IDAutomation Native Windows Font Encoder DLL

IDAutomation's Native Windows Barcode DLL was written in C++, has no COM or MFC dependencies and may be used in any application or development environment that can call a method from a DLL. It contains methods for Postnet, Planet, Code 3 of 9, Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 93, Code 128, UPC-A, EAN-13, EAN-8, UCC-128, GS1-128, all GS1 DataBar variants including Omnidirectional, Stacked and Expanded Stacked, MSI, Plessey and USPS Intelligent Mail. This font encoder DLL also contains methods for the GS1 DataBar Font and the IDAutomation Universal Barcode Font Advantage™. This product may be used royalty free if a license to one of IDAutomation's barcode fonts has been purchased.

• Download the DLL
• The API of the DLL
• Barcode Method List

The purpose of this DLL is to return a string formatted to one of IDAutomation's barcode fonts. IDAutomation's DLL is free to use and distribute with the application as long as it is being used with one of IDAutomation's licensed barcode fonts. Redistribution of IDAutomation's fonts and components requires a Developer License.

• Download the Windows Barcode DLL
• Visit IDAutomation's Barcode Fonts page to download barcode fonts

Advanced programmers with an understanding of how Windows DLLs work should only use the API of the Native Windows Barcode DLL. For all other purposes, IDAutomation suggests using other Font Tools. The Native Windows DLL cannot return a string value. This limitation requires that the return value be passed as a variable to the method by reference; that being said, there are a few differences between the Native Windows Barcode DLL and the methods listed. The differences are as follows:

• Return value - the methods return 0 for success or a non-zero value if the method fails.
• Output - this string value (passed by reference) will be populated by the DLL with the encoded data.
• Output size - this integer value is populated by the DLL with the number of pertinent characters. It may be necessary to use this with the VB Mid Function, for example: BarcodeString= Mid(myOut, 1, iSize).

For example, in the General Declarations or in a separate module of a VB application or Excel spreadsheet VBA editor, the method needs to be defined:

Private Declare Function IDAutomation_Universal_C128 _
Lib "IDAutomationNativeFontEncoder.dll" _
(ByVal D2E As String, ByRef tilde As Long, _
ByVal out As String, _
ByRef iSize As Long) As Long

In a button click event, or any other procedure, the method can be called. The DLL method needs an input parameter that can be filled by the DLL with the formatted data. For example:

Public Function IDAutomation_Uni_C128(DataToEncode As String, Optional applyTilde As Boolean = False) As String
    Dim myOut As String 'Variable to be populated by DLL method with formatted data
    Dim iSize As Long 'The size of the formatted data. Also, populated by the DLL
    Dim lRetVal As Long 'Return value of the method. Will be zero if successful
    Dim long_AT As Long 'variable to be passed to DLL determining if tilde processing should be done.
    'Must be a long data type for DLL to accept
    myOut = String(250, " ") 'The output variable needs to be sized to hold the data. The DLL can not dynamically size a variable
    iSize = 0
    If applyTilde = True Then
      L_AT = True 'can be implicitly converted to a long
    Else
      L_AT = False
    End If
    'Call the method, passing in the data to encode, a boolean deciding if tilde processing should be used,
    'the output variable, and the variable that will be populated with the size
    lRetVal = IDAutomation_Universal_C128(DataToEncode, L_AT, myOut, iSize)
    'Write out the output string, taking only the number of characters necessary from the defined string
    IDAutomation_Uni_C128 = Mid(myOut, 1, iSize)
End Function

This DLL is supplied with an Excel example, which includes a VBA module. The VBA module may be exported and used in VB 6, Microsoft Office and other applications.

The methods listed below are available in IDAutomation's DLL and are only valid when used with the font listed in the "font to use" column. The RetrunVal and Size parameters found in the methods below are passed by reference. The RetrunVal is the encoded string to be used with the appropriate font; the Size variable is the size of ReturnVal.

Description of the parts of the methods:

• DataToEncode - this is a string value that represents the data being encoded.
• N_Dimension - determines the width of the wide bars, which is a multiple of the X dimension. Valid values are 2, 2.5 and 3. The default is 2. The X dimension is determined by the font point size.
• IncludeCheckDigit - a Boolean value that determines whether a check digit should be automatically calculated and included for the DataToEncode.
• ApplyTilde - when ApplyTilde is enabled in Code 128 with the Auto character set, the format ~ddd may be used to specify the ASCII code of the character to be encoded and several other tilde options are enabled.

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