Specialized Legacy Standard
Understanding Codabar Barcodes
Reliability for complex surfaces. Master the symbology trusted by blood banks, libraries, and lab systems for over four decades.
The Lab and Library Standard
Codabar is a discrete, self-checking linear symbology. It was developed to be reliably read even when printed by older equipment or applied to flexible, wrinkled surfaces like blood bags or medical specimen tubes.
Start and Stop Characters
The defining feature of Codabar is its use of four specific letters—A, B, C, and D—at the beginning and end of the string. These characters define the start and stop of the barcode and are mandatory for a valid scan.
Character Support
Codabar supports a limited but specialized set of characters:
- Digits: 0 through 9.
- Symbols: Dash (-), Dollar ($), Colon (:), Slash (/), Period (.), Plus (+).
- Control: A, B, C, or D (Start/Stop only).
Technical Specs
TypeDiscrete (1D)
Start/StopA, B, C, or D
ValidationSelf-Checking
StandardsNW-7 / 2 of 7
Library Usage
Codabar is a legacy standard still utilized by thousands of academic libraries for book identification and patron membership cards.