| Symbology | Uses |
|---|---|
| Plessey | Catalogs, store shelves, inventory |
| UPC | North American retail |
| EAN-UCC | Worldwide retail |
| Codabar | Libraries, blood banks, airbills |
| Interleaved 2 of 5 | Wholesale, libraries |
| Code 39 | Various |
| Code 93 | Various |
| Code 128 | Various |
| Code 11 | Telephones |
| Pharmacode | Pharmaceutical packaging |
| POSTNET | Post office |
| PostBar | Post office |
| CPC Binary | Post office |
| Telepen | Libraries, etc. (U.K.) |
Barcode Symbologies
Not all barcodes are the same.
There are more than 100 different barcode symbologies. No single barcode can do it all and no barcode has a universal business application. That’s why users must find the symbology that works best for their specific applications.
What is a barcode symbology?
The mapping between messages and barcodes is called a symbology. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the single digits/characters of the message, as well as the start and stop markers into bars and space; the size of the “quiet zone” before and after the barcode; and the computation of a checksum. The spaces and bars of a barcode are a simplified language (COBOL, BASIC and FORTRAN) that allow programmers to speak with computers.