Chapter 5: Programming commands 119
A776-PG00001 C 12/09 A776 (B780) Programming Guide
Once a parsing format is specied, the following values are returned:
MICR characters ASCII Hexadecimal
Numerics 0 ... 9 0x30 ... 0x30
Space 0x20
Dash - 0x2D
Field separator*
Country code*
*As specied in the parsing parameter string
Check serial number
Parsing the check serial number
Most banks print the check serial number in three easily recognizable spots. The printer rmware will look for the
number in these spots, using the following ordered algorithm. The examples use letters to represent symbols on the
check:
t Transit symbol
o “on us” symbol
$ Amount symbol
- Dash
c Check serial number
x Any other number
A number bracketed by “on us” symbols in the auxiliary “on us” eld is the check serial number.
occcccco txxxxxxxxxt xxxxxxxxo
Otherwise, a three or more digit number to the right of the rightmost “on us” symbol, and to the left of the leftmost
amount symbol if an amount eld is present, is the check serial number.
txxxxxxxxxt xxxxxxxxo cccc
txxxxxxxxxt xxxxxxxxo cccc $xxxxxx$
If both of these searches fail to produce the check serial number, extract the whole account number eld from
between the rightmost transit symbol and the rightmost “on us” symbol. A three, four, or ve-digit number to the right
of the rightmost transit symbol, separated by a space or a dash from the rest of the account number is the check serial
number.
txxxxxxxxxt cccc xxxxxxxxo
txxxxxxxxxt cccc-xxxxxxxxo
txxxxxxxxxt cccc xxxxxxxxo xx
If all of these searches fail to produce the distinct check serial number, and the check serial number eld has been
specied in the parsing parameter string options, no check serial number will be returned. If it is imbedded within the
account number eld, it will be returned as part of that variable length eld.
Exceptions
Some banks print the check serial number in a location that cannot be electronically distinguished without specic
exception information, although it can be visually distinguished because it is repeated in the upper right corner of
the check. For these cases, the printer can hold up to nine exceptions for specic banks in its non-volatile memory
(NVRAM), which is accessed by the read and write NVRAM commands. The specic bank is picked out by its transit
number, and the rmware will look in the exception table for a transit number match before looking in the normal
check serial number locations.