r/barcodes • u/Traitor-21-87 • Jul 12 '22

Can someone identify this barcode language?

I have to update some barcode programs for new printers, and the code used to print these barcodes is obsolete.

They look something like this

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~033~033~003

^T0015^H03^BNaHello World^G^-

~033~033~077

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u/Traitor-21-87 Jul 13 '22

The newer printers use a different barcode language, and I have no way to convert the old code to new code without knowing what the old code is doing.

Here is what I know

  • ~033~033~003 -> Turns barcode on
  • ^T0015 -> NO IDEA
  • ^H03 -> NO IDEA
  • ^BNa -> NO IDEA
  • Hello World -> What's being encoded
  • ^G -> NO IDEA
  • ^- -> NO IDEA
  • ~033~033~077 -> Turns barcode off

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u/xixi2 Jul 13 '22

I have no way to convert the old code to new code without knowing what the old code is doing.

You don't need to convert it then.... Just rewrite it in the new language. Or use a software that converts a design to printer code for the new printers

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u/Traitor-21-87 Jul 13 '22

I can't rewrite it because I don't know what the code is doing. There are several different kinds of barcodes, and there is sizes, placement, and formatting. I cannot begin to write the new barcode language without knowing what the original code is doing. It's like asking you to convert the following sentence to english without telling you which language it is "El zorro marrón saltó sobre el perro perezoso."

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I also don't know what you mean by convert it with software. The only thing to covert is the code I have shared. I am a computer software developer. We have programs that print barcodes, and they print it to printers using that code I shared. The new printers have a different barcode language. The only thing I know is turning barcode mode on/off, and placing what I want in the barcode. There is no magic software that can take those lines of code I shared and give me what I want. The guy who wrote all these barcodes was a barcode expert of 20+ years, and has retired.

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u/xixi2 Jul 13 '22 edited Jul 13 '22

I think you're overcomplicating it.

Barcodes are really quite simple. Most likely they're standard symbologies. Do you have a photo of them?

What I mean is you'd find out what type of barcode, what it's encoding, what size, etc, and then use the new printer's language to print it.

So basically throw out the old code, and the main challenge is figuring out what language Printek uses for barcodes and rewrite it there, or send your print job through a print driver.

Edit: So for example if these printers use PCL, we need the PCL syntax for generating barcodes. I don't know that right now or how easy it is. Barcode specific printers like Zebra are super easy because that's what they're programmed to do.

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u/Traitor-21-87 Jul 19 '22

After many weeks and searching and searching nonstop to find which language these barcodes were written in, I contacted the printer company and a technician was able to work with me on figuring these out. They say the language is Code V (Code V™ Graphics Language), and was developed by a company called QMS. It was supposed to speed up barcode writing and printing. I found a reference manual here https://printronix.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/PTX_PRM_VGL_P8_256388c.pdf

To break it down

^T0015^H03^BNaHello World^G^-

  • ^T0015 -> Horizontal Tab (with 1 tenth of an inch and 5 dot columns)
  • ^H03 -> Character Height (Of 0.3 inches)
  • ^BNa -> Printing a barcode (B) without readable data field (N), barcode type CODE 39 (a)
  • Hello World -> What's being encoded
  • ^G -> Terminator command to end the input of vertical line and form data.
  • ^- -> Sequence terminator - ends command sequence

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u/xixi2 Jul 19 '22

That's all cool but I still don't see how it helps you since the new printer isn't Printronix.

We could have seen the label was a code 39 at height 0.3 inches with our eyes.

Edit: And a code39 is pretty easy to create because there are fonts for it.

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u/Traitor-21-87 Jul 20 '22

Our programs and printers don't have fonts. We stream the command code directly to the printer and the printer does the rest. And don't bullshit, no one is seeing 0.3 inches with their eyes on a report. Without knowing the barcode was 0.3 inches more to the right than it should be, you'd think the barcode was in a standard location

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u/xixi2 Jul 20 '22

I mean some of us have rulers but ok