Code 128 Type S
Syntax
Figures/Characters (n) Startcode Stop code
ASCII
hex.
dec.
see table
section "Description" none none
Data Structure ASCII DC4 n ... n DC4
hex. 14 n ... n 14
dec. 20 n ... n 20
Description While many barcode styles are limited to numbers, Code 128 can encode numbers, let-
ters, and other symbols commonly found on keyboards, such as @, # and %. The Code
128 barcode is like three barcodes in one. The three barcode styles are called Code A,
Code B, and Code C. Each barcode style is designed to encode certain types of data in
the most compact way.
Code A encodes uppercase alpha, numeric and control codes.
Code B encodes upper and lower case alpha and numeric codes.
Code C encodes digits in pairs.
A single

Code 128

barcode may consist of all three Code 128 barcode styles A, B and C.
The printer chooses the styles which result in the most compact Code 128 barcode for
the data to be encoded. Thus, the user needn’t be concerned about choosing the correct
barcode styles as this is done automatically.
The ">" (greater than) symbol is a special character prefix. If a character with decimal va-
lue less then 32 needs to be encoded (i.e., a control character), then send a ">" followed
by the character that is decimal 64 higher then the control code character.
Control characters are conflicting with DC4, SUB ... these characters are encoded by
using the ">" sign following a number that is 64 dec. higher than the control character.
Barcode Printing 31