symbology

Symbology.js

Generate 50+ different 1D or 2D barcodes in png, eps, or svg format.

0. Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Installation
• 3. Usage
  • 3.1. Import the module
  • 3.2. Struct
  • 3.3. Available functions
    • 3.3.1. Render a base64 png
    • 3.3.2. Render a file
• 4. Available options (struct)
• 5. Error handling
• 6. Symbology types
• 7. Development
  • 7.1. Building
  • 7.2. Testing
  • 7.3. Packaging
  • 7.4. Bugs
  • 7.5. Changelog
• 8. Credits
• 9. License

1. Introduction

This Node.js module will allow you to generate over 50+ different types of 1D or 2D symbologies, including barcodes for books, grocery, shipping carriers, healthcare, and international codes. It can save a png, svg, or eps image, or render a base64 png bitmap.

2. Installation

symbology can be downloaded directly or installed via npm.

npm install symbology --save

3. Usage

3.1. Import the module

var symbology = require('symbology');

3.2. Struct

Prepare a Symbol json object with your desired settings (see 4. Available options (struct) for more info):

var Symbol = {
  symbology: symbology.Barcode.CODE128,
  foregroundColor: 'fff000',
  backgroundColor: '000000',
  fileName: '/my/directory/barcode.png'
};

3.3. Available functions

Each function returns a promise that completes with an object containing the exit code and message of the function (see 5. Error handling for more info).

---

3.3.1. Render a base64 png:

createStream(Symbol, data, type)

Writes a base64 string to the output object in a property data.

Parameter	Type	Values
Symbol	Struct	Struct of symbology settings
data	String	Desired data to encode

Example

symbology
  .createStream(Symbol, '12345')
  .then(function(data) {
    console.log('Result: ', data);
  }, function(err) { 
    console.log('Error: ', err); 
  });

Returns:

Result: { 
  message: '',
  code: 0,
  data: 'data:image/png;base64,iVBOR [...] g==' 
}

---

3.3.2. Render a file:

createFile(Symbol, data)

Writes a stream in to the output object in a property data.

Parameter	Type	Values
Symbol	Struct	Struct of symbology settings
data	String	Desired data to encode

Example

symbology
  .createFile(Symbol, '12345')
  .then(function(data) {
    console.log('Result: ', data);
  }, function(err) { 
    console.log('Error: ', err); 
  });

This creates a file in the specified fileName and will log:

Result: { 
  message: '',
  code: 0,
  fileName: 'barcode.png'
}

4. Available options (struct)

A Symbol is a regular JavaScript object with the following available properties:

Enumerated type	Type	Meaning	Required?	Default value
symbology	Symbology enum	The enumerated type of the symbology (see [Enumerated Barcode Types] for more info).	Yes
height	Number	The height of the image. If specified, this will maintain the aspect ratio.	No	50
whitespaceWidth	Number	Width of whitespace, for barcodes which have this option.	No	0
borderWidth	Number	Width of border.	No	0
outputOptions	Number	Symbology-specific output option.	No	NULL
foregroundColor	Hexadecimal number	Barcode foreground color.	No	#FFFFFF
backgroundColor	Hexadecimal number	Barcode background color.	No	#000000
fileName	String	Full path to the file to render.	Yes
scale	Number	Scale of the barcode image. Applies only to PNG.	No	1.0
option1	Number	Symbology-type-specific option value.	No	NULL
option2	Number	Symbology-type-specific option value.	No	NULL
option3	Number	Symbology-type-specific option value.	No	NULL

5. Error handling

Each function returns an object having property code, which is the status code of the function, and message, which contains an error/warning message (if any).

Below are the possible status codes:

Code	Enumerated type	Meaning
2	ZWARN_INVALID_OPTION	One or more options are invalid but the barcode was created anyway.
5	ZERROR_TOO_LONG	The file path was too long.
6	ZERROR_INVALID_DATA	The data for the specified symbology is invalid.
7	ZERROR_INVALID_CHECK	Error checking (if any) on the rendered barcode failed.
8	ZERROR_INVALID_OPTION	One or more options are invalid and rendering failed.
9	ZERROR_ENCODING_PROBLEM	Invalid characters in input data.
10	ZERROR_FILE_ACCESS	Cannot write to the given path.
11	ZERROR_MEMORY	Corrupt or insufficient memory.

6. Symbology types

There are 53 different available symbology types. For an exhaustive list, please see the Barcode Types list.

7. Development

7.1. Building

To compile the latest, ensure you have node-pre-gyp installed. Then run:

npm run build

7.2. Testing

npm test

7.3. Packaging

npm run package-binary

7.4. Bugs

Replace report all bugs here.

7.5. Changelog

Available here.

8. Credits

This library is a JS/C++ wrapper module for the terrific C/C++ library Zint, (C) Robin Stuart. Module by Josh Shor.

9. License

MIT.