DesignAdd Healthcare Barcodes with Data Identifiers

If you need to configure barcodes for products in the healthcare industry that comply with the UPN specification for the Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Supplier Labeling Standard but need more flexibility than the basic HIBC barcode formats provide, the HIBC standard allows you to use an alternative format defined in ISO/IEC 15434 with Data Identifiers (DIs). This alternative format may be helpful if you want to include data not otherwise covered by the HIBC standard or need to produce a small label for use on a small package.

For more information about encoding HIBC barcodes with DIs, see the The Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Supplier Labeling Standard listed in External Links.

To add barcodes that include DIs and comply with the HIBC standard, use the following procedure. Because using DIs provides the flexibility to include custom inputs, you may use different inputs than shown in this example. Including human readable text is optional according to the standard.

Important: The examples in this topic describe creating a form in Label Design Label Design using the Form view of a label template. The examples rely on manual data entry.
Forms created as part of label templates in Label Design Label Design can only be run in Print Print which is designed for low-volume on-demand printing.
For production label printing, in most cases you'll be designing and creating complex, intelligent data entry form experiences in Application Design . Forms created in Label Design cannot be used in applications. To get the most out of forms in Loftware Enterprise SP, start in Application Design. See Building with Application Design for more information.
  1. Click Label Design Label Design and open a label template or create a new label template.
  2. Add a barcode.

    For each barcode, do the following.

    1. To create the barcode, in the Barcodes list in the Insert tab, expand 2D.
    2. Click one of the following symbologies and drag it to the Label pane: Aztec, DataMatrix, MicroPDF417, or QR Code.
    3. In the Properties panel, change the Name to a meaningful name, such as HIBC_Barcode.
    4. Configure the Max Chars to meet or exceed the length of the data. In addition to the data to be entered, you must allow space for the seven-character message header, one-character data delimiters, DIs, and two-character message trailer. Unlike a typical HIBC barcode, no flag character, check character, or separator character is used.
    5. Configure other fields as appropriate, clearing the Data Ref field.
  3. If you want to include human readable text for the barcode, add a Variable Text field. For each barcode, do the following.
    1. To create human readable text for the barcode, in the Insert menu, click Variable Text, and drag it to the Label view.
    2. In the Properties panel, change the Name to a meaningful name, such as HumanReadText.
    3. Configure the Chars Per Line to meet or exceed the length of the data. In addition to the data to be entered, you must allow space for parentheses to enclose each DI. The message header, data delimiters, and message trailer are omitted. Unlike a typical HIBC barcode, no asterisks are used to enclose the human readable text.
    4. Configure other fields as appropriate, leaving the Data Ref field blank.
  4. For each input that you want to be entered by the Data Provider, create and configure a Prompt (which will be automatically associated with a Data Entry data source and a Data Ref). You do not need to create a Prompt for any component of the barcode data that is static.

    This format gives you the flexibility to include standard HIBC inputs, custom inputs, or both. The following inputs are used in this example, but you can include different standard or custom inputs. If you always use the same Issuing Agency Code (IAC), then you can incorporate it into your Formulas as a static value instead of creating a Prompt for it.

    InputField Name
    DI for the Issuing Agency Code, the Labeler Identification Code, and part numberPCNDI
    Issuing Agency CodeIAC
    Labeler Identification Code for supplierLIC
    Part number assigned by supplierPCN
    DI for the first custom inputCustom1DI
    First custom inputCustom1
    DI for the second custom inputCustom2DI
    Second custom inputCustom2

    For each input that you want to include, do the following.

    1. Switch to the Form view.
    2. To create a Prompt, from the Insert menu click and drag a Prompt to the Form view. A Data Entry data source is created.
    3. For each field in the Form view, click the field to select it, and in the Properties panel change the Name to a meaningful name and the Prompt to the text that should be displayed to Data Providers. Either use the Field Names suggested in the preceding table, or else change the Formulas in the following steps to incorporate the Field Names that you chose.
    4. Clear the Data Ref field.
    5. Select an Entry Type and Character Mask for each input as appropriate.
    6. Configure Chars Per Line for each input to meet or exceed the length of the data to be entered.
  5. Create Formula data sources for the barcode. Leave the Data Ref field for the Formula data source blank. For any component of the barcode data that is static, you can replace the Data Ref shown in the formula below (such as {/Body/IAC}) with the appropriate text enclosed in quotation marks (such as "RH"). If you are using different inputs than shown in this example, you must change the barcode formula accordingly.
    DescriptionData Source NameFormula
    Message headerMsgHeader"[)>" + ASCII_RS() + "06" + ASCII_GS()
    Message trailerMsgTrailerASCII_RS() + ASCII_EOT()
    Barcode dataBarcodeData{/MsgHeader} + {/Body/PCNDI} + {/Body/IAC} + {/Body/LIC} + {/Body/PCN} + ASCII_GS() + {/Body/Custom1DI} + {/Body/Custom1} + ASCII_GS() + {/Body/Custom2DI} + {/Body/Custom2} + {/MsgTrailer}
  6. Click and drag the formula to be associated with the barcode, and drop it onto that barcode in the Label pane. This populates the Data Ref field for the barcode.
  7. If you are including human readable text for the barcode, create a Formula data source for the human readable text. The message header, data delimiters, and message trailer are omitted. Each DI is enclosed in parentheses. Leave the Data Ref field for the Formula data source blank. If you are using different inputs than shown in this example, you must change the formula accordingly.
    DescriptionData Source NameFormula
    Human readable text for barcodeHumanReadData"(" + {/Body/PCNDI} + ")" + {/Body/IAC} + {/Body/LIC} + {/Body/PCN} + "(" + {/Body/Custom1DI} + ")" + {/Body/Custom1} + "(" + {/Body/Custom2DI} + ")" + {/Body/Custom2}
  8. If you are including human readable text for the barcode, click and drag the formula to be associated with the human readable text, and drop it onto the appropriate Variable Text field in the Label pane. This populates the Data Ref field for the human readable text.