barcode printing from labview

[fmortel]

Just wondering if anybody out there has done anything with Labview involving printing out a report with a barcode readable by a standard barcode reader. What I'm attempting to do is with my program I have written, it generates a workorder number, and the operator inputs pieces, etc. I want to be able to print out a report to go around the plant with the product, and once the product gets to phase two, have an operator scan my report and automatically fill in workorder #, etc.

Please let me know if I'm out of my mind.

Thanks!

[David Boyd]

AFAIK, we've never met, so I can't say much about your mental state (reminds me of a joke: What do two psychiatrists do when they meet on the street? They shake hands and say, "You're fine, how am I?")

But seriously...

There are various TrueType fonts floating around which can be installed on any Windows PC, some for free. I've attached a code-39 font I've used in the past for this, I hope it's freely distributable. I would suggest that you put a string control on a VI front panel, set the control's font to use the BC font at an appropriate pointsize, color the control's other parts white or transparent, color the panel BG white, and set the VI to print on completion. You call the VI, passing the string you want (you may have to bracket the text with leading and trailing asterisk chars, for the code-39 font to render correctly), and out comes paper with a barcode.

So, if you're crazy, I must be too.

Best regards,

Dave

Edit: Having trouble getting the attachment to stick. Will try again and get Michael's help if necessary...

Perhaps I can get the font file to attach to this post.

Dave (keeping fingers firmly crossed while typing).

No go - but I found a weblink where it can be downloaded:

3 of 9 barcode

[Mike Ashe]

Nope, not out of your mind. I recall some work at a tool manufacturer that did essentially what you are talking about, same for a large computer mfr. I think if you look at the Find All VIs Catalog and on NI's DevZone you might even find some examples. Similarly, if you Google LabVIEW and barcode you will get pages of stuff, mostly reading barcode, but some writes too.