Code 39 (USD-3)

• Aug 01, 2018
• 2 minutes to read

Short Description

Code 39, the first alpha-numeric symbology to be developed, is still widely used, particularly in non-retail environments. It is the standard bar code used by the United States Department of Defense, and is also used by the Health Industry Bar Code Council (HIBCC). Code 39 is also known as “3 of 9 Code“ and “USD-3“.

Bar Code Properties

The type of a bar code control’s Symbology property is Code39Generator.

The following properties are specific to the Code 39 type.

• BarCodeGeneratorBase.CalcCheckSum

  Gets or sets whether to calculate a checksum for the bar code.

• Code39Generator.WideNarrowRatio

  Gets or sets the density of a bar code’s bars.

Examples

The following code creates a Code 39 (USD-3) bar code and specifies its main properties.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-add-a-bar-code-to-a-report-e167.

Form1.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing.Printing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.XtraPrinting.BarCode;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
// ...
public XRBarCode CreateCode39BarCode(string BarCodeText) {
    // Create a bar code control.
    XRBarCode barCode = new XRBarCode();

    // Set the bar code's type to Code 39.
    barCode.Symbology = new Code39Generator();

    // Adjust the bar code's main properties.
    barCode.Text = BarCodeText;
    barCode.Width = 400;
    barCode.Height = 100;

    // Adjust the properties specific to the bar code type.
    ((Code39Generator)barCode.Symbology).CalcCheckSum = false;
    ((Code39Generator)barCode.Symbology).WideNarrowRatio = 2.5F;

    return barCode;
}

Form1.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Drawing.Printing
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports DevExpress.XtraPrinting.BarCode
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
' ...
Public Function CreateCode39BarCode(ByVal BarCodeText As String) As XRBarCode
    ' Create a bar code control.
    Dim barCode As New XRBarCode()

    ' Set the bar code's type to Code 39.
    barCode.Symbology = New Code39Generator()

    ' Adjust the bar code's main properties.
    barCode.Text = BarCodeText
    barCode.Width = 400
    barCode.Height = 100

    ' Adjust the properties specific to the bar code type.
    CType(barCode.Symbology, Code39Generator).CalcCheckSum = False
    CType(barCode.Symbology, Code39Generator).WideNarrowRatio = 2.5F

    Return barCode
End Function

To add the XRBarCode to a report band, handle the report’s XRControl.BeforePrint event.

C#

using System.Drawing.Printing;
// ...

private void XtraReport1_BeforePrint(object sender, PrintEventArgs e) {
    this.Detail.Controls.Add(CreateCode39BarCode("012345678"));
}

VB.NET

Imports System.Drawing.Printing
' ...

Private Sub XtraReport1_BeforePrint(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As PrintEventArgs)
    Me.Detail.Controls.Add(CreateCode39BarCode("012345678"))
End Sub