Active-X Barcode components

The ideal barcode image controls for adding barcodes to your Visual Basic 6, Access project or WinForms project

Active Barcode Components are a family of Active-X controls designed for generating barcode images in Visual Basic 6, VBA, Microsoft Access or Visual Studio WinForms projects. The new release includes both 32 bit and 64 bit components. 64 bit components are suitable for use with the 64 bit edition of Office 2010 and VBA7.

Barcode component screen shots - click on images to enlarge

Design view in VB6 Sample application showing popup property pages

The products

There are 10 dLSoft Active Barcode Component products, each supporting a range of barcode types

To download a TestWare version now or buy from the online store select the product link below.

*Product*	*Supports*
Active Barcode Component – 1D Universal	over 60 1D barcode types**
Active Barcode Component – 2D Universal	Aztec, DataMatrix, MaxiCode PDF417, Truncated PDF417, Micro PDF417, QR-Code, Micro QR, GS1-DataBar (RSS)
or for limited barcode type support:
Active Barcode Component – Standard	Code 39, Extended 39, Code 93, Extended 93, Code 128, Interleaved 2 of 5 and Matrix 2 of 5
Active Barcode Component – GS1	EAN-13/8, UPC-A/-E (with supplementaries), EAN/UCC 14, GS1-128, ITF and SSCC
Active Barcode Component – Aztec	Aztec
Active Barcode Component – DataMatrix	DataMatrix
Active Barcode Component – MaxiCode	MaxiCode
Active Barcode Component – PDF417	PDF417, Truncated PDF417 & MicroPDF
Active Barcode Component – QR Code	QR Code & Micro QR
Active Barcode Component – DataBar	GS1-DataBar (formerly RSS) barcodes

Features

Each product includes samples and source code for operation in Visual Basic 6, and Microsoft Access
Components may be added as an Inserted Object or as an ActiveX control
Data binding allows source data from a field in an MSAccess Table
Saves graphic files in BMP, EPS, PCX, PNG or WMF formats.
Checkdigits may be calculated automatically and shown or hidden (for codetypes which permit this).
Barcodes may be rotated left or right or inverted.
Wide/Narrow ratios may be adjusted, and margin indicators and bearer bars may be turned on/off for codes which support these features. Bar width control for wet-ink printing allows 0 - 50% width reduction.
Font properties, text justification, bar colour and background colour may be user selected.
Nominal size option for codes which specify a nominal (100%) size.
ISBN barcodes may be generated from ISBN numbers including the new ISBN-13.
Does not use MFC dlls or additional dlls*.
2D versions can produce mirror image barcodes

Use as an object

May be added to most applications using the Insert Object method, and properties set by double clicking on the barcode image - see images of Property pages.

Or use as an ActiveX Control

dLSoft Active Barcode Components may be placed as an ActiveX Control into programming environments, such as Visual Basic 6, Visual Studio or Microsoft Office:

Typical VB code sample:

Axbarcode1.ImageHeight = Val(Edit1.Text)
Axbarcode1.ImageWidth = Val(Edit2.Text)
Axbarcode1.Xunit = 0
Axbarcode1.CodeType = Combo1.ListIndex
Axbarcode1.Caption = Text1.Text
Image1.Picture = Axbarcode1.Picture

Images may be saved to disk in several formats under program control.

*Some sample code provided with these components may call system components, eg. for common dialogs.

**Active Barcode Component - Universal supports: 2 of 5, 3 of 9, Australia Post, Codabar, Code 11, Code 39, Extended Code 39, Code 93, Extended Code 93, Code 128, Code B, Deutschen Post, DUN14, EAN- 8, EAN-13, EAN-14, EAN-128/UCC-128, ISBN, ISMN, ISSN, IATA 2 of 5, ITF-14, ITF-6, Interleaved 2 of 5, InfoMail, Intelligent Mail, Italian Post 2/5, Italian Post 3/9, Japan Post, JAN, Korean Postal Authority, Matrix 2 of 5, MSI (Modified Plessey), OneCode, Planet, Plessey, PostNet & FIM, Royal Mail 4 State, SSCC, SICI/SISAC, Swiss Post, Telepen (numeric and ASCII), UCC-14, UPC-A, UPC-E

Licensing

Each dLSoft Active Barcode Component may be licensed as a single computer product, or as a developer's product which permits Royalty-free distribution of the run-time as part of the developer's own project for up to 10,000 distributions.

System Requirements

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7. The 32 bit component may be used on 32 or 64 bit systems. The 64 bit components are suitable only for use on 64 bit systems.
Designed for use with MS Access, VBA, Visual Basic 6 or interop with WinForms projects.

Using Active Barcode Components in Visual Basic 6

Adding the control to a Visual Basic form

To add an Active Barcode Component control to a Visual Basic form, select Components from the VB Project menu. If dLSoft 1D Barcode control module is displayed in the list of available controls, then ensure that it is checked. If it does not appear in the list user the Browse button to locate it in its installation directory (or in Windows System or System32), then check its name in the list. Once checked, an icon representing the component will appear in the toolbox.

Clicking on the Active Barcode Component’s icon in the toolbox causes the cursor to change to a cross. Positioning the cross on a Visual Basic form, holding down the left mouse button and dragging the cursor down and to the left, then releasing the mouse button, causes a rectangle to be drawn on the form. An image of a (default) barcode will be shown within this rectangle. You may wish to use this image of the component. Alternatively you may hide the component (by setting its Visible property to false) and use the components methods and properties to create an image that is placed elsewhere on the form - as in the sample Visual Basic program that is supplied with the component and uses code of the form:

Axbarcode1.ImageHeight = i
Axbarcode1.ImageWidth = j
Axbarcode1.Xunit = 0
Axbarcode1.CodeType = type
Axbarcode1.Caption = Text
Image1.Picture = Axbarcode1.Picture

A single Visual Basic Form may contain any number of Active Barcode Components. The first to be added will be called Axbarcode1, the second Axbarcode2, and so on; the names may be changed by the user by modifying the Name property within the Visual Basic Properties box.
Alternatively an array of controls may be created using the Index property.

Using the Active Barcode Components in Access

Microsoft Access is a database that holds data in tables. When an Active Barcode Component is added to an Access Form or Report as an ActiveX control, the component's Properties list allows the user to select one of the Table fields as a Source of the components data - ie the data to appear in the barcode.

The Record Source may be selected from a drop-down list in the form or report's properties list, and the barcode's Control Source may be selected from the drop down list in the component's properties list. All other properties (code type, size, font, etc.) can be selected from the other entries in the Access Properties list at design time. This allows barcode creation to be fully automatic for every record in a database.

Of course, a barcode image that is the same on every record may also be created - by ensuring that the Control Source entry on the component's properties list is empty, and the required data is entered for the Caption property.

Active Barcode Component properties for a barcode image on a form or report may also be set at run-time using Visual Basic module code to modify the control's properties.

A sample Access database is included with the distribution