GS1 DataBar Explained

DataBar Encodation
GS1 DataBar (formerly RSS Barcode) consists of few barcode symbologies which can further categorized into 3 groups.

Group 1:

• GS1 DataBar Regular
• GS1 DataBar Truncated
• GS1 DataBar Stacked
• GS1 DataBar Stacked Omni Directional

This group encodes 13 digits data and appends a mod 10 check digit at the end. It also contains a linkage flag in the beginning to indicate whether a 2D barcode is attached to it or not. If it is starts with ‘0’ it will not expect a 2D part, otherwise a 2D barcode is attached. Therefore, all together a 14 digit barcode can have 2 x 10¹³ variations without counting 2D parts. All the barcodes in this group share same encoding technique and have the same pattern. GS1 DataBar Truncated barcode, as the name suggests, shortens the height of regular barcode and it is usually used in a tight place where bigger size barcode is hard to accomodate. A GS1 DataBar Stacked, however, chops off pattern in two rows separated by 2 narrow rows of separator bar. While GS1 DataBar Stacked has a shorter bar height, GS1 DataBar Stacked Omni directional has a standard full height and can be scanned omni directionally.

GS1 DataBar with Composite Component

Structurally GS1 DataBar has three components:

• Guard Bar: A bar/space pattern which indicates the start and end of the barcode. For stacked barcode each row contains guard bars in the beginning and at the end.
• Data Character: A complex algorithm converts encoded digits into Data Characters which is represented with few bars and spaces. For this group of barcode we have 4 data characters.
• Finder Pattern: Finder patterns are a bar/space patters to indicate the specific location of the data characters. It also calculate check digit. In this group of barcode we have two finder patterns.

Group 2:

• GS1 DataBar Limited

This group which has only one symbology which is different from other barcodes structurally and functionally. It encodes 13 digits, but it has an indicator flag in addition to a 2D linkage flag, leaving other 12 digits for data, Therefore, it can encode 2 x 2 x 10¹² different numbers. It has two Data Characters, and a check digit in the middle of them. It also contains guard bars in the beginning and at the end of the barcode. It is not suitable for omni directional scanning.

GS1 DataBar Limited

GS1 DataBar Llimited with Composite Component

Group 3

• GS1 DataBar Expanded
• GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked

This group is completely different than other two groups. It is a variable length barcode symbology, and can encode up to 74 digits or 41 alpha numeric characters. Its structure can hold up to 22 segments. Like others, this group also consists of Data Characters, Finder Pattern, guard Bars, and check digit pattern. It has a full height and can be scanned omni directionally. The two types of barcodes in this group can encode variable length data by applying application identifier or AI. AI tells decoder how long is the data for the corresponding Indentifier. For example, AI (17) indicates an expiration date which is 6 digits long. Sometimes we will have variable length AI. For example, AI (21) represents a serial number, which can be 1 to 21 digits long. To indicate the end of the number we append FNC1 character at the end of the serial data.

GS1 Expanded

GS1 DataBar Expanded with Composite Component

GS1 Expanded Stacked also follows the similar pattern but it  grows by adding rows at the bottom. You can control how wide each row will be by changing segment per row value.

GS1 Expanded Stacked

GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked w/Composite Component

GS1 Expanded Stacked is also used in coupon industry along with many different industries, especially health care and freshproduce sector. It gains a lot of popularity due to its encoding capabilities of many application identifier for different purposes. In coupon industry, currently the use of expanded stacked barcode is in transition period. Before everyone officially moves to Expanded Stacked barcode, it is now being used as interim coupon format. In interim format, Expanded Stacked barcode is appended with upc code replacing UCC/EAN part.

GS1 DataBar Interim Coupon