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Visual Basic Barcode Integration Guide
Integrate barcoding into VB 6 and Visual Basic .NET

IDAutomation provides several products and options for implementing barcodes in VB with flexible license agreements to meet a variety of needs including single user licenses and royalty-free developer licenses. The following chart may be used to determine the best product needed:

Product(s):	Advantages and Disadvantages:
Self-Checking Barcode Fonts	The easiest implementation option when the barcode type does not matter and the data is numbers and/or uppercase letters. It is suggested to use the Codabar Font for numbers only and the Code 39 Font when encoding numbers and uppercase letters. Data is easily formatted to the barcode font by appending asterisks to the beginning andyes ending of the data being encoded; no other DLLs or source code are needed. Tutorials are provided in this document for implementation with VB 6 and VB.NET.
.NET Forms Controls	Created exclusively for .NET Windows Applications. Supports several linear barcode types as well as 2D symbologies including Intelligent Mail, PDF417, Data Matrix, Aztec, QR-Code and MaxiCode. Generates graphic images without fonts. Includes source code for the Barcode Image Generator written in VB.NET. All DLLs provided are signed, strong named and time stamped with Authenticode Certificates. Source code for the graphic generation library and the entire .NET project are provided with the purchase of the Unlimited Developer License and a signed Source Code License Agreement.
ASP.NET Web Server Controls	Created exclusively for ASP.NET Web Applications. Supports several linear barcode types as well as 2D symbologies including Intelligent Mail, DataMatrix, PDF417 and MaxiCode. Generates graphic images without fonts as an ASP.NET server control in Visual Studio. Compiled in C# Dotnet for speed. All DLLs provided are signed and time-stamped with Verisign Authenticode Certificates.
VB Module Integration with Barcode Fonts	Easily integrates into the project, without the requirement for additional DLLs. Supports most linear barcode types. Modules and source code are included for VB 6, VBA and VB.NET. Methods in the module calculate the start, stop and check digits and return a character string, that when combined with IDAutomation Barcode Fonts, create a correct barcode. Compatible with the Universal Barcode Font and the GS1 DataBar Barcode Font when used with the Native Windows DLL.
Native Windows Barcode DLL with Barcode Fonts or the Universal Barcode Font	Supports most linear barcode types. Methods in the Barcode DLL calculate the start, stop and check digits and return a character string, that when combined with IDAutomation Barcode Fonts, create a correct barcode. Methods are also provided for the Universal Barcode Font and the GS1 DataBar Barcode Font in the same DLL. C++ source code for the Universal Barcode Font DLL or the DataBar Barcode Font DLL may be provided with the purchase of a Developer License and a signed Source Code License Agreement.
PDF417 Font and Encoder or the Data Matrix Font and Encoder	Includes pure VB and VBA encoder source code for PDF417 or Data Matrix. Many different 2D encoders are provided for a single symbology in the PDF417 Font and Encoder and the Data Matrix Font and Encoder packages, including 100% managed code .NET encoders. Includes the applicable .NET Forms Control and ActiveX Control.
Barcode ActiveX Controls	Supports several linear barcode types as well as 2D symbologies including Intelligent Mail, PDF417, Data Matrix and MaxiCode. Works very well with VB 6. When using VB.NET, IDAutomation recommends using .NET Forms Controls instead of ActiveX if possible. All ActiveX Controls provided are signed and time-stamped with Verisign Authenticode Certificates. ActiveX controls may also be used in Access, Excel, Infopath and a few other applications.
Crystal Reports Integration	When printing with Crystal Reports, refer to the Crystal Reports Integration Guide for the best implementation method.
VB Tutorial Links:	Self-Checking fonts in VB6 Self-Checking fonts in VB.NET Visual Basic Barcode Module Integration Visual Basic 6 Module Example Visual Basic .NET Module Example ActiveX Control Integration with VB.NET

Self-Checking Fonts in VB 6:

Self-Checking Barcode Fonts (including MICR and OCR fonts) are compatible with Visual Basic and may be used with ease. To use a self-checking font such as Code 39, insert an asterisk "*" before and after the data encoded. Therefore, to encode TEST3OF9 in a barcode, the text of *TEST3OF9* would need to be present in a field with the Code 39 font selected. When using the Codabar Font for numbers only, use the 'A' character instead of the asterisks.

The following is a VB 6 example of printing the Code 39 barcode font from Visual Basic, where variable is a string to encode in the barcode:
Printer.FontName = "IDAutomationHC39M"
Printer.CurrentY = 3000
Printer.FontSize = 12
Printer.Print "*" & variable & "*"
Printer.FontSize = 10
Printer.FontName = "Helv" 'Switch to a text font
Printer.Print "The above barcode is code-39"
Printer.EndDoc 'This tells the printer to eject the page

Barcode may also be printed from a field in a database via the data control, for example:
Printer.Print "*" & Data1.Recordset("field1") & "*"

The start and stop characters may also be appended to the variable, for example:
variable ="*" & DataString & "*"
Printer.Print variable

When printing with Crystal Reports, refer to the Crystal Reports Integration Guide for the best implementation method.

Self-Checking Barcode Fonts in VB .NET:

Data is easily formatted to the barcode font by appending asterisks to the beginning and ending of the data being encoded; no other DLLs or source code are needed. When using the Codabar Barcode Font for numbers only, use the 'A' character instead of asterisks. The following source code is an example of printing a barcode from VB.NET with the Code 39 Barcode Font, where VariableToPrintis a string that needs to be encoded:

Import the System.Drawing.Printing class and define a class level variable:
Imports System.Drawing.Printing
Private PrintFont As Font                'Class level variable.
private VariableToPrint as string    'class level variable representing the data to print

Place code in an object event to generate the page(s) to be printing:

'****Code within the object generating the print, such as a toolbar button...
'Initialize the Print Document object that will be sent to the printer
Dim PrintDoc As New PrintDocument()
Dim VariableToPrint as string            'variable that we are printing

'Set the font of the font object and the data to encode
PrintFont = New Font("IDAutomationHC39L", 12)
VariableToPrint = "*" & "128-39-200-128" & "*"

'Add an event handler that will be called for each page that is generated
AddHandler PrintDoc.PrintPage, AddressOf Me.PrintDoPrintPage

'Initiate the printing of the document
PrintDoc.Print()
'****

The following code should be placed in the event handler, which places the data on the page:

Dim linesPerPage As Single = 0        'Number of lines (bar codes) that you will be able to fit on the page
Dim yPos As Single = 0                    'yPos on the page of the bar code
Dim leftMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Left    'left margin of bar code
Dim topMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Top   'top margin of bar code
Dim line As String = Nothing        'String that font will be applied to and printed

'Calculate the number of lines to print per page that we can fit based on the
'height of the font
linesPerPage = ev.MarginBounds.Height / PrintFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

'Set the y position of the font (how far down on the page it prints
yPos = 100

'Set the text that we will print
line = VariableToPrint

'Send the string to the printer. An empty string format variable is passed in. This
'variable can do any formatting on the string that is necessary
ev.Graphics.DrawString(line, PrintFont, Brushes.Black, leftMargin, yPos, New StringFormat())

When printing with Crystal Reports, refer to the Crystal Reports Integration Guide for the best implementation method.

Visual Basic Barcode Font Module Integration

New functionality in VB Code allows Human Readable text and GS1-128 AIs to be generated within the IDAutomation Code 128 Font

The IDAutomation VB Font Module (or source code from the module) calculates the start, stop and check digits for the barcode and returns a text string, that when combined with the appropriate IDAutomation Barcode Font, creates a correct barcode. VB developers may add this module to their Visual Basic applications and access the functions directly. Using this module, there is nothing to distribute with the application except the barcode font because the functions of the module are compiled into the EXE file.

Note: Depending on the method used, a parameter may be required. For example, Code128("123456",0,True).

VB Functions for Standard Barcode Fonts (VB 6 & VB .NET)
Barcode Type	Method(s) & Notes	Font to use
Code-11	Code11 (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationC11
Code-128 (Auto Mode)	Code128 (DataToEncode, C128 ReturnType, ApplyTilde) Human Readable text is enabled when ReturnType = 6 Example: Code128("123456789012", 6, 0)	IDAutomationC128
Code-128 (Manual Mode)	IDAutomation recommends using Auto Mode for most situations. Code128a (DataToEncode, C128 ReturnType) Code128b (DataToEncode, C128 ReturnType) Code128c (DataToEncode, C128 ReturnType) Example: Code128b("12345678", 6)	IDAutomationC128
Code-39	Code39 (DataToEncode) Code39Mod43 (DataToEncode, ReturnType) Example: Code39Mod43("12345678", 0)	IDAutomationC39
Code-93	Code93 (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationC93
Codabar	Codabar (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationCB
EAN-13	IDAEAN13 (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationUPCEAN
EAN-8	IDAEAN8 (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationUPCEAN
GS1-128	Code128 (DataToEncode, C128 ReturnType, 1) GS1-128 is enabled in Code 128 Auto by setting ApplyTilde to True. Human Readable AIs may be created by setting the C128 ReturnType to 6. Example: Code128("(12)3456789012", 6, 1)	IDAutomationC128
Interleaved 2 of 5	I2of5 (DataToEncode) I2of5Mod10 (DataToEncode, ReturnType) Example: I2of5Mod10("123456789", 1)	IDAutomationI25
MSI / Plessey	MSI (DataToEncode, ReturnType)	IDAutomationMSI
RM4SCC	RM4SCC (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationRM
UPC-A	UPCa (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationUPCEAN
UPC-E	UPCe (DataToEncode)	IDAutomationUPCEAN
USPS IntelligentMail	IntelligentMail (DataToEncode) **	IDAutomationPOSTNET or IDAutomation_Uni
USPS Postnet	Postnet (DataToEncode, ReturnType)	IDAutomationPOSTNET
USPS Planet	Planet (DataToEncode, ReturnType)	IDAutomationPOSTNET

Visual Basic 6 Module Example:

Install the desired IDAutomation Barcode Font package. If unsure of which is needed, IDAutomation recommends the Code 128 Font Advantage Package due to its variety of fonts in differing heights and automatic encoding of all letters and numbers.
Download the Visual Basic Barcode Font Module and extract the IDAutomation.bas file into the VB project directory.
Open Visual Basic; Choose Project - Add Module.
Select the IDAutomation.bas file.
Now that the module is part of the project, the methods of the module used to format text to the barcode fonts may be called. For example:
Printer.FontName = "IDAutomationC128L"
Printer.CurrentY = 3000
Printer.FontSize = 16
Printer.Print Code128(Data1.Recordset("field1"), 0)
Printer.FontSize = 10
Printer.FontName = "Helv" 'Switch back to a text font
Printer.Print "The above barcode was printed with the IDAutomation Code 128 Font"
Printer.EndDoc 'This tells the printer to eject the page

Visual Basic .NET Module Example:

Install the desired IDAutomation Barcode Font package. If unsure of which is needed, IDAutomation recommends the Code 128 Font Advantage Package due to its variety of fonts in differing heights and automatic encoding of all letters and numbers.
Download the Visual Basic Barcode Font Module and extract the IDAutomation.vb file into the VB project directory.
In Visual Basic .NET, Choose Project - Add Existing Item.
Select the IDAutomation.vb file. After adding the module, it should show up in the IDE.
Now that the module is part of the project, the functions of the module may be used to format text to IDAutomation Barcode Fonts. For example:
TextVariable = Code128("Code 128 Font Test", 0) returns a character string, that when combined with the bar code font, creates a correct barcode.
The following code example prints a bar code in VB.NET:
Import the System.Drawing.Printing class and define a class level variable:
Imports System.Drawing.Printing
Private PrintFont As Font                'Class level variable.
private VariableToPrint as string    'Class level variable representing the data to print

Place code in an object event to generate the page(s) to be printed:
'****Code within the object generating the print, such as a toolbar button...
'Initialize the Print Document object that will be sent to the printer
Dim PrintDoc As New PrintDocument()
Dim VariableToPrint as string            'variable that we are printing
'Set the font of the font object and the text to encode
PrintFont = New Font("IDAutomationHC39M", 12)
VariableToPrint = "*" & "12827384736388" & "*"
'Add an event handler that will be called for each page that is generated
AddHandler PrintDoc.PrintPage, AddressOf Me.PrintDoPrintPage
'Initiate the printing of the document
PrintDoc.Print()
'****

The following code should be placed in the event handler, which places the data on the page:
Dim linesPerPage As Single = 0        'Number of lines (bar codes) that you will be able to fit on the page

Dim yPos As Single = 0                    'yPos on the page of the bar code
Dim leftMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Left    'left margin of bar code
Dim topMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Top   'top margin of bar code
Dim line As String = Nothing        'String that font will be applied to and printed

'Calculate the number of lines to print per page that we can fit based on the
'height of the font
linesPerPage = ev.MarginBounds.Height / PrintFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

'Set the y position of the font (how far down on the page it prints
yPos = 100

'Set the text that will print
line = VariableToPrint

'Send the string to the printer. An empty string format variable is passed in. This
'variable can do any formatting on the string that is necessary
ev.Graphics.DrawString(line, PrintFont, Brushes.Black, leftMargin, yPos, New StringFormat())

ActiveX Control Integration with VB.NET

The IDAutomation.com ActiveX barcode controls allow generation of Windows-Enhanced Metafile images and printing from Visual Studio.NET. IDAutomation recommends using .NET Forms Barcode Controls instead of ActiveX if possible.

Purchase or download and install the ActiveX Control.
Open a VB .NET Project and choose Project | Add Reference.
Select the appropriate IDAutomation Barcode Component from the COM components tab of the reference list. Click Select. Click OK.
The following code examples use the IDAutomation.com Linear Barcode ActiveX control in the object named axBarCode1 to print to the default printer:

Private Sub cmdPrintToPrinter_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdPrintToPrinter.Click

    Dim pd As New PrintDocument()

    'Add an Event Handler for printing
    AddHandler pd.PrintPage, AddressOf Me.pd_PrintPage

     'Fire off the print page event.
    pd.Print()
End Sub

'Event handler for the PrintDocument
Private Sub pd_PrintPage(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal ev As PrintPageEventArgs)
    Dim linesPerPage As Single = 0
    Dim yPos As Single = 0
    Dim count As Integer = 0
    Dim leftMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Left     'Left Margin of Page
    Dim topMargin As Single = ev.MarginBounds.Top     'Top Margin of Page.
    Dim line As String = Nothing                                            'Data that we will write to the printer

    ' Calculate the number of lines per page based on the height of the font that was sent.
    linesPerPage = ev.MarginBounds.Height / printFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

    ' Print each line of the file.
    line = "IDAutomation.com, Inc. VB Dot Net Example"

    'Set the y co-ordinate of where we are going to print the Line
    yPos = topMargin + count * printFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

    'Send the string to the printer
    ev.Graphics.DrawString(line, printFont, Brushes.Black, leftMargin, yPos, New StringFormat())

    'Increase the line count
    count += 1

    'Set the y position of the next line
    yPos = topMargin + count * printFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

    'Set the second string to be printed. We have to account for the actual printing position of the
    'bar code when displaying yPos in this line. yPos set above is actually the location that this line
    'will be printed on.
    line = "Printing the Enhanced Metafile version of the barcode at X=" & leftMargin & ", Y=" & yPos + (topMargin + ((count + 1) * printFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)))

    'Print the string
    ev.Graphics.DrawString(line, printFont, Brushes.Black, leftMargin, yPos, New StringFormat())

    'Increase the line count
    count += 1

    'Increase the ypos
    yPos = topMargin + count * printFont.GetHeight(ev.Graphics)

    'Print the enhanced metafile image of the bar code
    ev.Graphics.DrawImage(AxBarCode1.GetEnhWMF, leftMargin, yPos)
End Sub

An image may also be saved the a local hard drive with the following code:
Private Sub cmdSaveToFile_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdSaveToFile.Click
AxBarCode1.SaveBarCode("C:\SavedBarCode.wmf")
End Sub

Copying the image to the clipboard is only supported with IDAutomation's .NET Forms Controls. When printing with Crystal Reports, refer to the Crystal Reports Integration Guide for the best implementation method.

Visual Basic Barcode Integration Guide Integrate barcoding into VB 6 and Visual Basic .NET