Worth Data 802 RF user manual Code 39 Specifications, C39

Appendix C

Code 39 Specifications

Code 39 (or Code 3 of 9) is the de facto standard of non-retail American industry. It is widely used in the automotive industry (AIAG specifications) as well as in government and military applications (LOGMARS specifi- cations). Code 39 is flexible, features a large character set, variable data length and density, and bi-directional readability. Code 39 is extremely accurate; substitution errors are almost nonexistent. Its character set consists of numbers 0 through 9, upper case A-Z, and characters Space, $, %. / + and -.

	The name "Code 39" comes from both the fact that its
	character set originally contained 39 characters (it
	now has 43) and from its structure. Each character is
	formed of three wide and six narrow elements, made
	up of five bars and four spaces. Code 39's density can
*C39*	vary from a low of .75 characters per inch (cpi) to a
	high of 9.4 cpi. There should be a ¼" "quiet zone"
	(white space) to the left and right of the bar code.

Code 39 uses an asterisk (*) as a start and stop character. This character must precede and follow the data in the bar code. The RF Terminal gives you the option of transmitting or not transmitting these characters when the bar code is read.

Exact specifications for Code 39 and other bar code symbologies can be obtained from ANSI at the address below:

American National Standards Institute Customer Service

11 West 42nd St.

New York, NY 10036 http://web.ansi.org

document ANSI/AIM BC1-1995

Code 39 has several advanced features and functions that are discussed further in this appendix.

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