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I must create an EAN 128 barcode; what is an “AI”?

April 26, 2017ai barcode create EAN

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I must create an EAN 128 barcode; what is an “AI”?

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An AI is a sort of “prefix” that allows to give a meaning to the data that follow, thus splitting the barcode into logical fields. Depending on the prefix, the data that follow can have fixed or variable length. There are hundreds of different AIs: the wizard in BCF Assistant (which can be invoked by clicking on the magic wand to the right of the input field, when EAN 128 symbology is selected) can be consulted to see which are the most common AIs and their meaning. In the text below an EAN 128 barcode the AIs are usually expressed between parenthesis, which are not encoded in the barcode. Take care when encoding a variable length field: if the data is below maximum length and it is not the last field, it must be separated from the following AI by using the character CHR(129) = “\x81”.