Decipher a Bar Code

[Ken Salisbury]

Does anyone have the capability to decipher a bar code to determine the embedded data

[Mike Forsman]

Ken,

You might try the link:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm

It has a good overview on the human readable numbers included with most bar codes.

[Dennis Peacock]

Nope....not here Ken. Never tried it to be honest with ya.

[Ken Salisbury]

Ken,

You might try the link:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm

It has a good overview on the human readable numbers included with most bar codes.


Interesting except the bar code I am trying to decipher has no readable numbers like a standard upc

[Ken Salisbury]

Actually it is a tag from a ladies handbag. I am doing an investigation for the Craft Association I am a member of to determine , if possible where this product came from. He is a pic of the tag which I scanned.

I will actually make this a contest -- the first person who can identify the source wins the "Old Rebel Segmented Pen" shown below. :)

[Lars Thomas]

Ken. I have two bar code scanners (for different types of bar codes). I was not able to get a successful read with either gun. I’m not sure if it’s a different standard or the black on gray print. I also tried to scan directly off the screen. Sorry, no luck.

[Mark Cothren]

Do you reckon maybe the barcode is just a scannable representation of the numbers shown at the bottom of the picture?

[Matt Meiser]

There are quite a few different standards for barcodes. If I was guessing, I'd say the number at the bottom is encoded in the barcode. There wouldn't be very much information in there, and I'd be very suprised to see anything that wasn't human-readable in there.

My experience with a few barcoding project in the auto industry has been that someone has to be able to read the information contained in the barcode because people are afraid they'll need it when they don't have a scanner available. However that was things like serial numbers on gas tanks where they needed to be look up a birth history in a tracking system using the serial number.

[Tyler Howell]

Ken,

I think the bar code has an assigned set of numbers/characters for that system (not standard) and the user assigns the content to that number.
ex. code XYZ for the Borg = plywood.
code xyz for Sam's = women's socks.

TJH

[Ian Barley]

Ken

Tyler has it about right. There is an agency that deals with public product coding so that there is interoperability between supermarkets and distributors but many codes are assigned purely for internal stock management.

It is a long time since I have been involved with this stuff but this site has some info - http://www.ean-int.org/faqadc.html. I suspect that the barcode just repeats the numbers on the ticket and that decoding it will not help you to find the source.

[Ed Weiser]

Ken:

I do not believe that the bar encrypts the number on the bottom of the tag. If you look carefully at the code, you will see regularly spaced open bars which are delimiters to separate individual digits. There are 15 delimited spaces which would be okay since you have a 13 digit number (omit the hyphens). Often the first and last codes are identifiers to indicate to the reader which code set to use. BUT--the repeat of the codes does not match the 13 digit number repeats (look at 0's and 1's). Without knowing the code set it would be nearly impossible to decipher. One could indicate the repeats but out of context this would not help you.

Hope this helps.

[Randy Meijer]

Ken:

The subject of bar codes got under my saddle not too long ago and after spending a little time on the Internet, I found the site of the company/organization that is responsible for assigning and keeping track of all bar codes issued in the US for commercial purposes. They have a feature that allows you to plug in a bar code number and call up the mfg and basic info about the item. I don't rmmember the name of the site right off hand; but it shouldn't be too hard to find.....let me take a quick look-see. If I can locate the site you can try plugging in the number in the tag; but, if that doesn't work you could e-mail the picture of the tag to the company and I'll bet they could help you!!!

BTW, someone alluded to it earlier. There are many different types of bar codes in the US alone and more European ones to boot. I don't remember details; but I'll bet there are several dozen formats if not more!!!!

[Randy Meijer]

Ken:


Try one or the other of these and see if you can find what you need.

http://www.upcdatabase.com/

http://www.ean-int.org/ (http://www.ean-int.org/)

Oops?? I had the link to the company that issues UPC bar codes; but I guess it got lost. Let me go back and get it again.

P.S. I know we aren't supposed to post active links but I haven't figured out how to do it yet 100% as you can see. I used exactly the same format on both links and one is active and one is not????

Maybe you can offer a short explanation on posting links that are not active??? Randy

[Randy Meijer]

Here it is.... http://www.uc-council.org/

[John Hart]

Hi Ken,

I took your image and isolated the barcode, then analyzed it...but there was a rotation variance that my system couldn't read....So I spent some time rotating it (it was off 1.76 degrees). I cleaned it up and increased the resolution and ran it again. My analyzation software determined that it is type UPCE and I got a zero-error read on it. The data in the barcode is 058810000048

Now, I don't know what that translates to but the original computer that houses the database knows....I think you'll have to give the pen to the original computer.

That was fun.

[John Hart]

Another thing that I ran into while trying to find a manufacturer, it is my GUESS that this is a Louis Vuitton replica. Louis Vuitton has a "bucket-7" small monogram bag that has all the features described on the tag...except it has no vinyl...leather instead..and sells for anywhere between $185 and $350. But...there are a bunch of replicas out there that call out the description bucket-7 and sell for $40-$50.

You probably already knew all this...but I thought I'd look around. Good luck in your quest...I'm going to go make a butcher block now.

[Jason Roehl]

From what I dug through on sites listed at the end of the howstuffworks article, that barcode is not a UPC barcode like you would find on a box of cereal from a grocery store or a shirt from Sears. From what Mr. Hart found of the info, my guess is that barcode simpy refers to the info that is already in relatively plain English on that tag. That is, it is probably just for internal factory inventory and tracking purposes, or even for assembly instructions for a worker (barcode could be read in China, and a screen prints up what the assembler is supposed to do/put together, with the English being for end-user purposes here in the U.S.). Just a guess.

I'm sure glad us guys have pockets and wallets and generally don't have to care what they look like. :D

[John Hart]

Mr. Hart??!! Geez Jason, thanks for the respect...call me John, please. And yes, you are correct. In the manufacturing world, the barcode usually decodes to a reference number that is a key field in a database that pulls out one record. That record contains every piece of information regarding that piece. In fact, the tag includes a monogram field (that was empty) which tells me that the barcode probably refers to one specific handbag that was not personalized.

I have to agree that China is a pretty good guess.

...back to the butcher block table

[Steven Wilson]

I've developed a number of computer systems that have used barcode as part of the solution. There are a large number of different barcode encoding schemes (Code 39, COde 93, UPC, UPCE, etc) and most of them do not make a representation of the number encoded in the barcode visable as part of the barcode. As for labeling, you can place any piece of information on the label and none of it has to be related to the number or text encoded in the barcode. Most barcode scanners will report the information encoded in the barcode as well as the encoding scheme used for the barcode. This ability, along with the plethora of barcode types, allows you to design systems where scaning ording isn't important. For example, you can use two different types of barcode to differentiate two different pieces of information on a label, say SKU # and quantity. With different barcode encoding schemes you can make it so it doesn't matter which order the stock clerk scans the data in. Also, quite often you design the labeling scheme so the number or text encoded in the barcode is without embeded meaning. The meaning comes when you enter this number (usually unique) into the database and then relate it to other, more meaningful information. This looks like how the label in your case was designed. UPC codes on the otherhand have information embeded into the key which is why the format is running out of codes and everyone is having to switch over to a new barcode scheme. If you really want to learn more try the Symbol MSI and Intermec web sites.