How to generate, print PDF417 in BIRT reports?

BIRT Barcode PDF 417 Generator Introduction

Top

Barcode PDF 417 Introduction

BIRT PDF 417 Generator - Valid Data Scope

• All 128 characters of ASCII including A-Z, a-z, 0-9, etc.
• Values 128-255 in accordance with ISO 8859-1. There are referred to as extended ASCII

PDF-417 Generators

How to Generate PDF-417 in BIRT Report

Top

1. Copy com.onbarcode.barcode.birt_2.2.1.jar to your Eclipse plugins directory "\eclipse\plugins\"
2. Create a new empty report in your BIRT Report barcoding project
3. Open View "Palette", and add report item "Barcode" to your created BIRT report
4. Right click the report item you have added, and select "Properties" menu item to edit barcode parameters
5. You will find all barcode properties in the "General" tab.
   Please note that the values for "Data" and "UPC/EAN Supplement Data" should be arounded by """", unless you are inputting expression
6. Change Barcode Type into PDF-417 in the general tab. Preview the report and a PDF-417 barcode image is printed on your BIRT report
7. To encode barcode data from BIRT report data set, you need to input expression to "Data" property like "row["CUSTOMERNUMBER"]"
   
   

BIRT Barcode PDF-417 Generator - Property Settings

Top

Valid Encoding Character Set for PDF417

PDF417 Data Encoding Modes

PDF417 Maximum Data Length

Printable ASCII Text

PDF417 supports all 95 printable ASCII characters (values 32-126) with simple configuration:

• Select the Image Report Item and open the Report Item Property view.
• Set the "DataMode" property to "Text" or "Auto" (recommended).
• Use Data Binding to map the "Data" property to a Data Set field containing printable ASCII text (e.g., "PRODUCT_NAME").
• Save the Report Design file and preview the report to confirm the PDF417 generates correctly.

Non-Printable ASCII Text

Non-printable ASCII characters (e.g., Carriage Return [CR], Line Feed [LF], Tab) cannot be directly input in your Java code or BIRT Data Set. Follow these steps to encode them:

• In the Report Item Property view, set the "ProcessTilde" property to "true". This enables the PDF417 generator to interpret tilde (~) as an escape character for non-printable characters.
• Set the "DataMode" property to "Byte" (required for encoding non-printable characters).
• Replace each non-printable character with "~" followed by its three-digit ASCII value. For example:
  • Carriage Return (CR, ASCII 13) > ~013
  • Line Feed (LF, ASCII 10) > ~010
  • Tab (ASCII 9) > ~009
• Set the "Data" property using a BIRT Expression that includes the escaped non-printable characters (e.g., "Data~013PDF417" encodes "Data" + CR + "PDF417").

Encode Unicode Text in PDF417

PDF417 can easily encode Unicode text (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Arabic) in BIRT reports. Follow these steps to configure this in the Report Item Property view:

• Select the Image Report Item and open the Report Item Property view.
• Enable the "EncodeUnicodeText" property (set to "true"). This tells the PDF417 generator to use UTF-8 encoding for the input data.
• Use Data Binding to map the "Data" property to a Data Set field that contains Unicode text (e.g., "CUSTOMER_NAME" with Chinese characters).
• Set the "DataMode" property to "Byte" (required for Unicode encoding).
• Test the report in the BIRT Web Viewer to confirm the Unicode text is encoded correctly. Scan the PDF417 to verify the text appears as expected.

Customize the size and dimensions of your PDF417 barcodes in BIRT reports using the Report Item Property view. You can adjust module size, rows, columns, quiet zones, and unit of measure to ensure scannability.

The following PDF417 dimension settings are configurable in the Report Item Property view:

• UOM (Unit of Measure): Select the unit for size settings (PIXEL, CM, or INCH). This ensures consistency with the report's Master Page settings.
• X (Module Width): The width of each PDF417 module. The minimum module width is defined by your application's specifications; smaller modules create smaller barcodes but may be harder to scan, especially in printed BIRT reports.
• XtoYRatio: The ratio of module width (X) to module height. The default value is 0.3333333f (1:3).
• RowCount: The number of rows in the PDF417 barcode, ranging from 3 to 90.
• ColumnCount: The number of data columns per row, ranging from 1 to 30.
• Quiet Zones: Set "LeftMargin", "RightMargin", "TopMargin", and "BottomMargin" to define the empty space around the PDF417. The minimum quiet zone width is 2X (twice the module width), as per PDF417 standards.
• Resolution: Set the "Resolution" property (e.g., 96 DPI, 300 DPI) to control the image quality. Higher resolution is recommended for printed BIRT reports to ensure sharp modules.
• ImageFormat: Set the output image format (e.g., PNG, JPEG) to meet your BIRT Output Format requirements (e.g., PDF, HTML, Excel).

PDF417 Error Detection and Correction (ECL)

Create Compact (Truncated) PDF417 Barcodes

Compact PDF417 (also called Truncated PDF417) is used when space is a primary concern and symbol damage is unlikely. It removes the right-hand row indicator and stop pattern to reduce size.

To create compact PDF417 in BIRT reports:

• Select the Image Report Item and open the Report Item Property view.
• Set the "Truncated" property to "true" in the PDF417 section.
• Configure other required PDF417 properties (Data, DataMode, ECL, dimensions) as needed.
• Update the onCreate Event Handler script to apply the Truncated setting (check your PDF417 library's documentation for specific hints).

Note: Compact PDF417 is less resilient to damage than standard PDF417. Only use it in controlled environments where the barcode is unlikely to be scratched or smudged (e.g., digital BIRT reports viewed on screens).

Create Macro PDF417 Barcodes

Macro PDF417 provides a mechanism for splitting large data into blocks and representing it in multiple PDF417 symbols. This is similar to the Structured Append feature in QR Code and Data Matrix 2d barcodes.

Each Macro PDF417 symbol contains additional control information to enable the original data file to be properly reconstructed, regardless of the scanning sequence. Up to 99,999 individual PDF417 symbols can be used for Macro PDF417 encoding.

To create Macro PDF417 in BIRT reports:

• Select the Image Report Item and open the Report Item Property view.
• Enable the "MacroPDF417" property to "true" in the PDF417 section.
• Set the "MacroSymbolCount" property to the total number of PDF417 symbols needed to store the full data (e.g., 3 for splitting data into 3 barcodes).
• Set the "MacroSymbolIndex" property to the sequence number of the current PDF417 (starts at 0; e.g., 0 for the first barcode, 1 for the second).
• Set the "MacroFileId" property to a unique integer (e.g., 12345). All symbols in the same Macro PDF417 sequence must have the same MacroFileId.
• Use a Data Set with a Group (a component that organizes data by a field) to split the data into chunks. Bind each chunk to a separate Image Report Item in the Detail Row of a Table to generate multiple PDF417 barcodes.

Common Asked Questions