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Bar Code 2 is not as wide as Bar Code 1 because all of its
characters are printed with bar symbols from code C.
Only 6 of Bar Code 1’s characters are printed in code C. The
other character has to be printed in code B. Whenever 128
switches from one character set to another, it adds bar patterns
that tell a scanner to switch character sets. These extra bar
patterns cause wider bar codes.
Bar Code Width
The width of a Code 128 bar code is determined this way:
◆
If there are four or more numbers in a row, an even number of
them print in code C.
◆
If there are four or more numbers in a row with an odd quantity
(e.g., 7 numbers in a row), one of them prints in code B.
◆
All other alphanumeric characters are printed in code B.
The printer determines which character set to use based on the
data. No external control of character set selection is required.
For a given quantity of data, the widest bar code will be the one
that switches character set most often. Suppose your data has
14 characters (8 numeric + 6 alphabetic).
The bar code for data arranged like this:
Bar code 1
Data = 1234ABC5678DEF
is wider than data
arranged like this:
Bar code 2
Data = 12345678ABCDEF
B-2 Code 128 Information