Code 49 : Code39

Code39

 

Background

The barcode Code39 was developed in 1973 by the company Intermec. The name Code39 is derived from the fact that one character is represented by three broad (from a total of 9) bars, each one is either black or white.

Fig. 1: "Beispiel" encoded by Code39.

Principle

Fig. 2: Code39-Tabelle

The beginning and the end of the encoded word are marked with an *.
An optional checksum can be added as well. This checksum is derived from the sum of used characters modulo 43. For the message "Beispiel" used in Fig.1 . the checksum would be:

B:12 + E:15 + I:19 + S:29 + P:26 + I:19 + E:15 + L:22 = 157 mod 43 = 28 = R

Weblinks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_39

References

¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:3of9.jpg, 2009-03-02