6. Add Ascii key to
barcode: Tab, Enter, File Separator. etc.
EAN-13 is unique identifiers
(barcodes) used to identify new,
branded products sold at retail.
The products contain
the EAN number or GTIN (Global
Trade Item Number) to identify
itself.
EAN-8 is an EAN/UPC symbology
barcode and is derived from the
longer International Article
Number (EAN-13) code.
It was introduced for use on
small packages where an EAN-13
barcode would be too large; for
example on cigarettes, pencils,
and chewing gum packets. It is
encoded identically to the 12
digits of the UPC-A barcode,
except that it has 4 (rather
than 6) digits in each of the
left and right halves.
Valid characters:
0123456789
GTIN-13 number encoded
in EAN-13 barcode. The
first digit is always
placed outside the
symbol; additionally a
right
">" indicator is used to indicate a "Quiet Zone" that is
necessary for barcode scanners to work properly.
EAN-8 barcodes begins
with a 2- or 3-digit GS1
prefix (which is
assigned to each
national GS1 authority)
followed by
a 5- or 4-digit item reference
element depending on the length
of the GS1 prefix), and a
checksum digit.
EAN - European Article Number,
but is now referred to as The
International Article Number. It
is a standard
describing abarcode symbology
and numbering system used in
global trade to identify a
specific retail product type, in
a specific packaging
configuration, from a specific
manufacturer. EAN barcodes are
used worldwide for lookup at
retail point of sale, each
retail product has its unique
EAN-13 number.
EAN barcodes only represent the
digits 0–9, it cannot represent
other characters.
The most commonly used EAN
standard is the thirteen-digit
EAN-13, the less commonly used
8-digit EAN-8 barcode
was introduced for use on small
packages, where EAN-13 would be
too large. 2-digit EAN-2 and
5-digit EAN-5 are supplemental
barcodes, placed on the
right-hand side of EAN-13 or
UPC. These are generally used
for periodicals like magazines
or books, to indicate the
current year's issue number; and
weighed products like food, to
indicate the manufacturer's
suggested retail price.
Calculation of checksum digit
The checksum is calculated as
sum of products - taking an
alternating weight value (3 or
1) times the value of each data
digit. The checksum digit is the
digit, which must be added to
this checksum to get a number
divisible by 10 (i.e. the
additive inverse of the
checksum, modulo 10). See
ISBN-13 check digit calculation
for a more extensive description
and algorithm. The Global
Location Number(GLN) also uses
the same method.
The different of EAN and UPC
(Universal Product Code):
They are both Global Trade Item
Numbers (GTINs), with the
difference being UPCs are one
digit shorter (12) and are more
commonly used in the United
States and Canada.
History:
In 1977 the EAN code was used by
12 countries (all the countries
of the European Community).
Today, use of the EAN code has
spread to all west European
countries, USA, Canada,
Australia and Japan. Today the
EAN is called GTIN (Global Trade
Item Number).