5525B/31/32 Line Matrix Printer Code V Programmer's Reference Manual

Code 128
157
Manual Mode Operation
In the manual mode, you are responsible for correct implementation of Code
128 in accordance with the Code 128 Standards Manual.
The Code 128 character set is shown in Table 26. The Alternate column
identifies the special subset switch characters that switch the Code V to the
manual mode. These > characters are also horizontally aligned with functions
also performed in an automatic mode. For example, >/ represents SI in subset
A, o in subset B, and value 79 in subset C. Thus, the following commands
generate the same bar code using Alternate characters, or subsets B or C:
Subset Switch Characters:^BNZ>7>,>->.>/^G
Subset C: ^BNZ>576777879^G
Subset B: ^BNZ>6lmno^G
Non-ASCII characters are specified by using the subset switch character
(from >1 through >8 in the Alternate column in Table 26) which corresponds
to your application. The Value column is used when manually translating
subset B and C bar codes into their briefest form.
NOTE: The subset switch start codes, >5, >6, and >7 have two functions. At
the beginning of a line, they start manual mode data in subset C, B, or
A, respectively. When these codes are used anywhere in the data
other than at the start of a line, they are interpreted as the non-ASCII
characters in Table 26.
Subset B and C Switching. In the automatic mode, the Code V creates the
briefest, most compact bar code by automatically switching from subset B to
subset C. For example, the data LT436682 could be entered directly into a
typed bar code command as ^BNZLT436682^G. The Code V automatically
selects the appropriate start code, and switches to subset C to compact the
continuous numeric data characters (436682).
In the manual mode, however, you must specify the start code and all special
function codes to switch subsets. For example, to create the same bar code
as generated automatically in the previous paragraph (data of LT436682), the
subset B start code is entered. This is followed by the alpha data (LT), and the
subset switch character to switch to subset C is entered followed by the
continuous numeric characters. A typical bar code command, in the manual
mode, for the data is: ^BNZ>6LT>5Kbr^G. The pairs of continuous numeric
data were manually translated to subset B, data Kbr, corresponding to the
subset C values of 436682, respectively, as shown in Table 26. If the data
(LT436682) had been entered directly into the bar code command as
^BNZ>6LT>5436682, the bar code generated would have been: Start Code
B: LT, subset C: 20 19 22 22 24 18, as determined by the value of the
individual data characters in Table 26.
NOTE: If a start code is not entered in the manual mode, the Code V
provides a subset B start code.