[OPEN-ILS-DEV] barcodes

[Nathan Eady]

"Brandon W. Uhlman" <brandon.uhlman at bclibrary.ca> writes:

> Third party software exists to print barcodes, 

For example, on Debian Lenny there is a package called barcode that
contains a program /usr/bin/barcode (and corresponding support files,
man pages, and whatnot), which can be invoked thusly:

 barcode -b 'A12345678900007B' -e Codabar -E -c -g 196x40 -n -o barcode.eps

I have a basic Perl script that understands Codabar checksums and can
generate the next n valid barcode numbers after a certain number,
which I can make available if anyone wants it.  Keeping track of the
last barcode number you already used so you know where to start when
generating the next ones is left as an exercise to the reader.

> but most libraries have barcodes professionally printed by vendors
> who specialize in barcode printing.

This is what we do for almost all of our barcodes.

But it's also handy to be able to create a page of "test barcodes" or
similar on your own :-)

-- 
Nathan Eady
Galion Public Library