32 Line Matrix Printer PCL II Programmer's Reference Manual

US Postnet Barcodes

256X US POSTNET BAR CODE

The US POSTNET Bar Code is a Compaq character set which meets the US

Postal Office specifications for Postnet bar coding, including the latest

Delivery Point Bar Code, or DPBC.

US POSTNET Bar Codes print at 4.0 cpi (20 bars per inch) and 11.3 cpi (22.5

bars per inch).Both bar codes are printed by replacing normal printable

characters with vertical bars. Both options use different characters to

represent the desired bar codes, as a result the methods by which they are

produced are incompatible.

11.3 CPI (22.5 Bars per inch) US POSTNET BAR CODE

FONT SELECTION

You may select either of the US POSTNET character sets from either the

front panel or through escape sequences. (Refer to the

User’s Manual

for

details on front panel menus.)

The following escape sequence will configure the 11.3 cpi POSTNET BAR

CODE as a secondary font:

ESC)1KESC)s11.3H

The sequence above sets the secondary font symbol set to 11.3 cpi

POSTNET BAR CODE, and sets the pitch to 11.3 cpi. Once the Secondary

character set is configured for 11.3 cpi Postnet Bar Codes, the Shift Out

command can be used to activate the bar codes:

Shift Out: hex 0E

After the bar code is printed, the normal print mode is activated by using the

Shift In command:

Shift In: hex 0F

NOTE: It is recommended setting the US POSTNET Bar Code character set

as the secondary set, with the normal operation mode as the primary

font.

Printing 11.3 CPI US POSTNET Bar Code Information

The US POSTNET BAR CODES represent digits 0 - 9 with five vertical bars.

Each digit consists of two long bars (1’s) and three short bars (0’s). The

Delivery Point Bar Code font is designed to be printed only at 11.3 cpi or 22.5

bars per inch. A Delivery Point Bar Code is an eleven digit postal code. (For

five or nine postal bar codes, use the 4.0 cpi US POSTNET Bar Code.)

The eleven numeric characters are : ZIP + 4 + 2

To make the bar code scannable, you must add a check digit and frame bars.

The check digit is calculated by adding all of the digits and subtracting the

sum from the next highest multiple of ten. Consequently, the sum of the

eleven digits, and the check digit, will be an even multiple of ten.