Access Reports with barcodes?

[taiwai94]

Hello,


I work in the warehousing/distribution section of a large company. In the warehouse, items are picked, boxed up and shipped out to whoever. For shipping out stuff, we have several couriers, TNT for the UK, DHL for all over Europe and 2 specifically for Spain.

We have machines (PCs+printers)provided by TNT and DHL for shipping which produces sticky labels with things like destination, airport code, weight, airway bill, etc etc and a barcode.

In our office, over time, I have created an access database which is used to track whether picks are ready to be shipped or not, how long they have been pending etc etc plus a load a miscellaneous stuff.

We want to start creating our own DHL and TNT labels from within our own database (basically, the shipping will be transferred to our database directly). Creating the DHL and TNT labels is easy, and I have guidelines from DHL and TNT.

The only thing that I'm stuck with is creating the label barcodes. Does anyone know how to do this? And how to incorporate it into an access report? Is there software out there? Any help appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[Cretin]

Access does not have built in support for barcodes. You could use word's built in mass mailing feature to create and print bar codes. Better yet you could buy another product such as label matrix to do this for you. Label matrix is only a few hundred dollars.

Cretin

 

[Cretin]

Basically is what you would do with this is store the numeric as a QDF file using label matrix then you can use label matrix to generate the barcodes in any type you want(i.e. EAN-13, UPC-A etc). There are other products that work similarily the reason we use label matrix is because they will print to Zebra printers which have their own language.

Cretin

 

[addy]

We create many barcoded reports from Access. What you need to get are barcode fonts - we got a disk of them when we purchased our barcode scanners and label printer. I can't remember how much it cost - wasn't a fortune, and came with various barcode fonts. All you have to do then is create your report and change the font for the required text field to one fo the barcode fonts.

Works a treat - we use ordinary Avery labels etc. to print on to.

 

[taiwai94]

addy, thanks for the info re: barcode fonts.

Do you know who is the best person/company to obtain these from, and how much they cost approx?

Thanks for your info!

David

 

[dRahme]

Try a search for 'free 3of9' for free barcode fonts.

 

[taiwai94]

Hi again,


I have found the "Free 3 of 9" fonts and I have created a code, printed it and then tried to scan it using a laser. The laser scanner just ignores the barcode that I printed.

To compare, I found a barcode that works. The barcode scans without a problem and reads as CN040805057258. Then, I have typed this number into Word, converted it to the barcode font, printed and try to scan again. Again, the laser scanner ignores it. I have compared the original barcode with my copy and I have noticed a slight different. The barcodes are identicle except at the start - the original seems to have some extra bars in there. Perhaps this is why the original works and my copy doesn't? Do barcodes have some special character(s) at the start that say "hey, I'm a barcode" ? Can anyone help me with this new problem?

So close yet so far!

Many thanks!

 

[addy]

OK, we got ours from

http://www.barcode-solutions.co.uk

Secondly, the barcode fonts we use need an * symbol at the beginning and end of the info being barcoded so that the barcode scanner knows the start and end of what to scan. So, I use an expression in a query to add these and then use this field on my report. Something like:

Expr1: "*" & [Yourdatafield] & "*"

It may be the same with your fonts.

 

[MichaelRed]

There are several threads in these (Tek-Tips) fora re bar codes. At least one of them references a web site with numerous free downloadable bar code generators. I have taken several of the available routines and used them in MS. Access reports. All of them work well with the variety of scanners I have tried them with. On the other side, the code is not simplistic or straighforward and requires a bit of study. I have mad some modifications to the free versions, some what more to suit my personal proclivities and style than any error in the code itself. I would suggest that you carefully review the bar code generator and assure that it is implemented according to the directions. If that fails, try searching hte net for sites dealing with the subject. Find one (or more?) which are NOT the commercial vendor's private play ground / advertising billboard and offer actual user content Iincluding expliniations of the design of bar codes, and the freeware bar code generators.




MichaelRed