
Q. What are the most common bar codes
in use today?
A. Listed below are seven bar codes that are in
very common use:
The Universal Product Code (UPC)
The Universal Product Code, or UPC symbol is
a standardized numbering system which pro
-
vides unique identification of an item and is
used widely in the retail community. The Uni
-
form Code Council (UCC) is the administrator
of the UPC and publishes the specifications for
this symbology. Presently, there are two ver
-
sions of the UPC symbol: Version A (UPC-A)
and Version E (UPC-E). Both versions are de
-
signed for item level identification. The UPC-A
is the more widely used. EAN 13 is the Euro-
pean version. The second version, UPC-E is a
suppressed version of UPC-A, and is mostly
used for packaging that is too small for the
UPC-A bar code (i.e. package of chewing gum).
Version E requires a Number System Character
of Zero. EAN 8 is the European version of
UPCE, but has a major difference, an additional
digit found in the first two digits, being the
country code designator. The rest of the data
layout is the same between UPC and EAN
codes.
❏
Character Set:0-9
❏
Encodation - Two bars and two spaces are
required to encode a character
❏
Start/Stop Pattern: Always starts and stop
with 3 elements: a narrow bar, narrow space,
and narrow bar.
❏
Code Type - Modular, fixed length (twelve
digits with UPC-A, six explicitly encoded but
eight illustrated human readable digits with
UPC-E).
❏
Human-Readable - UPC-A all twelve digits
required: UPC-E six digits required ( the
Number System Character and the Check
980009-001 Rev.F D-3
Appendix D - Bar Code Information
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