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Barcode

by EuroOffice Extension Creator
(7 votes)
barcode_0.png

Barcode is a simple extension for creating UPC-A, EAN-13, ISBN and JAN barcodes in OpenOffice.org Draw.

Barcode started out as an EuroOffice Extension Creator example and evolved into a practically useful tool. It currently supports the following barcode types:

  • UPC-A (the most common barcode in the US)
  • UPC-E (the short form of UPC-A)
  • EAN-13 (the most common barcode in Europe)
  • EAN-8 (the short form of EAN-13)
  • JAN (the barcode used in Japan, basically EAN-13 with the country code for Japan)
  • ISBN-13 (the barcode used in books after 2007, basically EAN-13 with a superscript)
  • ISBN-10 (the barcode used in books before 2007, basically EAN-13 with a different superscript)
  • Standard and interleaved 2 of 5 (a simple barcode used in custom solutions, for example on film reels)
  • Code 128 (high-density barcode that can encode data of arbitrary length, commonly used in shipping and packaging)

For all of these codes checksum calculation is also supported, ISBN numbers are correctly hyphenated and the generated Code 128 codes are the shortest possible.

The extension is localized to these languages:

  • Chinese (by Jack Shen)
  • Danish (by Leif Lodahl)
  • Dutch (by Nouws Cor)
  • English
  • French (by Sophie Gautier)
  • German (by Jens Binfet)
  • Hungarian
  • Japanese (by Takaya Kubota)
  • Russian (help only, by Basil Shubin)
  • Serbian (both Cyrillic and Latin, by Goran Rakic)

Please keep in mind that this is an early version of this open-source product. The developers have made a good effort to make sure the barcodes are generated according to the specifications, but the product has not yet been extensively tested to verify this. It is recommended to use a barcode reader to verify the generated barcodes yourself before printing them on the packages of a million products.

Seeing how the comments section below is getting a bit overwhelming we have now created forums at UserVoice. Hopefully it will prove to be a more convenient venue of discussion.

Adding new features to this already useful extension can be a good starting point for trying out EuroOffice Extension Creator.

This extension is the product of collaboration between MultiRacio Ltd. (maintainers of EOEC) and Kálman Szalai (KAMI, of the OxygenOffice project).

Download extension
Operating System: System Independent
Official release: 1.3
Date: 2009-May-12
Size: 532.72 KB
View all releases
License: opensource
Further product information: Screenshots | Product details
Provider: EuroOffice Extension Creator
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  • 682 downloads this week

Comments

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 10:11 — cyhawk

Version 1.3 is released

Version 1.3 is compatible with OpenOffice.org 3.1 (prior versions are not), so upgrading is very much recommended. It also includes a number of new barcode types and a great number of translations. Thanks to all the translators, it is great to see such enthusiasm!

Daniel Darabos

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:22 — Jørgen Rasmussen

Can't install version 1.3 for OOo.3.1

I just tried to upgrade Barcode 1.2 to 1.3. It isn't possible because it isn't possible to uninstall the old version.
I am receiving an error message. I am no expert, but it looks like there is a problem with the python loader.
I am using OOo 3.1 for Windows.

Jørgen Rasmussen

Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:03 — dudson

Have the same problem, using

Have the same problem, using win Vista Home Premium 32bit and OOo 3.1.
The old version that isn't removable is 1.1.

Solved it thanks to Daniel his advice:

Re: error still on OOo 3.1 windows Vista

Yes, while 3.1 solved the problem on Mac, it has done more than that: the Python included in OpenOffice.org has been upgraded to 2.6.1. This is good news, but Barcode 1.2 was not prepared to work with Python 2.6.1. Please use Barcode 1.3!

Normally you can simply install the new version and it replaces the old. If this does not work for some reason, you can remove the OpenOffice.org user settings folder and start with a clean installation. On Windows Vista this folder is C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org. Deleting it will revert all OpenOffice.org settings to defaults and remove all your extensions.

Daniel Darabos

Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:26 — cyhawk

Removing old version

Sorry, I replied to Jørgen in a private email, but I guess his problem is not unique. Unfortunately prior versions are so incompatible with OpenOffice.org 3.1 that it can not even uninstall them.

How to manually upgrade an extension

One way is to manually uninstall it and install the new version. To do this:

  • If you installed the extension only for yourself, it is in your OpenOffice.org user profile. How to reset your user profile.
  • Alternatively if you installed the extension for everyone, it is in your OpenOffice.org shared folder. This folder is "c:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\share\uno_packages" on Windows. You can delete this folder to remove all shared extensions.
  • Once the old extension is gone, you can install the new version without problems.

The above method is destructive — it will remove all your user settings and extensions (or just your shared extensions, in the shared case). A somewhat more complicated solution is to manually upgrade the extension without using the Extension Manager.

  • Locate the installed extension. It can be either in your user profile or the shared folder under "uno_packages/cache/uno_packages" in a randomly named folder. Within the randomly named folder there is a folder named Barcode.oxt.
  • Download the new version of the Barcode extension. Note that this is actually a ZIP archive, it is just renamed to OXT. Extract its contents.
  • Copy the contents of Barcode.oxt to the folder named Barcode.oxt so that the old files are overwritten with the new.

I hope this helps. Hopefully OpenOffice.org will now stick with Python 2.6 as long as it has with Python 2.3 and you will not have to go through this ordeal very often.

Daniel Darabos

Thu, 03/12/2009 - 06:14 — anant

Cannot install Barcode.oxt

hi,
i juz downloaded Barcode.oxt but i could not install or run it as it is in a binary form. Could you please help me to solve this problem? Thank you in advance.

regards,
anant

Thu, 03/12/2009 - 08:53 — cyhawk

Re: Cannot install Barcode.oxt

Please take a look at these instructions for installing an extension. If you tried the installation like this and it failed, could you tell me where the problem occured, what the error message was and what operating system and OpenOffice.org version you are using?

The OXT file is actually a ZIP archive which contains the Python source code that is directly interpreted by OpenOffice.org, so it is not really a binary distribution. Still you can find the unpackaged sources in our Launchpad.net repository if you are interested!

Best regards,
Daniel Darabos

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 15:13 — davedoc

Runtime error - can't install

I'm trying to install the extension, following the guide, but the result is an error alert: "This application has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information"... My S.O. is Windows XP Professional SP2, with OpenOffice 3.1... Thanks in advance to everyone for your help...

Mon, 03/16/2009 - 03:42 — anant

How to get OpenOffice.org

Dear Daniel,

Actually I am not using OpenOffice.org at all. I think that's the problem. For your information, I am very new here and so can you please help me how to work with this? Do I need to install OpenOffice.org first? If yes, how should I do that?

Thank you

Mon, 03/16/2009 - 09:11 — cyhawk

Re: How to get OpenOffice.org

Yes, the Barcode tool is an extension (plug-in if you wish) for OpenOffice.org. It will not work on its own. But OpenOffice.org is free and pretty useful, so go ahead and download it at http://download.openoffice.org/ and once it is installed follow the instructions for installing an extension to get Barcode working. Once all this is set up you will see a Barcode menu item in the Insert menu of OpenOffice.org Draw. Then you just type a number and get the barcode ready to be printed or reused in other applications.

Daniel Darabos

Fri, 02/13/2009 - 12:28 — shantanoo

Does not work on OOo3.0 on

Does not work on OOo3.0 on Mac. While installation, got this error message.

Fri, 02/13/2009 - 12:35 — cyhawk

Python extensions on Mac

There is a problem with Python extension support on Mac. It has already been fixed by Juergen Schmidt and will be included in the next version of OpenOffice.org (3.1). In the interim you can use this patcher to work around the problem.

Daniel Darabos

Sun, 05/10/2009 - 15:33 — dudson

error still on OOo 3.1 windows Vista

I have used OOo 3.1 english version on a Windows Vista Home Premium pc and have the same problem.
The extension still displays that error with OOo 3.1,
updating or disabling the extension doesn't work either.
How can the 1.1 version of Barcode be removed?

Want to replace it with the 1.2 version.

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 10:05 — cyhawk

Re: error still on OOo 3.1 windows Vista

Yes, while 3.1 solved the problem on Mac, it has done more than that: the Python included in OpenOffice.org has been upgraded to 2.6.1. This is good news, but Barcode 1.2 was not prepared to work with Python 2.6.1. Please use Barcode 1.3!

Normally you can simply install the new version and it replaces the old. If this does not work for some reason, you can remove the OpenOffice.org user settings folder and start with a clean installation. On Windows Vista this folder is C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org. Deleting it will revert all OpenOffice.org settings to defaults and remove all your extensions.

Daniel Darabos

Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:00 — dudson

Thanks, it is solved now.

Thanks, it is solved now.

Sat, 01/31/2009 - 20:24 — lodahl

Localizations

Hi,
Great work

I have made a Danish translation but where can I submit the DialogStrings_da_DK.properties ?

Leif Lodahl
http://lodahl.blogspot.com

Sat, 01/31/2009 - 20:31 — cyhawk

Re: Localizations

Dear Leif,

That is amazing, thank you! You can either send me the file at darabos.daniel@multiracio.hu, or you can contribute it through Launchpad. Launchpad is pretty complicated, so if you just want to contribute this file, email is probably best.

Daniel Darabos

Sat, 01/31/2009 - 21:42 — cyhawk

Re: Localizations

I have uploaded version 1.1 which is now localized to Danish and Hungarian! If anyone would like to translate a few strings, Extension Translator is an easy way to get it done in OpenOffice.org. There are a couple of identifiers that start with "ExtensionCreator" -- these are only visible in debug mode so there is no need to translate them.

Daniel Darabos

Tue, 01/13/2009 - 10:54 — KAMI_

What is next?

Dear Users!

I hope you will find useful this extension. Please inform us what barcode will be the next. We plan to implement many barcodes, but we want to follow our users' needs.

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Templates and Gallery Extensions for OpenOffice.org based on OxygenOffice.org Extras - http://ooop.sf.net/

Sat, 01/31/2009 - 17:43 — purplekegler

How to use this extension?

I installed this extension and cannot get it to work. According to your help file (what there is anyhow), a new menu item can be found at the bottom of the Insert menu. I don't have "Insert Barcode" at the bottom of my Insert menu... or anywhere else for that matter! I have looked for it in the obvious applications (Calc and Writer) as well as all of the other applications. I am using Open Office v3.0.1 on Windows XP Service Pack 3. What's up?

Sat, 01/31/2009 - 20:24 — cyhawk

Re: How to use this extension?

Normally the "Insert Barcode" menu item is installed in Draw. Another menu item, "About Barcode" is installed in every application in the Help menu. The most common cause of the menu items not appearing is that OpenOffice.org was not fully restarted after the installation of the extension. To do a full restart make sure you also quit the Quickstarter (or if in doubt restart Windows).

Let me know if this helps! The next version will include a more useful help page, but apart from the location of the new menu item things are pretty simple to guess once the installation succeeded.

Daniel Darabos

Mon, 02/02/2009 - 14:33 — purplekegler

Thanks for your speady reply!

Other barcode creators I am familiar with are actually fonts and are normally used in spreadsheet and text document applications. After installing it as you described it worked flawlessly. This was exactly what I have been looking for for quite awhile... thank you very much!

Mon, 02/02/2009 - 15:44 — cyhawk

Practical use

I am glad to hear it works! I would be grateful if you could let us know if you are using the extension for actually creating barcodes. I have to admit that we have not actually printed any barcodes and do not have a barcode scanner to test it — we just worked based on the barcode specifications. So any confirmation of how this works in practice would be comforting (to us, developers, and I suppose to prospective users as well).

Daniel Darabos

Wed, 02/04/2009 - 18:38 — purplekegler

Haven't actually scanned one yet...

I wanted to find a barcode creator because I often want to find out if a store has a product in stock before I make the trek to the store... so why print a barcode? Two reasons: A) I know the UPC that I have for the product is correct, and B) If I show up with the barcode at the store I can have the Customer Service Supervisor scan the barcode and know for sure that they have the product in stock before I traipse through the store trying to find a product that they either do not have or they do have but it is still back in the stock room. As a Walmart Cashier, I can tell you that if you call up the store and ask if they have product X in the store you will get anything from a flat no, to yes, to an I don't know... all of which might be completely wrong. Having a barcode number AND asking for a Customer Service Supervisor are essential to getting a correct response to your inquiry. I will scan one the next time I go to work and let you know if it works.

Wed, 02/11/2009 - 22:28 — purplekegler

Works perfectly!

I have had a chance to scan a UPC-A barcode and it worked perfectly... Thanks again!

Tue, 02/03/2009 - 21:28 — KAMI_

However Daniel did not

However Daniel did not tested this extension with printed barcode I must notice that I did with EAN-13. So this is working for me in several cases (readable code, correct code). Of course you might have to test it carefully and report the possible bugs to us.

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Templates and Gallery Extensions for OpenOffice.org based on OxygenOffice.org Extras - http://ooop.sf.net/

Wed, 02/11/2009 - 22:48 — cyhawk

Barcode QA

I am very glad to hear that Kalman and Tony could verify with a scanner that the UPC-A and EAN-13 barcodes work! I hope with some effort we will be able to come up with a bulletproof QA process for every barcode type.

To this end I have created a blueprint at Launchpad and an associated forum at UserVoice. I invite you to discuss any ideas for QA through these channels. People with scanners especially welcome :).

Thu, 02/12/2009 - 05:07 — KAMI_

I think…

I think we are not QA gurus, so I will ask Thorsten or the OOo's QA dev team about this. Actually, they have more knowledge about this area. We may visually compare some barcode. You can buy products with only UPC-A or EAN-13 barcodes, so you can easily test 10 barcodes. Put the names, barcodes along with the QA test and the created barcode into a database. If everything is okay you can compare the barcode that was generated with a never version of extension with the old one already in the database. This way we might create automated test that comares that two pictures. Also you can get books to test ISBN generator. So there are many way to involve the power of community.
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Templates and Gallery Extensions for OpenOffice.org based on OxygenOffice.org Extras - http://ooop.sf.net/

Fri, 01/30/2009 - 16:33 — KAMI_

Pay per barcode

If you wish to add new barcodes to this Barcode extension you can donate the project. This donation is help us to add more and more barcodes those you will find useful.
You can send contributions via this page: http://sourceforge.net/project/project_donations.php?group_id=170021
(Or directly via PayPal - contact me)
Please write what barcode should be the next.

Also any code contribution is warmly welcomed. You have some Python knowledge to achieve this.

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Templates and Gallery Extensions for OpenOffice.org based on OxygenOffice.org Extras - http://ooop.sf.net/