I want to create Code39 encoded barcodes from my application.
I know I can use a font for this, but I'd prefer not to as I'd have to register the font on the server and I've had some pretty bad experiences with that.
An example of what I've produced after asking this question is in the answers
This is my current codebehind, with lots of comments:
Option Explicit On Option Strict On Imports System.Drawing Imports System.Drawing.Imaging Imports System.Drawing.Bitmap Imports System.Drawing.Graphics Imports System.IO Partial Public Class Barcode Inherits System.Web.UI.Page 'Sebastiaan Janssen - 20081001 - TINT-30584 'Most of the code is based on this example: 'http://www.atalasoft.com/cs/blogs/loufranco/archive/2008/04/25/writing-code-39-barcodes-with-javascript.aspx-generation.aspx 'With a bit of this thrown in: 'http://www.atalasoft.com/cs/blogs/loufranco/archive/2008/03/24/code-39-barcode Private _encoding As Hashtable = New Hashtable Private Const _wideBarWidth As Short = 8 Private Const _narrowBarWidth As Short = 2 Private Const _barHeight As Short = 100 Sub BarcodeCode39() _encoding.Add("*", "bWbwBwBwb") _encoding.Add("-", "bWbwbwBwB") _encoding.Add("$", "bWbWbWbwb") _encoding.Add("%", "bwbWbWbWb") _encoding.Add(" ", "bWBwbwBwb") _encoding.Add(".", "BWbwbwBwb") _encoding.Add("/", "bWbWbwbWb") _encoding.Add("+", "bWbwbWbWb") _encoding.Add("0", "bwbWBwBwb") _encoding.Add("1", "BwbWbwbwB") _encoding.Add("2", "bwBWbwbwB") _encoding.Add("3", "BwBWbwbwb") _encoding.Add("4", "bwbWBwbwB") _encoding.Add("5", "BwbWBwbwb") _encoding.Add("6", "bwBWBwbwb") _encoding.Add("7", "bwbWbwBwB") _encoding.Add("8", "BwbWbwBwb") _encoding.Add("9", "bwBWbwBwb") _encoding.Add("A", "BwbwbWbwB") _encoding.Add("B", "bwBwbWbwB") _encoding.Add("C", "BwBwbWbwb") _encoding.Add("D", "bwbwBWbwB") _encoding.Add("E", "BwbwBWbwb") _encoding.Add("F", "bwBwBWbwb") _encoding.Add("G", "bwbwbWBwB") _encoding.Add("H", "BwbwbWBwb") _encoding.Add("I", "bwBwbWBwb") _encoding.Add("J", "bwbwBWBwb") _encoding.Add("K", "BwbwbwbWB") _encoding.Add("L", "bwBwbwbWB") _encoding.Add("M", "BwBwbwbWb") _encoding.Add("N", "bwbwBwbWB") _encoding.Add("O", "BwbwBwbWb") _encoding.Add("P", "bwBwBwbWb") _encoding.Add("Q", "bwbwbwBWB") _encoding.Add("R", "BwbwbwBWb") _encoding.Add("S", "bwBwbwBWb") _encoding.Add("T", "bwbwBwBWb") _encoding.Add("U", "BWbwbwbwB") _encoding.Add("V", "bWBwbwbwB") _encoding.Add("W", "BWBwbwbwb") _encoding.Add("X", "bWbwBwbwB") _encoding.Add("Y", "BWbwBwbwb") _encoding.Add("Z", "bWBwBwbwb") End Sub Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load BarcodeCode39() Dim barcode As String = String.Empty If Not IsNothing(Request("barcode")) AndAlso Not (Request("barcode").Length = 0) Then barcode = Request("barcode") Response.ContentType = "image/png" Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", String.Format("attachment; filename=barcode_{0}.png", barcode)) 'TODO: Depending on the length of the string, determine how wide the image will be GenerateBarcodeImage(250, 140, barcode).WriteTo(Response.OutputStream) End If End Sub Protected Function getBCSymbolColor(ByVal symbol As String) As System.Drawing.Brush getBCSymbolColor = Brushes.Black If symbol = "W" Or symbol = "w" Then getBCSymbolColor = Brushes.White End If End Function Protected Function getBCSymbolWidth(ByVal symbol As String) As Short getBCSymbolWidth = _narrowBarWidth If symbol = "B" Or symbol = "W" Then getBCSymbolWidth = _wideBarWidth End If End Function Protected Overridable Function GenerateBarcodeImage(ByVal imageWidth As Short, ByVal imageHeight As Short, ByVal Code As String) As MemoryStream 'create a new bitmap Dim b As New Bitmap(imageWidth, imageHeight, Imaging.PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb) 'create a canvas to paint on Dim canvas As New Rectangle(0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight) 'draw a white background Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(b) g.FillRectangle(Brushes.White, 0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight) 'write the unaltered code at the bottom 'TODO: truely center this text Dim textBrush As New SolidBrush(Color.Black) g.DrawString(Code, New Font("Courier New", 12), textBrush, 100, 110) 'Code has to be surrounded by asterisks to make it a valid Code39 barcode Dim UseCode As String = String.Format("{0}{1}{0}", "*", Code) 'Start drawing at 10, 10 Dim XPosition As Short = 10 Dim YPosition As Short = 10 Dim invalidCharacter As Boolean = False Dim CurrentSymbol As String = String.Empty For j As Short = 0 To CShort(UseCode.Length - 1) CurrentSymbol = UseCode.Substring(j, 1) 'check if symbol can be used If Not IsNothing(_encoding(CurrentSymbol)) Then Dim EncodedSymbol As String = _encoding(CurrentSymbol).ToString For i As Short = 0 To CShort(EncodedSymbol.Length - 1) Dim CurrentCode As String = EncodedSymbol.Substring(i, 1) g.FillRectangle(getBCSymbolColor(CurrentCode), XPosition, YPosition, getBCSymbolWidth(CurrentCode), _barHeight) XPosition = XPosition + getBCSymbolWidth(CurrentCode) Next 'After each written full symbol we need a whitespace (narrow width) g.FillRectangle(getBCSymbolColor("w"), XPosition, YPosition, getBCSymbolWidth("w"), _barHeight) XPosition = XPosition + getBCSymbolWidth("w") Else invalidCharacter = True End If Next 'errorhandling when an invalidcharacter is found If invalidCharacter Then g.FillRectangle(Brushes.White, 0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight) g.DrawString("Invalid characters found,", New Font("Courier New", 8), textBrush, 0, 0) g.DrawString("no barcode generated", New Font("Courier New", 8), textBrush, 0, 10) g.DrawString("Input was: ", New Font("Courier New", 8), textBrush, 0, 30) g.DrawString(Code, New Font("Courier New", 8), textBrush, 0, 40) End If 'write the image into a memorystream Dim ms As New MemoryStream Dim encodingParams As New EncoderParameters encodingParams.Param(0) = New EncoderParameter(Encoder.Quality, 100) Dim encodingInfo As ImageCodecInfo = FindCodecInfo("PNG") b.Save(ms, encodingInfo, encodingParams) 'dispose of the object we won't need any more g.Dispose() b.Dispose() Return ms End Function Protected Overridable Function FindCodecInfo(ByVal codec As String) As ImageCodecInfo Dim encoders As ImageCodecInfo() = ImageCodecInfo.GetImageEncoders For Each e As ImageCodecInfo In encoders If e.FormatDescription.Equals(codec) Then Return e Next Return Nothing End Function End Class If you choose Code39, you could probably code up from this code I wrote
http://www.atalasoft.com/cs/blogs/loufranco/archive/2008/03/24/code-39-barcode-generation.aspx
I wrote it to use our toolkit for image generation, but you could rewrite it to use .NET Image/Graphics pretty easily.
I don't know about libraries -- all of the barcode work I've done has been with barcode fonts. Check out free 3-of-9 if you're using the "3 of 9" format.
Caveats of 3-of-9:
make sure all text is in upper case start and end each barcode with an asterisk
Here's an open source barcode rendering library for .NET languages: http://www.codeplex.com/BarcodeRender
It can render some usual encodings.
The license looks benign, and it seems to be usable in both open source and commercial apps (however, IANAL, you might want to check its license yourself.)
Here's another one, also open source, using the Apache 2.0 license: http://sourceforge.net/projects/onecode/
Generally, when you know from the start you're looking for open source components, it's better to bypass Google and directly start searching on SourceForge (it's got a wonderful filtering system for search results, you can filter by language, which is probably of interest to you) or on Microsoft's CodePlex (where choice is usually more limited, but there you go.)
are you printing to a standard printer or an actual barcode printer (zebra or datamax)? both zebra and datamax have their own scripting languages - actually more like markup languages. ZPL and DPL respectively. I like zebra's more and their documentation is much cleaner.
If you don't have a legitimate barcode printer, I suggest purchasing one and do the following.... (it'll be much cleaner than trying to work out building little image blocks and painting them to simulate a barcode font)
both allow you great flexibility and you can let the printer handle creating the actual barcode image.
have your program send a customized ZPL/DPL script that includes the values that you want to have printed as barcodes to the printer via ftp. basically, you just "put" a text file that contains the script to the IP of the printer and the printer takes care of the font.
The iTextSharp library, while ostensibly for creating creating PDFs, also has a barcode generation library that includes Code39.
Once you add a reference to the DLL, it's as simple as:
Barcode39 code39 = new Barcode39(); code39.Code = "Whatever You're Encoding"; Oops, that's C#, but you get the idea. Once created, you can render an image in just about any image format and use it as you wish.
If you render client side then the font can reside on a workstation. This way you can use 3-of-9. I've used 3-of-9 in several projects and the simplest solution for you.
Here is an example of how to generate Code39 barcodes in vb.net. I tested It now and it works.
Public Class code39 Private bitsCode As ArrayList Public Sub New() bitsCode = New ArrayList bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0001101", "0100111", "1110010", "000000"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0011001", "0110011", "1100110", "001011"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0010011", "0011011", "1101100", "001101"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0111101", "0100001", "1000010", "001110"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0100011", "0011101", "1011100", "010011"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0110001", "0111001", "1001110", "011001"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0101111", "0000101", "1010000", "011100"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0111011", "0010001", "1000100", "010101"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0110111", "0001001", "1001000", "010110"}) bitsCode.Add(New String(3) {"0001011", "0010111", "1110100", "011010"}) End Sub Public Function Generate(ByVal Code As String) As Image Dim a As Integer = 0 Dim b As Integer = 0 Dim imgCode As Image Dim g As Graphics Dim i As Integer Dim bCode As Byte() Dim bitCode As Byte() Dim tmpFont As Font If Code.Length <> 12 Or Not IsNumeric(Code.Replace(".", "_").Replace(",", "_")) Then Throw New Exception("Le code doit être composé de 12 chiffres") ReDim bCode(12) For i = 0 To 11 bCode(i) = CInt(Code.Substring(i, 1)) If (i Mod 2) = 1 Then b += bCode(i) Else a += bCode(i) End If Next i = (a + (b * 3)) Mod 10 If i = 0 Then bCode(12) = 0 Else bCode(12) = 10 - i End If bitCode = getBits(bCode) tmpFont = New Font("times new roman", 14, FontStyle.Regular, GraphicsUnit.Pixel) imgCode = New Bitmap(110, 50) g = Graphics.FromImage(imgCode) g.Clear(Color.White) g.DrawString(Code.Substring(0, 1), tmpFont, Brushes.Black, 2, 30) a = g.MeasureString(Code.Substring(0, 1), tmpFont).Width For i = 0 To bitCode.Length - 1 If i = 2 Then g.DrawString(Code.Substring(1, 6), tmpFont, Brushes.Black, a, 30) ElseIf i = 48 Then g.DrawString(Code.Substring(7, 5) & bCode(12).ToString, tmpFont, Brushes.Black, a, 30) End If If i = 0 Or i = 2 Or i = 46 Or i = 48 Or i = 92 Or i = 94 Then If bitCode(i) = 1 Then 'noir g.DrawLine(Pens.Black, a, 0, a, 40) a += 1 End If Else If bitCode(i) = 1 Then 'noir g.DrawLine(Pens.Black, a, 0, a, 30) a += 1 Else 'blanc a += 1 End If End If Next g.Flush() Return imgCode End Function Private Function getBits(ByVal bCode As Byte()) As Byte() Dim i As Integer Dim res As Byte() Dim bits As String = "101" Dim cle As String = bitsCode(bCode(0))(3) For i = 1 To 6 bits &= bitsCode(bCode(i))(CInt(cle.Substring(i - 1, 1))) Next bits &= "01010" For i = 7 To 12 bits &= bitsCode(bCode(i))(2) Next bits += "101" ReDim res(bits.Length - 1) For i = 0 To bits.Length - 1 res(i) = Asc(bits.Chars(i)) - 48 Next Return res End Function End Class 
Instead of using barcode font, i would prefer a .net barcode generator component. Below is a vb.net sample for creating Code 39 barcode.
Imports System.IO Imports PQScan.BarcodeCreator Namespace BarcodeGeneratorVB Class Program Private Shared Sub Main(args As String()) Dim barcode As New Barcode() barcode.Data = "www.pqscan.com" barcode.BarType = BarCodeType.Code39 barcode.Width = 300 barcode.Height = 100 barcode.CreateBarcode("code39-vb.jpeg") End Sub End Class End Namespace At my last job I worked with a couple different libraries in vb.net for this. We had one, and moved to a different one. I can't remember their names (I'd recognize them again if I saw them), but I do know that both were for-pay, we evaluated several different components at the time of the switch, and I think that included a free one. We were a very small shop and very cost sensitive, so if the free component were any good at all you can bet we would have used it (I think we needed 128b support, and it only handled code39).
I also remember that reason we switched was that it was at the same time we moved from .Net 1.1 to .Net 2.0, and the first component was too slow making the transition.
So, in summary, there is something out there, but it wasn't any good 3 years ago. Hopefully someone else can come along and fill in some actual names.
