Developing an effective barcode system/code

Question

I'm sorry if the title is misleading but I have to develop the format for a barcode (either 1D or 2D, doesn't matter). The barcode needs to include a Purchase Order #, Bill of lading #, as well as the Line #, product ID # and quantity of each item that appears on the purchase order. Anyone have any ideas for doing this?

Here is what I've come up with so far:

PurchaseOrder # - Bill of Lading # | Product1ID Line# Qty | Product2ID Line# Qty| Product3...

What the string for this idea may actually look like:

VO12340000-APX132 * 65465 1 12 * 897965 2 5 * 98464 3 88 *

This idea uses "*" as a break character to tell the difference between items as well as having a required length for each specific trait. To me it seems like there must be a better way to accomplish this. This idea would be very hard to have one of my company's suppliers implement as it is very complicated and precise. Any insight or ideas on how to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Although I am using VB.NET. This is more of a general programming logic question.

Answer 1

There are other complex bar codes like HIBC LIC and HIBC PAS with implementations using Code39 or Code128 (http://www.hibcc.org/autoidupn/standards.htm).

What is important is to use a symbology that will be able to generate a condensed bar code, in order to be readable by common bar code scanners. So you can go with Code39 or Code128 (GS1 family) and replace * with whatever (AIs/FUNC).

If I was you I would go with Code93 Extended symbology leaving the content spec as it is.

The following code is from a library I made in the past for almost all symbologies, that will give you what is needed to implement Code93 Extended. It's in C# but it's easy to convert it to VB.NET. Have in mind that you will have to modify it for your needs, and that it only generates a sequence of bars without drawing them.

        private static int[]
            C93Table = { 131112, 111213, 111312, 111411, 121113, 121212, 121311, 111114, 131211, 141111, 211113, 211212, 211311, 221112, 221211, 231111, 112113, 112212, 112311, 122112, 132111, 111123, 111222, 111321, 121122, 131121, 212112, 212211, 211122, 211221, 221121, 222111, 112122, 112221, 122121, 123111, 121131, 311112, 311211, 321111, 112131, 113121, 211131, 121221, 312111, 311121, 122211 };
        static string[]
            C93TableX = { "bU", "aA", "aB", "aC", "aD", "aE", "aF", "aG", "aH", "aI", "aJ", "aK", "aL", "aM", "aN", "aO", "aP", "aQ", "aR", "aS", "aT", "aU", "aV", "aW", "aX", "aY", "aZ", "bA", "bB", "bC", "bD", "bE", " ", "cA", "cB", "cC", "cD", "cE", "cF", "cG", "cH", "cI", "cJ", "cK", "cL", "cM", "cN", "cO", "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "cZ", "bF", "bG", "bH", "bI", "bJ", "bV", "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z", "bK", "bL", "bM", "bN", "bO", "bW", "dA", "dB", "dC", "dD", "dE", "dF", "dG", "dH", "dI", "dJ", "dK", "dL", "dM", "dN", "dO", "dP", "dQ", "dR", "dS", "dT", "dU", "dV", "dW", "dX", "dY", "dZ", "bP", "bQ", "bR", "bS", "bT" };
        static string C93Set = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ-. $/+%abcd";

private void Code93X()
        {
            string source = request.Data;
            Error valid = Validate(source, 197, C93Set);
            if (valid != Error.None)
            {
                encoded = new Encoded() { Error = valid };
                return;
            }
            StringBuilder adapt = new StringBuilder();
            for (int i = 0; i < source.Length; i++)
                adapt.Append(C93TableX[(byte)source[i]]);
            Code93(adapt.ToString());
        }

private void Code93(string source)
        {
            StringBuilder bars = new StringBuilder();
            bars.Append(111141);
            int c = 0, k = 0;
            int[] values = new int[source.Length + 1];
            for (int i = 0; i < source.Length; i++)
            {
                values[i] = C93Set.IndexOf(source[i]);
                bars.Append(C93Table[values[i]]);
            }
            if (request.AddChecksum)
            {
                int weight = 1;
                for (int i = source.Length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
                {
                    c += values[i] * weight;
                    if (++weight == 21)
                        weight = 1;
                }
                c %= 47;
                values[source.Length] = c;
                bars.Append(C93Table[c]);
                source += C93Set[c];
                weight = 1;
                for (int i = source.Length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
                {
                    k += values[i] + weight;
                    if (++weight == 16)
                        weight = 1;
                }
                k %= 47;
                bars.Append(C93Table[k]);
                if (request.DisplayChecksum)
                    source += C93Set[k];
            }
            bars.Append(1111411);
            source = string.Concat("*", source, "*");
            encoded = new Encoded(bars.ToString(), source);
        }


        private Error Validate(string source, int maxLength, string set)
        {
            Error valid = Validate(source, maxLength);
            if (valid == Error.None)
                for (var i = 0; i < source.Length; i++)
                    if (set.IndexOf(source[i]) < 0)
                    {
                        valid = Error.InvalidCharacters;
                        break;
                    }
            return valid;
        }

Answer 2

We're going with QR Codes here. In your application you could use the plain text format and then process them with Regex. Also, they have redundancy and lots of free/open source software to support generation and reading.