===== Barcodes =====

Microscope slides have labels. In many instances, these slides have barcodes printed on them. In complex scenarios, a single label can even have multiple barcodes.

{{::slide_representation.png?400|}}

These barcodes are [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode#Types_of_barcodes|available in several different industry-standard formats]].

Through the technique of Optical Character Recognition ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition|OCR]]), many times it is possible for computer software to automatically recognize a barcode and reverse engineer it back to its original textual representation (which can then be a LIMS Accession ID or other internal identifier).

PMA.core uses two open source libraries to try to interpret printed-on barcodes as good as it can.

==== ZXing library ====

[[https://github.com/zxing/zxing]]

The following formats are supported by ZXing (check the [[https://github.com/zxing/zxing|website]] for latest updates):

^ 1D product ^ 1D industrial ^ 2D ^
|UPC-A	|Code 39	|QR Code|
|UPC-E	|Code 93	|Data Matrix|
|EAN-8	|Code 128	|Aztec|
|EAN-13	|Codabar	|PDF 417|
|UPC/EAN Extension 2/5	|ITF	|MaxiCode|
|||		RSS-14|
|||		RSS-Expanded|

==== Aspose library ====

[[https://products.aspose.com/barcode/net/]]

Here is the list of barcode formats supported by Aspose:

Supported linear types:

  * EAN-13
  * EAN-8
  * UPC-A
  * UPC-E
  * Interleaved 2-of-5
  * Standard 2-of-5
  * MSI
  * Code 11
  * Codabar
  * EAN-14
  * SSCC-18
  * ITF-14
  * Matrix 2-of-5
  * PZN
  * Code 128
  * Code 39 Extended
  * Code 93 Extended
  * Code 93 Standard
  * IATA 2-of-5
  * OPC
  * GS1 Code 128
  * ISBN
  * ISMN
  * ISSN
  * ITF-6
  * VIN
  * Pharmacode
  * GS1 Databar Family: Databar Omnidirectional, Databar Truncated, Databar Limited, Databar Expanded, Databar Stacked, Databar Expanded Stacked, Databar Stacked Omnidirectional
  * PatchCode
  * Supplement

2D types:

  * PDF417
  * Macro PDF417
  * Micro PDF417
  * Aztec Code
  * Data Matrix
  * Compact PDF417
  * QR Code
  * Micro QR Code
  * DotCode
  * MaxiCode
  * GS1 Data Matrix
  * Italian Post 25
  * Code16K

Postal types:

  * Postnet
  * Planet
  * Australia Post
  * USPS OneCode
  * Deutsche Post Identcode
  * Royal Mailmark
  * RM4SCC
  * Deutsche Post Leticode
  * SingaporePost
  * AustralianPost eParcel
  * SwissPost Parcel

==== Extracting barcodes and automation ====

See [[nonapi#barcode|image endpoints]].