Code 39 (USD-3)

• May 22, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

Code 39, also known as 3 of 9 Code or USD-3, is a widely used alphanumeric symbology for non-retail environments. The United States Department of Defense and the Health Industry Bar Code Council (HIBCC) use Code 39. The symbology encodes 43 characters.

View Example

Examples

Configure Barcode Settings (Code39Options)

Use the Code39Options class to configure code 39 barcode settings.

The following code snippet creates an Code 39 barcode and customizes its options:

C#

using DevExpress.Docs.Barcode;
using DevExpress.Drawing;
using System.Drawing;

var code39Options = new Code39Options();
code39Options.ShowText = true;
code39Options.Padding = new Padding(5);
code39Options.WideNarrowRatio = 3.0f;
code39Options.CalculateChecksum = true;
code39Options.BorderWidth = 1;

using var code39OptionsStream = new FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_code39.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
using var code39OptionsGenerator = new BarcodeGenerator(code39Options);
code39OptionsGenerator.Export("CODE39", code39OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png);

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Barcode
Imports DevExpress.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing

Dim code39Options As New Code39Options()
code39Options.ShowText = True
code39Options.Padding = New Padding(5)
code39Options.WideNarrowRatio = 3.0F
code39Options.CalculateChecksum = True
code39Options.BorderWidth = 1

Using code39OptionsStream As New FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_code39.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write)
  Using code39OptionsGenerator As New BarcodeGenerator(code39Options)
    code39OptionsGenerator.Export("CODE39", code39OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png)
  End Using
End Using

Configure Barcode Settings (Fluent API)

Use the Code39OptionsBuilder class to configure code 39 barcode settings with Fluent API.

The following code snippet creates an Code 39 barcode and customizes its options:

C#

using DevExpress.Docs.Barcode;
using DevExpress.Drawing;
using System.Drawing;

var code39Options = code39OptionsBuilder.Create()
    .WithShowText(true)
    .WithPadding(5)
    .WithWideNarrowRatio(3.0f)
    .WithCalculateChecksum(true)
    .WithBorderWidth(1)
    .Build();

using var code39OptionsStream = new FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_code39.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
using var code39OptionsGenerator = new BarcodeGenerator(code39Options);

code39OptionsGenerator.Export("CODE39", code39OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png);

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Barcode
Imports DevExpress.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing

Dim code39Options = code39OptionsBuilder.Create() _
    .WithShowText(True) _
    .WithPadding(5) _
    .WithWideNarrowRatio(3.0f) _
    .WithCalculateChecksum(True) _
    .WithBorderWidth(1) _
    .Build()

Using code39OptionsStream = New FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_code39.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write)
  Using code39OptionsGenerator = New BarcodeGenerator(code39Options)
    code39OptionsGenerator.Export("CODE39", code39OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png)
  End Using
End Using

Symbology-Specific Options

Property	Description
CalculateChecksum	Gets or sets whether to calculate and add a check character to barcode data.
WideNarrowRatio	Gets or sets the wide bar to a narrow bar ratio.