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The console 8.3 and later offers the possibility to generate a barcode and associate it with a field of the console. This function is useful when you want to put in a newsletter a barcode such as a discount or a promotion tied to a product.

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Overview

MailUp gives you the ability to dynamically generate a barcode, linked to a recipient field. This feature comes in handy in many scenarios, such as when needing to insert a unique discount or promotion code in an email campaign.

The frontend page mentioned below (barcode.aspx) will render and print out a barcode image, starting from a numeric/alpha numeric alphanumeric sequence dynamically retrieved upon from a recipient field.

The system passes two unique values to the page ("IdOptin" and  and "Hash" arguments passed to the page.
This page requires the numeric sequence to be previously stored in one of the personal information fields in order to run. This requirement was introduced in order to prevent fraud URL usage or any kind of exploitation of the service.

Barcode.aspx resides in the "frontend" root of each 8.3 console or later version and does not store or save any of the rendered barcode images on the "console" storage disk so that the server burden will be kept at its lowest.

 

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titleNote:

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) in order to avoid fraudulent use of the feature.

Info
titleNotes
  • This section of the User Guide requires some basic knowledge of HTML.
  • When viewed in the message editor in the admin console, the barcode will be displayed
with
  • using a default value.

How

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it works

The feature works as follows:

  • A special image URL is generated as shown below
  • The image URL (i.e. the HTTP location of the image) is included in the src property of the image HTML tag.


How to create a barcode

  1. check that the symbology of your barcode is supported by the symbology used: see Table 2 or use this link to perform a rendering test https://www.limilabs.com/barcode/demo
  2. if not already done, import the alphanumeric value to be encoded by the barcode into the platform recipients fields
  3. generate the URL, as explained below


Base URL

Code Block
languagehtml/xml
http://<consoleurl>/frontend/Barcode.aspx

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URL completed with parameters
 Code Block
languagehtml/xml
<img src=http://<ConsoleHost>/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=
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PromoID&FontHeight=0,2 />

 Note
titleNote:
  • See the section at the bottom of this document for a list and description of the various parameters
  • The recipient field used in the example above is PromoID: it must be a numeric value (for symbology 14 in the above 
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  • snippet you can fill it using any number of even length)
  • Don't' forget to replace <consolehost> with the actual domain of your admin console
  • The above sample requests an i2of5 formatted barcode ( SymbologyId = 14 ), sets the height to 60 pixels with 0,2 points font. Each symbology has its own specific set of requirements ( starting from the length of the numeric sequence it will be built on )
Output sample
Below a sample of Interleaved 2 of 5 rendered from a 14 digits sequence

Image Added
How to build your Barcode URL
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Output sample
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The system does not yet include a feature to build the URL for you, so for now you need to build it yourself. Don't panic, though, it only takes a minute (smile)
Here are the steps to take:
  1. Open your text editor: we recommend Notepad++, but Windows Notepad will be fine too.
  2. Paste in the editable window the following snippet: 

    http://<ConsoleHost>/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=PromoID&FontHeight=0,2
     
  3. Replace the parts of the query string marked in red with your account-specific information:
    1. Replace <consolehost> with your admin console URL
    2. Replace LatestShippedOrderId with the recipient field you've chosen to hold (and filled in with) the barcode numeric number.
  4. Select it (CTRL + A) and copy it to clipboard (CTRL +C)
  5. Now open your web browser and log into your admin console
  6. Click on Messages > Email > New > Create New Email or edit an existing message.
  7. In the message editor, switch to HTML mode
  8. Write a plain and empty HTML Img tag such as <img src="" /> in the writable area of the editor as below

    Image Added
  9. Enter the URL you copied above into the src tag. For example, assuming your admin console URL were http://c9x8d.s56.it/ and that the recipient field you are using to store the unique number to use in the barcode is called PromoID, the code would look as follows:

    <img src="http://c9x8d.s56.it/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=PromoID&FontHeight=0,2" /> 
     
  10. Click on Save. Now you should be seeing the barcode rendered in the preview window as shown below

    Image Added
Troubleshooting
  • Barcode rendering fails: the application may receive a wrong sequence format against a certain symbology: the application won't display any error message but it will display instead an empty 1x1 pixel image so that the calling image won't appear as broken
Parameters
Request parameters (Table 1)
Here is a description of the parameters mentioned in the barcode 
Name
Mandatory?
Description
IdOptIn
y
Recipient User Id
Hash
y
Recipient hash unique value
BarcodeHeight
y
Barcode image height in pixels
SymbologyId
y
Id representing a certain barcode format ( 14 = ITF )
TargetDynField
y
The dynamic field containing the numeric barcode sequence
NarrowBarWidth
n
Width in pixel of the narrow bar
BearerBarsmode
n
It sets what bearers bars the barcode will display ( 0 = None, 1 = Horizontal, 2 = Full )
BearerBarsSize
n
Width in pixels of the bearers bars ( applies only if BearerBarsmode > 0 )
Ratio
n
The times the wide bar will be displayed for each narrow bar
ChecksumAdd
n
This Boolean defines if the numeric sequence needs to be completed with a computed check digit ( default is false )
IsNumberVisible
n
If true, it displays the input numeric sequence underneath the barcode
FontHeight
n
Font height in points, use a comma as decimal mark
 Anchor
Table2
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Table2
Symbology format Id reference (Table 2)
Symbology codes define what type of barcode is being created and therefore also the values ​​that can be encoded.
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SymbologyId
Symbology name
DescriptionExample
1
Codabar
Valid characters are: '0123456789-$:/.+ABCD'. The number should start and stop with one of the 'ABCD' characters.
A1234567890A
2
Code11
Valid characters are: '0123456789-'.
1234567890
3
Code128
Use GS1-128 (UCC/EAN-128) symbology if you plan to use, application identifiers such as '(10)1234(01)56789'.Hello 123
4
Code39
Valid characters are capital letters and numbers. Start and stop characters ('*') are added automatically.HELLO 123
5
Code39Ext
Start and stop characters ('*') are added automatically.Hello 123
6
Code93
Valid characters are capital letters and numbers. Start and stop characters ('*') are added automatically.HELLO 123
7
Code93Ext
Start and stop characters ('*') are added automatically.Hello 123
8
Deutsche Post Ident Code
11 digits + checksum
12345678901
9
Deutsche Post Leit Code
13 digits + checksum
1234567890123
10
Ean218
Use the following format: (ai)data, for example: '(10)1234(01)56789'.
(10)1234(01)56789
11
Ean13
12 digits + checksum, Use the following format to add supplement: '123456789012,34'.
123456789012,34
12
Ean14
13 digits + checksum
1234567890123
13
Ean8
7 digits + checksum1234567
14
Interleaved 2 of 5
Valid characters are: '0123456789', length (including checksum) must be even.
123456789
15
ITF14
13 digits long + checksum
1234567890123
16
Msi
Valid characters are: '0123456789'
1234567890
17
Numly
19 digits1234567890123456789
18
Opc
9 digits + checksum
123456789
19
Planet
Valid characters are: '0123456789'1234567890
20
Postnet
Valid characters are: '0123456789'1234567890
21
Pzn
6 digits + checksum
123456
22
Royal Mail 4 state
Valid characters are capital letters and numbers.
1234567890
23
Royal Tnt Post Kix
Valid characters are capital letters and numbers.
1234567890
24
Industrial 2 of 5
Valid characters are: '0123456789'1234567890
25
Singapore post 4 State
Valid characters are capital letters and numbers.
1234567890
26
SSCC18
17 digits long + checksum
12345678901234567
27
Swiss Post Parcel
18 digits long
123456789012345678
28
UPCA
11 digits + checksum12345678901
29
UPCE
8 digits12345678
30
USP Sack label
8 digits long
12345678
31
USP Tray label
 
How to build your Barcode URL
Since there's no built in functionality helping you to display a barcode inside the markup, you'll need to build yourself the URL. 
 No panic, it takes two minutes. (smile)
 Please follow the brief guide prepared to build your own Barcode Image URL :
  1. Open any text editor you're comfortable to work with ( we recommend Notepad++ but Windows Notepad will be fine either way)
  2. Paste in the editable window the following snippet : http://<ConsoleHost>/frontend/Barcode.aspx?idoptin=[_idoptin]&hash=[_hash]&BarcodeHeight=60&SymbologyId=14&NarrowBarWidth=2&bearerbarsmode=0&BitmapTargetFormat=1&Ratio=0&TargetDynField=[LatestShippedOrderID]&FontHeight=0,2
  3. Now replace those parts of the query string marked in red with actual information : <consolehost> must be replace with your console URL ( for instance a8g5c.mailup.com ) and LatestShippedOrderId with the Dynamic Field you've defined holding ( and filled in with ) the barcode numeric number.
  4. Select it entirely ( CTRL + A ) and copy it to clipboard ( CTRL +C )
  5. Now open your web browser and Log into your MailUp console
  6. Click on Messages > Email > New > Create New Email as below
Image Removed
7. Type in subject textbox and jump to the HTML editor area, then click on the HTML tab at the bottom of it and click on the "<> HTML" tab as shown in the below screen shot
8. Write a plain and empty HTML Img tag such as <img src="" /> in the writable area of the editor as below
Image Removed
9. Now it's time to fill the Image tag "src "property with the actual barcode module path : barcode image path must always display an absolute path : <img src="PASTE HERE YOUR BARCODE URL PREVIOUSLY COPIED FROM NOTEPAD" />
10. Click on Save. Now you should be seeing the barcode rendered in the preview window as below
Image Removed
Rendering failure
 
 Note
titleNote:
The application may receive a wrong sequence format against a certain symbology : the application won't display any error message but it will display instead an empty 1x1 pixel image so that the calling image won't appear as broken
 
10 digits long
1234567890