Native Windows Barcode Font Encoder DLL

The Native Windows Barcode Font Encoder DLL may be used in any application or development environment that calls a method from a DLL. This font encoder tool was written in C++ and has no COM or MFC dependencies. It may be used and distributed with an application when used with an IDAutomation barcode font. Redistribution of these fonts and components requires the purchase of a Developer License. 32 and 64-bit versions are provided. This product should only be used by advanced users and programmers with an understanding of how native Windows DLLs work. Consider one of IDAutomation's many font encoders as an alternative if this DLL will not work in your environment. This DLL does not use COM and cannot be registered as a COM object. If COM is desired, use the COM DLL.

The purpose of this DLL is to return a string formatted to a compatible IDAutomation barcode font. The Native Windows Barcode Font Encoder DLL contains methods for Code 3 of 9, ITF, Code 93, Code 128, UPC, EAN, GS1-128, all GS1 DataBar variants including Omni-directional, Stacked and Expanded Stacked, MSI, and USPS Intelligent Mail. This tool also contains methods for the GS1-128 Barcode Font, GS1 DataBar Font, and the IDAutomation Universal Barcode Font Advantage™.

Download Now API Method List Barcode Fonts

Native Windows Barcode Font DLL API

The Native Windows DLL cannot return a string value and thus the return value will be passed as a variable to the method by reference. That said, there are a few differences between the Native Windows Barcode DLL and the methods listed.

The differences are as follows:

• Return Value: The methods return 0 for success, or a non-zero value if the method fails.
• Output: Passed by reference, this string value will be populated with the encoded data by the DLL.
• Output Size: This integer value is populated by the DLL with the number of pertinent characters. It may be necessary to use this with the VB Mid Function as follows:

  BarcodeString= Mid(myOut, 1, iSize)

For example, in the General Declarations or in a separate module of a VB application or Excel spreadsheet VBA editor, the method needs to be defined:

Private Declare Function IDAutomation_Universal_C128_
Lib "IDAutomationNativeFontEncoder.dll" _
(ByVal D2E As String, ByRef tilde As Long, _
ByVal out As String, _
ByRef iSize As Long) As Long

The method can be called in a button-click event or in any other procedure. The DLL method needs an input parameter that can be filled by the DLL with the formatted data.

For example:

Public Function IDAutomation_Uni_C128(DataToEncode 
As String, Optional applyTilde As Boolean = False) As String
Dim myOut As String'Variable to be populated by DLL method with formatted data
Dim iSize As Long 'The size of the formatted data. Also, populated by the DLL

Dim lRetVal As Long 'Return value of the method. Will be zero if successful
Dim long_AT As Long 'variable to be passed to DLL determining if tilde processing should be done.
 
'Must be a long data type for DLL to accept
myOut = String(250, " ") 
'The output variable needs to be sized to hold the data. The DLL can not dynamically size a variable
 
iSize = 0
If applyTilde = True Then
L_AT = True 'can be implicitly converted to a long
Else
L_AT = False
End If
 
'Call the method, passing in the data to encode, a boolean deciding if tilde 
processing should be used, the output variable, and the variable that will be 
populated with the size

 
lRetVal = IDAutomation_Universal_C128(DataToEncode, L_AT, myOut, iSize)
'Write out the output string, taking only the number of characters necessary 
from the defined string
 
IDAutomation_Uni_C128 = Mid(myOut, 1, iSize)
End Function

The Native Windows Barcode Font Encoder DLL is supplied with an Excel example, which includes a VBA module. This module may be exported and used in VB 6, Microsoft Office, and other applications.

Copy the DLLs to the appropriate folder to activate the methods:

For 32-bit Windows, only the IDAutomationNativeFontEncoder.dll should be copied to %systemroot%\System32.

For 64-bit versions of Windows, 32-bit DLLs belong in SysWoW64 and 64-bit DLLs belong in System32.

• IDAutomationNativeFontEncoder.dll > %systemroot%\SysWoW64
• IDAutomationNativeFontEncoder64.dll > %systemroot%\System32

Native Barcode Font DLL Barcode Methods

The methods listed below are available in IDAutomation's DLL and are valid when used with the font listed in the Required Font column. The ReturnVal and Size parameters in the methods below are passed by reference. The ReturnVal is the encoded string to be used with the appropriate font; the Size variable is the size of ReturnVal.

IDAutomation_Uni_C128 ("Ê8100712345Ê2112WH5678", TRUE)
or
IDAutomation_Uni_C128 ("Ê" & {Table1.DataField1} & "Ê" & {Table1.DataField2}, TRUE)

IDAutomation_C128HR ("Ê" & "8100712345" & "Ê" & "2112345678", TRUE )

IDAutomation_Uni_C128 ("00000123455555555558" & "~m19" )

Method Descriptions

• DataToEncode: A string value that represents the data being encoded.
• N_Dimension: Determines the width of the wide bars, which is a multiple of the X dimension. Valid values are 2, 2.5, and 3. The default is 2. The X dimension is determined by the font point size.
• IncludeCheckDigit: A Boolean value that determines whether a check digit should be automatically calculated and included for the DataToEncode.
• ApplyTilde: When enabled in Code 128 with the Auto character set, the format ~ddd may be used to specify the ASCII code of the character to be encoded, and several other tilde options are enabled.