Star Office Barcode Add-in and Tutorial
 Add barcodes to StarOffice Calc spreadsheet or Adabas database with
this barcode add-in which contains functions for Postnet,
Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 128, UPC, EAN, UCC-128, MSI and others.
This Star Office Barcode Add-in is still available for download and use,
although it is no longer
supported in terms of troubleshooting. Instead, please consider using
OpenOffice & StarOffice
barcode font VB macros which will be supported for the foreseeable
future.
StarOffice Barcode Add-In Overview
StarOffice utilizes a feature called Add-Ins which allows the
use of custom functions within the StarOffice applications as defined in a Dynamic Link Library (DLL). When this DLL
is placed in the correct StarOffice directory, the functions can be
called from within the StarOffice Calc spreadsheet or Adabas database to
generate accurate barcodes.
IDAutomation provides such a DLL for encoding data for barcode generation. The DLL contains functions for most standard symbologies
such as Code 128, Code 39, Postnet, Interleaved 2 of 5 and more. The following is an explanation of each function that
is included in the DLL:
| Function |
Function
Description and Additional Information |
| Code128(Data) |
This Code 128 Auto function will automatically
encode any data from ASCII 0 to ASCII 127. It will automatically
switch to character set C for numbers also. If there is a doubt about which Code
128 set is for the application, then use this one.
To encode alpha-numeric UCC/EAN-128, ASCII 202 or character
Ê is entered as the FNC1 before each AI. For example, the UCC
number of (8100)712345(21)12WH5678 should be
entered as
Ê8100712345Ê2112WH5678.
Learn more about
AI's and UCC/EAN-128. |
| Code128a(Data) |
Use the characters
from set B to print characters not on the keyboard; the scanner
will scan characters from set A. Formats output to the
Code
128 barcode fonts. |
| Code128b(Data) |
Returns codes
formatted to the Code 128 character set B. Formats output to
the Code 128 barcode fonts. |
| Code128c(Data) |
This code128
function "interleaves" numbers into pairs for higher density. |
| I2of5() |
This function
"interleaves" numbers into pairs for high density without check
digits, and formats the return string to
Interleaved 2 of
5 barcode fonts. |
| I2of5Mod10(Data) |
Performs the
mod10 checksum calculation for increased accuracy and formats
the return string to the Interleaved 2 of 5 fonts. MOD 10 checksums
are required by USPS for special services and for SSC-14 when
using Interleaved 2 of 5 for that purpose. |
| Code39(Data) |
Formats the
output to print using Code 39
barcode fonts. |
| Code39Mod43(Data) |
Performs the
mod43 checksum calculation for increased accuracy and then formats
the output to print using Code 39 fonts. The mod43 checksum
is usually required for LOGMARS and HIBC applications. |
| Codabar() |
Formats the
output to print using Codabar fonts. |
| Postnet(Data) |
Enter a single
string of Zip, Zip + 4 or Zip + 4 + Delivery Point. The input
for Data must be a number and can include dashes and
spaces. |
| MSI(Data) |
Formats output
to the MSI barcode fonts. |
| UPCa() |
Enter UPC-A
with or without a check digit, add-ons are supported. Formats
output to the UPC/EAN barcode font. |
| EAN13() |
Enter EAN-13
with or without a check digit, add-ons are supported. Formats
output to the UPC/EAN barcode font. |
| EAN8() |
Enter exactly
7 characters (EAN-8 without the check digit). Formats output
to the UPC/EAN barcode font. |
Installing the StarOffice Barcode Add-In
After the
StarOfficeBarcodeAddin.zip has been downloaded and IDAutomationAddIn.dll
has been extracted, the DLL should be placed in the StarOffice Add-In directory. To find the location of the StarOffice
Add-In directory, follow these steps:
- In StarOffice, click the Tools menu item.
- Click Options...
- Expand the General item and select
Paths from
the tree-view of options.
Note the directory path of AddIns on the right side of the
window. The screen should look similar to the following:
- Copy the IDAutomation.dll file to the path specified by
AddIns
in the StarOffice environment
- Restart StarOffice.
Using the StarOffice Barcode Add-In in Calc
Now that the StarOffice Barcode Add-In has been installed, the functions are ready to
use in the spreadsheet. The following example will discuss using
the Code128B Add-In function to create a barcode in cell B1 for a value that is
in cell A1.
- Open the spreadsheet to barcode data using StarOffice Calc.
- Enter test data into cell A1.
- Move the cursor to cell B1.
- Select Insert | Function from the Calc menu or press
Ctrl + F2 to access the function screen.
- Select Add-In from the
Category drop-down menu
and highlight CODE128B in the Function list.
- Click Next. The screen should
look similar to this:
- Enter A1 in the Input Data field.
- Click OK.
- Cell B1 will look similar to the following:
- Select the appropriate IDAutomation font to turn the formatted
text into a readable barcode. When selecting the font from the pull down menu, please
do not use the fonts that begin with the
"@" Symbol.
Instead, scroll down in the list and select the ones that begin
with IDAutomation.
- The barcode should be scannable after printing.
- If there problems scanning the barcode after these steps are
performed, confirm the following:
-Make sure the correct barcode font is selected for the
formula function.
-Make sure the barcode is not truncated, as there
needs to be some white space to the left and right of the barcode to achieve an
accurate scan.
- For other problems, please refer to
Font Problems and Solutions.
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