Intermate AS/400, i5, iSeries manual Barcode Support, Calculating barcode height

Barcode Support

When using a HP PCL compatible printer, the system can print bar codes.

If you are using an IDA converter (interface IDA3X, IDA5219 or IDA812) it is possible to use the bar code facilities of the protocol converter (refer to the manual delivered with the protocol converter).

In order not to lock up your installation on one particular interface type it is recommended to use a soft font, or to use the InterForm400's ability to create barcode soft fonts. InterForm400® currently support generation of the following barcodes in any size:

•Interleaved 2 of 5,

•Code 128

•Code 39

•Code 39 Extended

•EAN128

•Postnet

•EAN13

•EAN8

•PDF417

•UPC-A

The barcodes created by InterForm400® are automatically stored as members in the physical file APF3812/FONT.

When printing a bar code, it appears to be placed a little to the right of the specified location. It is because the start code is as wide as 2 digits and has the two thin lines that form the start code placed in the right side of the symbol.

You can select whether the soft font is to be used on a HPII(PCL4) or a HPIII(PCL5) printer. A font for a HPII can be used on HPII, HPIII, HP4 and all printers emulating a HP- printer. HPIII fonts can only be used with HPIII, HP4 and compatible printers. The advantage of using HPIII fonts is the much faster download speed.

For HPIII printer types (PCL5) it does not matter what you enter as orientation. The font can be used for all four orientations. When a font is used on a HPII, it can only be used in the orientation it is intended for.

If you want a number to appear below the bar code you must specify your overlay definition to read the number from the data with a 9=Remap Window and place it on the desired position.

Barcodes in PDF output

All the barcodes in InterForm400 are also supported for PDF output. Note however that there is a difference to the way that the barcodes for PDF are generated compared to PCL output:

The barcodes appearance in PCL output are based on the soft font only. The appearance in PDF output is based on the specifications in the used font number. Normally that will not be a problem, but if you manually have created the font number you should make sure, that the pitch and height of the font number are exactly the same as stated in the description of the barcode soft font.

Calculating barcode height

The height of the font is entered in dots (1/300 of an inch). The following relations will assist you when entering the barcode height in dots.

292User’s Manual for InterForm400®