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UPC-E Introduction

This page is about basic information of UPC-E, as well as its generating and scanning components.

Overview of UPC-E

UPC-E Barcode is a variation of UPC-A which compresses out unnecessary zeros and allows for a more compact barcode. To be accurate, UPC-E barcode uses an implied number system 0 to reduce 10 digits into 6 digits. In addition, a number system 1 is also available to us. Due to this fact, UPC-E is commonly used on very small packages where a standard UPC-A couldn't fit reasonably.


 

Generating and Printing UPC-E Barcodes

OnBarcode provides customers with complete UPC-E barcode generating and scanning components for Java, .NET, Android, iOS developments and several reporting applications.

Structure of UPC-E

A typical UPC-E structure is as below:


An UPC-A barcode is identical to the left-half of a typical UPC-A barcode and it also includes four areas:
  • Number System: It is a single digit that identifies the "type" of product, e.g., o: Regular UPC codes, 1: Reserved, 3: Weight items marked at the store, etc.
  • Manufacturer Code: It contains five digits, which is assigned by the UCC Council. All products produced by a given company need to use the same manufacturer code.
  • Product Code: It contains five digits, which is a unique code assigned by the manufacture. And manufacturers have the right to assign their product codes randomly as long as they have no repeat product codes.
  • Check Digit: It is an additional digit used to verify the accuracy of the data encoded. UPC-E has no check digit encoded explicitly. In reality, the check digit which is encoded in UPC-E is the check digit from the original UPC-A barcode.

Converting a UPC-E to UPC-A

The 10 characters (Manufacturer and Product Code) of a UPC-E barcode can be reduced into 6 digits by compressing "extra" zeros. The following logic is used to convert UPC-E to UPC-A.
  • The last code of UPC-E is 0, 1, or 2: The UPC-A code consists of the first two digits of the UPC-E code, the last digit of the UPC-E code, adding four zeros, and then adding characters 3 through 5 from the UPC-E code.
  • The last code of UPC-E is 3: The UPC-A code consists of the first three digits of the UPC-E code, adding five zero, and then adding characters 4 and 5 from the UPC-E code.
  • The last code of UPC-E is 4: The UPC-A code consists of the first four digits of the UPC-E code, adding five zeros, and then adding the fifth character from the UPC-E code.
  • The last code of UPC-E is 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9: The UPC-A code consists of the first give digits of the UPC-E code, adding four zeros, and then adding the last character from the UPC-E code.

Barcode Size Setting of UPC-E

Like other linear barcodes, UPC-A barcode width and height can is user-defined. The barcode size settings, however, must correspond to some requirements. Please get details from UPC-E size setting instruction.


Valid Data Characters of UPC-E

UPC-E is capable of encoding:
  • Numeric digits: 0 to 9

Add-On or Supplement Data of UPC-E

Add-On Symbols are designed to encode supplementary information of the main UPC-E barcode on periodicals, hardback, and paperback books. The supplement data can be 2 or 5 digits and the human readable interpretation should be above the supplementary barcode image.

    UPC-E + 2







    UPC-E + 5







OnBarcode is a market-leading provider of barcode generator, reader controls and components for ASP.NET, Windows Forms, WPF, as well Java, Android, iOS (iPhone, iPad) across all major enterprise development platforms. We provides high quality tutorials and guides for various linear, 2d barcode information, such as C# Barcode, QR Code C#, QR Code VB.NET, QR Code ASP.NET, QR Code .NET, ASP.NET Barcode. OnBarcode products support most common barcode symbologies including QRCode C# SDK, Data Matrix in C#.net Control, PDF-417 Component in C# .NET, Code 128 VS .net sdk, Code 39 C# library.
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