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barcode_tool38dc.png Barcode

Use the Barcode tool to generate barcodes from text data or read barcodes from an image.

Alteryx Intelligence Suite Required

This tool is part of Alteryx Intelligence Suite. Intelligence Suite requires a separate license and add-on installer to Designer. After you install Designer, install Intelligence Suite and start your free trial.

Important

If you have Designer 2023.2 or later, the Barcode tool requires additional dependencies to run. Please download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package to add these required dependencies.

Supported Barcode Types

Important

  • Code 128 barcode generation only supports ASCII characters and has a maximum character limit of 253.

  • If your barcode contains a mix of ASCII and Unicode characters, the Barcode tool might not interpret it correctly.

Type

Generate

Read

QR Code

Yes

Yes

Code 128

Yes

Yes

Code 39

No

Yes

UPCA

No

Yes

EAN-8

No

Yes

EAN-13

No

Yes

EAN-14

No

Yes

ISBN-10

No

Yes

ISBN-13

No

Yes

ISSN

No

Yes

JAN

No

Yes

I25

No

Yes

Tool Components

The Barcode tool has 2 anchors:

  • Input anchor: Use the input anchor to connect the barcode data you want to generate or read.

  • Output anchor: Use the output anchor to pass the generated barcode or read barcode data downstream.

    • Connect to the Image tool to render barcode images.

Configure the Tool

Generate Barcode from Text

  1. Add a Barcode tool to the canvas.

  2. Use the anchors to connect the Barcode tool to your text data.

  3. Select Generate Barcode from Text under Mode of Operation.

  4. Select the Column with Text.

    1. The Barcode tool only accepts string data types. Use the Select tool to adjust data types as necessary.

  5. Select the Barcode Type. You can make more than 1 selection.

  6. Run the workflow.

Read Barcode from Image

Important

To read barcodes from an image, ensure that the barcode isn't blurry or too small. Poor image quality might impact your results. If the image quality is poor, try to pre-process your images with the Image Processing tool.

  1. Add a Barcode tool to the canvas.

  2. Use the anchors to connect the Barcode tool to your image data.

  3. Select Read Barcode from Image under Mode of Operation. The image can contain more than one supported barcode type.

  4. Select the Column with Image.

    1. Optional: Include a cropped image of the barcode.

    2. Optional: Include the original image with the identified barcode bounded by a blue box.

  5. Run the workflow.

Output

The Barcode tool outputs the incoming columns in addition to various columns based on the Mode of Operation.

Generate Barcode from Text

  • Separate columns containing a Blob for each barcode type generated (for example, QR or Code 128). The Blob is viewable using the Image tool.

Read Barcode from Image

  • decoded: This column contains the text read from the barcode.

  • type: This column contains the type of barcode read.

  • cropped_barcode: This column contains the cropped barcode image as a BLOB data type.

  • bounded_image: This column contains the bounded barcode image as a BLOB data type.

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