Encoding of the UPS Compression Technique is Supported by IDAutomation MaxiCode Barcode Products.

IDAutomation Maxicode barcode products are based on the AIM ANSI/AIM BC10-ISS specification for Maxicode. Compressed Maxicode is a text compression technique used by UPS as a method of encoding greater amounts of shipping data in a Maxicode symbol.

Users integrating compressed Maxicode with IDAutomation products will need to get the compression specifications (or appropriate DLLs from UPS) to convert the data into the compressed format and pass this string directly to the component. A list of Maxicode components is provided here. The compressed maxicode data string contains hidden characters such as returns, line feeds and possibly other low-level ASCII characters that are usually lost if the data is not directly sent to the component.

For example, copy and paste the string or try to implement using HTTP strings with the Java Servlet or ASP Barcode Server product. It will not encode properly. The only way around this is to convert all characters except 0 to 9 and A to Z (and a to z) to their tilde equivalents. Read more about using the tilde in the Maxicode Barcode FAQ.

The string below is an example of a compressed Maxicode that will image properly using the Servlet. All characters except 0 to 9 and A to Z (and a to z) should be converted to their tilde equivalents after compression. The characters should be converted immediately after the compression process directly, not by reading them from a file because carriage returns and line feeds can be removed by editors such as Notepad.
~091~041~062~03001~02996145070000~029840~029328~0291Z00005170~029UPSN~029A790T3~03007
~041EX8BEUTP~042~036W~036GHFX~041V~0462MOPKGS~041~046XIQ~013UY~041F0~034A~028S~013~030~004

Once the data is properly encoded in the compressed format, the UPS barcode scanners and software will do the translating of the compressed data when reading the symbol. To further clarify: IDAutomation barcode products take the input data as-is and encode it in a barcode. Without the UPS encoded barcode scanners and software, the generic market scanners will interpret the encoded data exactly as it appears in the barcode and render it back to the application as such.

The following is a list of IDAutomation Maxicode products:

• Java Barcode Products
• .NET Barcode Controls
• ASP.NET Web Barcode Controls
• ActiveX Barcode Control & DLL
• Barcode Label Software

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