Introduction
The console 8.3 and later offers the possibility to generate a barcode and associate it with a field of the console. This function is useful when you want to put in a newsletter a barcode such as a discount or a promotion tied to a product.
The frontend page (barcode.aspx) will render and print out a barcode image, starting from a numeric/alpha numeric sequence dynamically retrieved upon "IdOptin" and "Hash" arguments passed to the page.
This page requires the numeric sequence to be previously stored in one of the personal information fields in order to run. This requirement was introduced in order to prevent fraud URL usage or any kind of exploitation of the service.
Barcode.aspx resides in the "frontend" root of each 8.3 console or later version and does not store or save any of the rendered barcode images on the "console" storage disk so that the server burden will be kept at its lowest.
Note:
When viewed from your console's rad editor, the barcode will be displayed with a default value.
How to generate the URL
It can be referenced straight away from the "src" property of a HTML IMG tag using a pattern:
Base URL
http://<consoleurl>/frontend/Barcode.aspx
Complete Url With Params
<img src=http://<ConsoleHost>/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=[LatestShippedOrderID]&FontHeight=0,2 />
Note:
The above sample requests a i2of5 formatted barcode ( SymbologyId = 14 ), sets height to 60 pixels with 0,2 points font. Each symbology has its own specific set of requirements ( starting from the length of the numeric sequence it will be built on )
Output sample
Below a sample of Interleaved 2 of 5 rendered from a 14 digits sequence
Request parameters ( Table 1)
Name | Mandatory? | Description |
---|---|---|
IdOptIn | y | Recipient User Id |
Hash | y | Recipient hash unique value |
BarcodeHeight | y | Barcode image height in pixels |
SymbologyId | y | Id representing a certain barcode format ( 14 = ITF ) |
TargetDynField | y | The dynamic field containing the numeric barcode sequence |
NarrowBarWidth | n | Width in pixel of the narrow bar |
BearerBarsmode | n | It sets what bearers bars the barcode will display ( 0 = None, 1 = Horizontal, 2 = Full ) |
BearerBarsSize | n | Width in pixels of the bearers bars ( applies only if BearerBarsmode > 0 ) |
Ratio | n | The times the wide bar will be displayed for each narrow bar |
ChecksumAdd | n | This Boolean defines if the numeric sequence needs to be completed with a computed check digit ( default is false ) |
IsNumberVisible | n | If true, it displays the input numeric sequence underneath the barcode |
FontHeight | n | Font height in points, use comma as decimal mark |
Symbology format Id reference (Table 2)
SymbologyId | Symbology name |
---|---|
1 | Codabar |
2 | Code11 |
3 | Code128 |
4 | Code39 |
5 | Code39Ext |
6 | Code93 |
7 | Code93Ext |
8 | Deutsche Post Ident Code |
9 | Deutsche Post Leit Code |
10 | Ean218 |
11 | Ean13 |
12 | Ean14 |
13 | Ean8 |
14 | Interleaved 2 of 5 |
15 | ITF14 |
16 | Msi |
17 | Numly |
18 | Opc |
19 | Planet |
20 | Postnet |
21 | Pzn |
22 | Royal Mail 4 state |
23 | Royal Tnt Post Kix |
24 | Industrial 2 of 5 |
25 | Singapore post 4 State |
26 | SSCC18 |
27 | Swiss Post Parcel |
28 | UPCA |
29 | UPCE |
30 | USP Sack label |
31 | USP Tray label |
How to build your Barcode URL
Since there's no built in functionality helping you to display a barcode inside the markup, you'll need to build yourself the URL.
No panic, it takes two minutes.
Please follow the brief guide prepared to build your own Barcode Image URL :
- Open any text editor you're comfortable to work with ( we recommend Notepad++ but Windows Notepad will be fine either way)
- Paste in the editable window the following snippet : http://<ConsoleHost>/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=[LatestShippedOrderID]&FontHeight=0,2
- Now replace those parts of the query string marked in red with actual information : <consolehost> must be replace with your console URL ( for instance a8g5c.mailup.com ) and LatestShippedOrderId with the Dynamic Field you've defined holding ( and filled in with ) the barcode numeric number.
- Select it entirely ( CTRL + A ) and copy it to clipboard ( CTRL +C )
- Now open your web browser and Log into your MailUp console
- Click on Messages > Email > New > Create New Email as below
7. Type in subject textbox and jump to the HTML editor area, then click on the HTML tab at the bottom of it and click on the "<> HTML" tab as shown in the below screen shot
8. Write a plain and empty HTML Img tag such as <img src="" /> in the writable area of the editor as below
9. Now it's time to fill the Image tag "src "property with the actual barcode module path : barcode image path must always display an absolute path : <img src="PASTE HERE YOUR BARCODE URL PREVIOUSLY COPIED FROM NOTEPAD" />
10. Click on Save. Now you should be seeing the barcode rendered in the preview window as below
Rendering failure
Note:
The application may receive a wrong sequence format against a certain symbology : the application won't display any error message but it will display instead an empty 1x1 pixel image so that the calling image won't appear as broken