Control Codes
Page 138 100-88002 Rev B
Four unique start/stop characters, designated A, B, C, and D, are also available. Due
to space limitations, only 12 characters can be printed.
Note 1: A [CR] may also be used in place of the [ETX] to end the bar code
data field.
Note 2: Only information that is usable in a particular bar code will be printed.
PDF 417
PDF 417 is a two dimensional barcode that will encode the full ASCII character set.
As it encodes the full set including control characters, the length of the following data
must be provided to the printer. The form of the command is as follows:
[ESC]b<9><nL><nH><d1> … <dn>
Where the data length is (nH * 256) + nL. The length is limited to be from 1 to 2048
characters.
To control the formation of the barcode, the X and Y aspect ratios, rows and columns,
and error correction levels can be altered.
Function PDF 417 bar code control
ASCII [ESC] [EM] E <f> <v>
Hexadecimal 1BH 19H 45H <f> <v>
Decimal <27> <25> <69><f> <v>
IPCL None
EPOS None
Description This command alters the way PDF 417 barcodes are generated and
printed.
Where f = Feature to control and v = the value of the feature.
f = C, 43H, 67 Set encoding columns.
v = 1-30, 0 sets to auto
f = R, 52H, 82 Set encoding rows. v = 3-90, 0 sets to auto.
f = X, 58H, 88 Set encoding X aspect. v = 2-6, 3 is default.
f = Y, 59H, 89 Set encoding Y aspect. v = 2-32, 9 is default
f = E, 45H, 69 Set error correction level.
If v between 1 and 40 it is interpreted as a percentage of the data.
If v is between 48 and 56 it is set to a specific level of 0 to 8.
If v = 0, it will return it to the default setting of 10%.
Typically the row and columns should be set to 0 so that auto encoding will be used.
The X and Y aspect represent the number of dots horizontally and vertically to form
the smallest image element. Values of 2 for each produce very small elements, and
is probably too small unless good paper is used. The defaults are 3 by 9, which
produce easily readable barcodes.
Error correcting levels are selected using one of two methods. The first is a fixed
level.