaging.
So-called two-dimensional (2D) bar codes permit the encoding of information about an item in addition to an identifying code. In a 2D bar code, two axes, or directions, are used for recording and reading the codes and the bar size is reduced, increasing the space available for data in the way that a column of words improves on a column of letters. Some 2D codes do not use bars at all, such as the United Parcel Service's hexagon-based Maxicode.
bar code
Printed series of parallel bars of varying width used for entering data into a computer system, typically for identifying the object on which the code appears. The width and spacing of the bars represent binary information that can be read by an optical (laser) scanner that is part of a computer system. The coding is used in many different areas of manufacturing and marketing, including inventory control and tracking systems. The bar codes printed on supermarket and other retail merchandise are those of the Universal Product Code (UPC).
bar code
The printed code used for recognition by a bar code scanner (bar code reader). The "bar" in bar code comes from the ubiquitous, one-dimensional (1D) UPC bar code found on countless product packages. Several two-dimensional (2D) bar codes are also in wide use, but they are not really as bar-like as the UPC. The 2D codes are scanned horizontally and vertically and hold considerably more data. All the 2D examples below contain the same data: the URL for www.computerlanguage.com. See
bar code scanner,
mobile tagging,
point of sale and
AIM. Contrast with
RFID.
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| 1D Bar Code |
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| One-dimensional (1D) UPC bar codes are used on millions of consumer items as well as shipping containers. For more details, see UPC. |
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| 2D PDF417 |
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| Symbol Technologies' PDF417 is a general-purpose bar code that contains up to 1,850 alphanumeric and 2,710 numeric characters. It is recognizable by patterns of vertical lines on each side. For more details, see PDF417. |
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| 2D DataMatrix |
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| The DataMatrix code is used to mark small parts and holds up to 2,355 alphanumeric and 3,116 numeric characters. It is recognizable by its border with two solid lines and two alternating lines. |
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| 2D QR Code |
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| The QR code is used to mark products as well as identify establishments. It is recognizable by its four squares with dots in the middle and holds up to 4,296 alphanumeric and 7,089 numeric characters. For more details, see QR code. |
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| 2D MaxiCode |
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| The MaxiCode uses hexagonal symbols and is recognizable by its center bull's eye. Used for high-speed sorting, it holds up to 93 alphanumeric and 138 numeric characters. For more data, MaxiCodes can be chained together. (Image courtesy of AIM, Warrendale, PA, www.aimglobal.org) |
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| 2D BeeTagg |
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| Designed for mobile tagging, the Swiss-based BeeTagg system allows a company logo to be displayed in the tag's center. Recognizable by its honeycomb-like cells, BeeTaggs are also used for exchanging business card data. Sweden's largest newspaper uses BeeTaggs to link editorials with movies. For more information, visit www.beetagg.com. See mobile tagging. |
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| 2D Microsoft Tag |
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| Designed for mobile tagging, Microsoft's system uses color. Another form of the tag allows a company logo to occupy the background. See Microsoft Tag. |
bar code Commerce a machine-readable arrangement of numbers and parallel lines of different widths printed on a package, which can be electronically scanned at a checkout to register the price of the goods and to activate computer stock-checking and reordering
bar code [
′bär ‚kōd]
(computer science)
The representation of alphanumeric characters by series of adjacent stripes of various widths, for example, the universal product code.
| (convention) | bar code - A printed horizontal strip of vertical bars of
varying widths, groups of which represent decimal digits and
are used for identifying commercial products or parts. Bar
codes are read by a bar code reader and the code interpreted
either through software or a hardware decoder.
All products sold in open trade are numbered and bar-coded to
a worldwide standard, which was introduced in the US in 1973
and to the rest of the world in 1977. The Uniform Code
Council in the US, along with the international article
numbering authority, EAN International, allocate blocks of
unique 12 or 13-digit numbers to member companies through a
national numbering authority. In Britain this is the Article
Number Association. Most companies are allocated 100,000
numbers that they can use to identify any of their products,
services or locations.
Each code typically contains a leading "quiet" zone, start
character, data character, optional check digit, stop
character and a trailing quiet zone. The check digit is used
to verify that the number has been scanned correctly. The
quiet zone could be white, red or yellow if viewed by a red
scanner. Bar code readers usually use visible red light with
a wavelength between 632.8 and 680 nanometres.
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