Code 39 Full ASCII

Full ASCII Code 39 barcodes is also known as Extended Code 39 barcodes that are used to encode the lower 128 ASCII characters using pairs of Code 39 characters to represent the lower ASCII 128 not in the Code 39 character set.

Both the Code 39 - Regular and the Code 39 - Full ASCII bar code symbologies contain the same 43 character set, as well as the same start and stop characters. However, Code 39 - Full ASCII uses special two-character combinations from the 43 character set to allow for the representation of all 128 ASCII characters.

The FULL ASCII version of Code 39 is modification of the NORMAL (standard) version that can encode the complete 128 ASCII character set (including asterisks). The Full ASCII version is implemented by using the four characters: $, /, % and + act as shift characters to change the meanings of the rest of the characters in the Normal Code 39 character set. Because the Full ASCII version uses shift characters in combination with other standard characters to represent data not in the Normal Code 39 character set, each non-standard character requires twice the width of a standard character in a printed symbol.

Areas of Application:

Code 39 Full ASCII is primarily used in manufacturing, military and healthcare sectors.

Benefits:

Full ASCII Code 39 is general purpose code which can code any ASCII character unlike Code 39 that encodes only 43 characters.

Technical Specifications:

Extended code 39 retains all of the encoding specification of Code 39. The full 128 character ASCII character set can be encoded with the Code 39 barcode using combinations of two symbol characters made up of one of the four Code 39 characters '+', '$', '%', and '/', which act as a shift character, followed by one of the 26 Code 39 barcode alphabets.