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Aztec Code

Terry Burton edited this page Mar 20, 2023 · 23 revisions

Aztec Code

Aztec Code is a 2D matrix-style barcode symbology. It can encode full 256-character extended-ASCII.

Variants:

  • Compact Aztec Code is a reduced form of of Aztec Code used in applications where the space for the symbol is restricted.
  • Aztec Runes are a set of small barcode symbols that are used for special applications.

Standards: ISO/IEC 24778, ANSI/AIM BC13 - ISS Aztec Code.

Data and Options

  • The data field can contain any extended ASCII data. The default interpretation of data by readers is in accordance with ISO/IEC 8859-1. When supported by the receiver characters from other code pages can be encoded using Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI).
  • When the parse option is specified, any instances of ^NNN in the data field are replaced with their equivalent ASCII value, useful for specifying unprintable characters.
  • When the parsefnc option is specified, non-data function characters can be specified by escape sequences:
    • ^FNC1: FNC1
    • ^ECI000000 to ^ECI999999: ECI indicators
  • The eclevel option is used to specify the percentage of error correction to be applied when expanding the data, by default 23.
  • The ecaddchars option is used to specify how many additional error correction characters to apply the data once expanded by the eclevel percentage, by default 3.
  • The layers option is used to specify a particular number of layers in which to encode the data, between 1 and 32. By default the encoder will create a symbol with be minimal number of layers to encode the given data.
  • The readerinit option denotes that the symbol is used for programming the barcode reader. Reader programming is only compatible with 1- to 22-layer full-range Aztec Code symbols.
  • The raw option denotes that the data field is providing the input as a pre-encoded bitstream suitable for direct low-level encoding.
  • Deprecated: Use Compact Aztec Code instead. The format option can also be used to create Compact Aztec Code symbols, using format=compact.
  • Deprecated: Use Aztec Runes instead. The format option can also be used to create Aztec Code "runes", using format=rune. In this case the rune symbol number should be given in the data field.

Examples

Data:    ABC123
Options: layers=3
Encoder: azteccode

Data:    00100111001000000101001101111000010100111100101000000110
Options: raw format=compact
Encoder: azteccode


Symbologies Reference

Point of Sale

GS1 DataBar

Supply Chain

Two-dimensional Symbols

One-dimensional Symbols

Postal Symbols

Pharmaceutical Symbols

Less-used Symbols

GS1 Composite Symbols

Raw Symbols

Partial Symbols

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