Symbology

Composite symbols (ISO 24723)

Composite symbols employ a mixture of components to give more comprehensive information about a product. The permissible contents of a composite symbol is determined by the terms of the GS1 General Specificationsopen in new window.

Composite symbols consist of a linear component which can be an EAN, UPC, GS1-128 or GS1 DataBar symbol, a 2D component which is based on PDF417 or MicroPDF417, and a separator pattern.

The type of linear component to be used is determined by the symbology option parameter. Click here for a condensed list of composite symbologies.

The data to be encoded in the linear component of a composite symbol should be set in the primary option.

Example

createStream({
  symbology: SymbologyType.EANX_CC,
  option1: 1,
  primary: '331234567890'
}, '[99]1234-abcd')

This will create an EAN-13 linear component with the data 331234567890 and a 2D CC-A (see below) component with the data (99)1234-abcd.

EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on data can be used with EAN and UPC symbols using the + character.

The 2D component of a composite symbol can use one of three systems: CC-A, CC-B and CC-C. The 2D component type may be selected automatically depending on the length of the input string, or by using the option1 option setting as described below.

CC-A

EAN-13 with CC-A composite component

This system uses a variation of MicroPDF417 which optimised to fit into a small space. The size of the 2D component and the amount of error correction is determined by the amount of data to be encoded and the type of linear component which is being used. CC-A can encode up to 56 numeric digits or an alphanumeric string of shorter length.

To select CC-A set option1 to 1.

CC-B

This system uses MicroPDF417 to encode the 2D component. The size of the 2D component and the amount of error correction is determined by the amount of data to be encoded and the type of linear component which is being used. CC-B can encode up to 338 numeric digits or an alphanumeric string of shorter length.

To select CC-B set option1 to 2.

CC-C

This system uses PDF417 and can only be used in conjunction with a GS1-128 linear component. CC-C can encode up to 2361 numeric digits or an alphanumeric string of shorter length.

To select CC-C set option1 to 3.