Using paper forms barcodes

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode.

2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab, deselect Generate Label Automatically, and type a caption in the Label box.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode.

2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab and select Generate Label Automatically.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode.

2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab and select one of the following options from the Symbology list:

   • PDF417

   • QR Code

   • Data Matrix

   Note: End users filling a form that contains a QR Code, DataMatrix, or GS1 DataMatrix barcode require Acrobat 7.0.5 or later, or Adobe Reader 7.0.5 or later. Decoding of QR Code and DataMatrix barcodes is supported by Barcoded Forms 7.0 but is not supported by barcoded forms 7.0 Standalone (ST).

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode.

2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab and select one of the following options from the Scanning Method list:

   • Hand-held Scanner

   • Fax Server

   • Document Scanner

   • Custom

3. If you select Custom, you can also specify custom decoding settings.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode.

2. In the Object palette, click the Field tab and select Custom from the Scanning Method list.

3. To change the decoding properties, select the value from the Value list beside the property.

   Note: If you are planning to decode the barcode by using a handheld barcode scanner, avoid creating barcodes wider than four inches. Taller and narrower barcodes generally work better with handheld scanners.

When using a paper forms barcode object in a form design, you must specify the format that the barcode will use when encoding the data, as well as which data will be encoded. You can specify the following types of data formats:

• XML

• Delimited

Both options provide a script for the paper forms barcode object that instructs it to use a particular data type when encoding the data.

You can provide your own script for encoding the data. For more information, see To create a custom script for encoding data for a paper forms barcode .

To define how the paper forms barcode object obtains data, use the options in the Value tab of the Object palette. You can also specify whether the data is compressed before encoding.

In situations when you need to follow government or other specifications for encoding data, you may find that the preset data encoding options do not meet your requirements. Using the Custom option, you can provide your own script for encoding the data. The script could be quite simple, as in this example:

this.rawValue=NumericField1.rawValue

Alternatively, you could create a more complex script that determines which fields to encode based on certain conditions.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode object.

2. In the Object palette, click the Value tab and deselect Automatic Scripting.

3. In the Script Editor, you can modify the sample custom script or write your own script.

For example, the following sample code illustrates the JavaScript script required to retrieve a form’s field values, format a string representing a Comma Separated Value (CSV) instance containing the form fields, and update a paper forms barcode for an interactive PDF form. The form contains fields named accountNum , formerFirstName , formerMiddleInitial , formerLastName , newFirstName , newMiddleInitial , and newLastName .

// This function ensures that the barcode will update 
// when a change is made to any field on the form. 
function depends(node) 
{ 
for (var i = 0; i < node.nodes.length; ++i) 
{ 
var child = node.nodes.item(i); 
if (child.isContainer) 
depends(child); 
} 
} 
// Return a field surrounded by quotes and followed with a separator 
function fmtField(fieldName, separator) 
{ 
      var str = "\"" + fieldName.rawValue + "\"" + separator; 
      return str; 
} 
// Force all fields in the form to be updated in the dataset 
depends(xfa.form);  
// Generate the CSV string that will be encoded in the barcode 
var comma = ","; 
var newLine = "\n"; 
var s = fmtField(accountNum, comma); 
s += fmtField(formerFirstName, comma) 
s += fmtField(formerMiddleInitial, comma); 
s += fmtField(formerLastName, comma); 
s += fmtField(newFirstName, comma) 
s += fmtField(newMiddleInitial, comma); 
s += fmtField(newLastName, newLine); 
// Assign the string to the barcode for encoding 
this.rawValue = s;

By default, Designer uses a new encoding format that uses the XFA JavaScript function xfa.record.saveXML() to produce XML encoded data. However, you can still use the legacy encoding format that uses the old function xfa.datasets.saveXML() . For example, you may be processing forms with barcode data by using an application that can only parse the old XML format.

The legacy encoding format is used in paper forms barcode XML scripts in Designer 7.0 to 8.0. When you open a form that contains the legacy encoding format, the Use Legacy Format option is selected automatically.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode object.

2. In the Object palette, click the Value tab.

3. In the Format list, select XML and then select Use Legacy Format.

You can choose the delimiter character that is used to separate field data, such as field names, field values, and barcode labels.

With all delimiters other than Carriage Return, the first line starts with the optional barcode label heading, followed by the form object names, and ends with a delimiter and a new line character. The second line starts with the barcode label, which is a globally unique identifier (GUID) by default, followed by the form object data, and ends with a delimiter and a new line character.

With the Carriage Return delimiter, field names, barcode labels, and field values are listed over multiple lines, with field names and barcode labels listed first, each on a separate line, followed by either a carriage return, a new line character, and then with the field values, each of which are on a separate line.

If a field name or value in the form is empty, the barcode encoding script will insert a delimiter and encode the next field name or value. The barcode data will not contain a space, or any special marking, as the placeholder for the empty text.

To avoid incorrect decoding results when you choose the delimited format for a paper forms barcode, make sure that the delimiter you select is not a part of your form's textual contents. That is, do not choose a delimiter that may be a part of the paper forms barcode field value. For instance, if you choose tab, comma, or space as the delimiter, the contents of the form fields you are encoding cannot contain any tab, comma, or space characters because it will confuse the decoder.

You can always choose a different character as the delimiter if the form contents change and the character that was originally chosen to be the delimiter becomes a part of the contents.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode object.

2. In the Object palette, click the Value tab.

3. In the Format list, select Delimited and, in the Delimiter list, select the type of delimiter you want.

You can select the character encoding of the value that is encoded into a barcode.

1. On the form design, select the paper forms barcode object.

2. In the Object palette, click the Value tab.

3. In the Character Encoding list, select the option that suits your needs.