FastReport .Net is a full-featured Windows Forms, ASP.NET and MVC report analysis solution. Using FastReport .NET can create .NET reports independent of applications. At the same time, FastReport .Net supports 14 languages such as Chinese and English. It can make your products truly international.
In the previous article of the Fastreport user manual, we shared the process of using the two-dimensional barcode Aztec codes. This article mainly shares the concept and usage of the binary code Pharmacode, hoping to help you.
Pharmacode
Pharmacode is a binary code specially developed for pharmaceutical packaging by LAETUS GMBH in Germany. It is a subset of CODE39. This specification is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry as part of a product packaging control system.
As part of an automated packaging system, Pharmacode allows easy scanning and recording of pharmaceutical shipments using universal identifiers. Also, with the help of scanners, it is easy to determine if one batch of drugs is mixed with another.
The Pharmacode barcode ensures that the code is read despite possible printing errors. Also, to ensure that the rest of the package (except the code) is printed correctly, the Pharmacode can be printed in a different color (code and background) than the barcode for laser or laser analog reading. This is possible because the Pharmacode is scanned with a special white LAETUS scanner. This makes Pharmacode a very practical format for printing on packaging or documents without black ink.
As mentioned above, Pharmacode can be printed in different colors. Both code and background colors can be different from white and black. Depending on the type of reader, there are special guidelines for the combination of codes and background colors used. For example, standard black-and-white scanners only accept contrasting codes and background colors, while special scanners that recognize color have no strict restrictions.
Unlike other 1D barcodes, Pharmacode stores data in a binary system rather than a decimal system. Also, Pharmacode can only represent a single integer between 3 and 131070. Number 3 has a minimum number of rows of 2 and number 131070 has a maximum of 16. Pharmacode is read from right to left, which makes Pharmacode unique among other linear barcodes that have start, stop symbols. If you read the code from left to right, you'll get a completely different sequence of numbers.
The Pharmacode standard is specified by the LAETUS developers and described in the PharmaCode Guide document.
Here is an example on Pharmacode:
You can create such a code in your report using FastReport .Net or design the package in the generator right away with the barcode.
To add code to the report page, you need to add the Barcode component. Select Pharmacode in the drop-down list:
To edit the code, you need to double-click the added component, or select Edit from the Barcode object's context menu:
You can enter numeric sequences as code values, and you can also specify functions, report variables, and database values.
In the barcode properties, you can change the line spacing (WideBarRatio), the code height (height) and the display of numbers under the code (ShowText).
By default, barcodes are black on a white background. You can change the code color in Barcode -> color property. The background color is set in the Fill -> color property:
Pharmacode might look like this due to color adjustments:
