Manual - .NET Barcode Library

Introduction

The Wolf Software .NET Barcode Library creates all common linear and 2D barcode symbologies. The library is very easy to use, yet it is fast and lightweight at only 185 kB. The library can be used on a form like any other user control or window-less in pure DLL mode, for example in an ASP server application.

Supported barcodes

EAN 8 / EAN 13
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
UPC-A / UPC-E
Code 128 (A, B, C types with auto discrimination for numeric compaction and Full ASCII support)
Code 128 GS 1 (UCC / EAN 128), fully featured implementation with auto formatting, variable field termination etc.
Code 2/5 Interleaved / Industrial
Code 39 / 39 Extended with automatic conversion for Full ASCII support
Codabar / Monarch
Datamatrix (2D)
PDF 417 (2D)
QR Quick Response (2D)

Features

100% managed C# code
Can be used on a form or as a ASP / .NET DLL (i.e. not using screen estate)
Full design-time support for all properties
Data bindable
Automatic checksum calculation and data conversion for all symbologies
Highly customizable with user definable properties for module width, height, human readable text etc.
Easy to use - create, display, save a barcode with only three lines of code
Sample project in C# (incl. pre-compiled read-to-run binaries)
Control-internal bitpattern routines are available for owner drawn barcodes (requires source code of library)
Very small footprint, only 185 kB, only a single file

System requirements

Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio Express 2005, Visual Studio 2008 or any other .NET 2.0 compatible environment. Library as shipped is compiled against the .NET 2.0 framework.

Demo / Purchasing

The demo prints the text DEMO near the barcode. Please see the online store for licensing options and pricing.

Installation and Setup

A dedicated installation is not required. You can add the library to your Visual Studio toolbox directly from the downloaded distribution.

In VS select menu Tools > Choose Toolbox Items:

screenshot barcode-dotnet

Click the Browse... button and navigate to the Library folder:

screenshot barcode-dotnet

Select the file WolfSoftware.Library_NET.dll and click Open. The control will be listed in the toolbox (Initially the control will be placed at the end of the list; simply drag it to where you want or right click and have the list sorted alphabetically.):

screenshot barcode-dotnet

To verify that everything is working, create a simple Windows Forms project. Select the BarcodeControl tool in the toolbox and click-drag a frame into the main form:

screenshot barcode-dotnet

The control defaults to Code EAN 13, with the data "401234567890" to be encoded.

First Steps

To get a feeling for the control, select it and hit F4 to open the controls' properties. The properties of interest are grouped under the Barcode tags:

screenshot barcode-dotnet

For a start change the DataToEncode property and hit Enter. As you can see the barcode is instantly updated. Play around with the properties to see what they do; see the reference section for a detailed description. Note: If you don't see a barcode make sure that the DataToEncode property has valid data for the code symbology in question. For example, for EAN 13 the control expects 12 or 13 digits, for ISBN 13 the control expects a correctly formatted ISBN no., e.g. "978-1-12345-123-8".

Where to go from here

We've provided a ready-to-compile sample project in C# (usage in VB .net is identical and straight forward). You find the sample in the Sample folder. For your convenience, we also provide a pre-compiled, ready-to-run binary of the sample, you find it in the bin\Debug folder of the sample.

The sample is a simple Windows Forms application that exposes some of the control's properties to the user; the end result looks like this:

screenshot barcode-dotnet

Please see the step-by-step walkthrough for the C# sample here:

C# Sample Project

Make sure to also see the reference section of the manual.