IBM 4400 Australian 4-State, FCC Codes and Maximum Bar Code Lengths, Valid Data Maximum Length

Chapter 7 Bar Codes

Australian 4-State

The Australian 4-State structure is shown in Figure 6 and described below.

SR, SC
POSITION
			GUARD BAND
Normal	QUIET	START	DATA FIELD
	ZONE	CODE

STOP CODE

QUIET ZONE

HEIGHT

OPTIONAL READABLE DATA FIELD

Figure 6. Australian 4-State Structure

Quiet Zone

Quiet zones extend on both ends of the bar code to permit the scan to begin and end in a blank area. The quiet zones should be at least 0.25 inches wide and completely blank to ensure accurate reading of the start/stop codes and to prevent adjacent bar codes from overlapping. You are responsible for providing sufficient space on the form for the quiet zones.

Start/Stop Codes

The start and stop bars identify the orientation of the bar code. The start bar consists of an ascender bar, and is positioned at the left most end of the bar code. The stop bar consists of a full height bar, and is positioned at the right most end of the bar code adjacent to the check digit.

Data Field

The first two characters of the data field is the FCC code. The maximum length for each FCC code is described in Table 64.

Table 64. FCC Codes and Maximum Bar Code Lengths

FCC	Valid Data	Maximum Length
11, 87, 45, or 92	Any	8 + 0
59	A-Z, a-z, 0-9, space, #	8 + 5
44, 62	A-Z, a-z, 0-9, space, #	8 + 10

For example, if 1101234567 is specified as the bar code data, 11 indicates the FCC code and 01234567 is the 8-digit data field.

Readable Data

The optional readable data field provides a readable interpretation of the bar code data. It can be printed above or below the bar code symbol. The readable field prints left-aligned below the bar code structure.

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