VB.NET PDF417 Generator Data Encoding Tutorial

sample source code to input valid data and generate 2D PDF417 images in VB.NET

VB.NET PDF417 Barcode Generator is a mature linear barcode generation component designed for VB.NET developers who are necessary of adding the PDF417 barcode printing functions into their .NET projects. It is compatible with the .NET 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and is able to create PDF417 barcodes in ASP.NET Web projects, .NET WinForms apps as well as .NET reporting services (SSRS) projects using the Visual Basic .NET. It is simple to encode valid digits into the PDF417 barcode symbology by Visual Basic .NET.

OnBarcode.com also provides more details about how to set PDF417 barcode size and image in Barcode Generator Control on VB.NET:

• Customizing PDF417 Barcode Image in Visual Basic.NET Project
• Customizing PDF417 Barcode Size in Visual Basic.NET Project

PDF417 Valid Character Set

PDF-417, also known as Portable Data File 417, PDF 417, PDF417 Truncated, is a stacked linear barcode symbol format used in a variety of applications. Among all physical parts of a PDF-417, the data codewords are used for encoding the message data which could be numbers, letters, or other symbols. PDF417 uses Reed�CSolomon error correction. PDF417 barcode symbology adopts a base 929 modes. Each codeword stands for a numeric digit between 0 and 928. 900 of them are used for information data, and the rest 29 are used for particular functions. Three different encoding modes, text, byte, and numeric are defined and can be mixed while necessary.

Text: a codeword stands for 1 or 2 characters.

Byte: a group of 5 codewords standards for 6 bytes.

Numeric: groups of 15 codewords standards for 44 decimal digits.

Encode data into PDF417 using VB.NET

Dim barcode As PDF417 = New PDF417

barcode.Data = "http://www.onbarcode.com/products/net_barcode/"

barcode.DataMode = PDF417DataMode.Text

barcode.ECL = PDF417ECL.Level_2

barcode.Truncated = False

barcode.RowCount = 7

barcode.ColumnCount = 5

barcode.ProcessTilde = True

barcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.PIXEL

barcode.X = 3

barcode.XtoYRatio = 0.3333333F

barcode.LeftMargin = 0

barcode.RightMargin = 0

barcode.TopMargin = 0

barcode.BottomMargin = 0

barcode.Resolution = 96

barcode.Rotate = Rotate.Rotate0

PDF417 Barcode Symbol Components

The PDF417 barcode is extensively used on transport, identification cards, and inventory management. It is defined by the specification ISO/IEC 15438: 2006. If encoding the data string "http://www.onbarcode.com/products/net_barcode/" into a PDF417 symbol, it looks like the following image: