Web pages and barcode fonts

css xhtml fonts cross-browser barcode

31,754

Solution 1

A simpler solution might be to generate images server side to generate the bar codes. That way you don't have to rely on the user having a font installed and you don't have to access the font in your html.

Solution 2

There are several barcode formats. Some are simple and some can get very complex. One of the easiest to use, if it fits your application, is the 3 of 9 barcode. It is not compressed and there is a 1 to 1 relation to the chars in the barcode. There are two variants of this, numeric only and the extended set that includes alpha. I'll go forward with the asumption that you can use this format. (From your sample code, it looks like that's what you are using) For the easiest implementation, stick with the numeric only. Then, you will only require eleven chars (0-9 and the astrisk). Look at the definition of an existing 3 of 9 font. (For non-commercial use, search for a font called FREE3OF9. You can use that as the base for your app...)

Next, the tedious part - more work for you up front but displays in almost any browser. If you can't find any on-line, crerate a GIF (or BMP or PNG) image for each char. (Remeber to include the proper white-space on the right side of the char to distance it from the next char in line!) It only needs to be one pixel high. When the time comes to display the barcode, string the chars together as <IMG>'s that are next to each other. 3 of 9 requires that the chars in the barcode are surrounded or wrapped with an astrisk (it's the astrisk in the FREE3OF9 font anyway) on each end. Set the height of the <IMG>'s to something tall enough to suit your printout.

This way, no font installation required at the client, but most barcode decoders can read the resulting graphic.

Your example (*574656*) might look like this: 574656

(well, not exactly like that - it's a solid graphic instead of a composition of several in-line single graphics, but you get the idea)

The individual numeric graphics look like this: (although, these are not "cleaned up" yet)

*

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

and the code changes might look like this:

<html>    
    <head>        
        <title>Barcode Font Test</title>        
    </head>    
    <body>   
        <img src="3o9cb_ast.png" alt="*"/>     
        <img src="3o9cb_5.png" alt="5"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_7.png" alt="7"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_4.png" alt="4"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_6.png" alt="6"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_5.png" alt="5"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_6.png" alt="6"/>
        <img src="3o9cb_ast.png" alt="*"/>
    </body>
</html>

I used SearchFreeFonts.com as a resource to refresh my memory of how 3 of 9 barcode chars were formatted. These graphics are initially from that site.

Solution 3

The Mozilla developers made a choice for symbol fonts to not work. You can enable them in the config as described in Getting Symbol Fonts to Work in Mozilla Firefox

Solution 4

Much has changed since this question was originally asked. Today, it is fairly simple to use a barcode font on the web and render it directly.

Run the code snippet below to see a live example:

.barcode39 {
  font-family: 'Libre Barcode 39 Extended Text', cursive;
  font-size: 40px;
}

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Libre+Barcode+39+Extended+Text&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

<div class="barcode39">
 *hello world*
</div>

Solution 5

At the company i'm working at now we use BarCode.dll of lesnikowski.com. It generates barcode images. It doesn't depend whether or not the font is installed on the client pc and works with all browser.

Hope this helps.

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31,754

Author by

Ryan Rodemoyer

Updated on July 09, 2022

Comments

Ryan Rodemoyer almost 2 years
I'm working on a small app where I can generate a list of barcodes. I have the correct fonts installed on my computer. Right now I am printing them directly to a webpage and it works properly in Chrome and IE 7, but not Firefox. Does anyone know what Firefox would be doing differently than IE and Chrome?

Here is my code:
```
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Barcode Font Test</title>

        <style type="text/css" media="screen">
            .barcode { font-family: "wasp 39 m", verdana, calibri; font-size: 36pt; }
        </style>
    </head>

    <body>
        <div class="barcode">*574656*</div>
    </body>
</html>
```
EDIT: I probably should have mentioned that this is more of a personal project at the moment and not meant to be released to the world. While I will take a solution that works, I would like something that does not involve Javascript/Flash/etc.
- eyelidlessness over 15 years
  
  If it's a personal project why does it need to work cross-browser?
- Ryan Rodemoyer over 15 years
  
  Cross-browser surely isn't a necessity. However, I primary use Firefox and did not understand why that was the only browser that was giving me problems.
- Admin over 12 years
  
  I came across this collection of @Font Face Barcode Web Fonts by barcoderesource.com previously.
hangy over 15 years

That's right, but it is not the problem that rodey experiences. He said he has that font installed on his computer and the question makes it seem that the tests he did were performed on his local machine.
eyelidlessness over 15 years

Well, even with that being the case, my answer might benefit others who want a complete public-facing solution.
Ryan Rodemoyer over 15 years

This does not appear to work for Firefox 3. The author does not state which version(s) of Firefox this works for.