Property: EncodeMode

(TBarcode2D_DataMatrix)

Specifies the data encoding mode for a Data Matrix (ECC 000 - 140) barcode symbol.

Syntax:

type

{ Defined in the pDataMatrix unit }

TDataMatrix_EncodeMode = (emAuto, emNumeric, emAlpha, emPunctuation, emAlphanumeric, emASCII, emBinary);

property EncodeMode: TDataMatrix_EncodeMode;

Description:

The Data Matrix (ECC 000 - 140) symbology offers six kinds of encoding mode, referred to as Numeric (Base 11), Alpha (Base 27), Alphanumeric (Base 37), Punctuation (Base 41), ASCII, and Binary respectively in decreasing order of encoding density. The property specifies which data encoding mode will be used.

The property can be one of these values (defined in the pDataMatrix unit):

• emAuto: The encoding mode will be selected automatically, depending on the barcode text, in other words, the barcode text to be encoded will be analysed, and an appropriates lowest level (highest encoding density) encoding mode will be selected, in order to minimize the symbol size. The property CurrentEncodeMode can be used to get the factual encoding mode.
• emNumeric: Indicates to use the Numeric (Base 11) encoding mode. It encodes 10 numeric characters 0 to 9, and the space character. The encoding density is 3.5 bits per data character. The encoding mode has highest encoding density.
• emAlpha: Indicates to use the Alpha (Base 27) encoding mode. It encodes 26 upper case letters A to Z, and the space character. The encoding density is 4.8 bits per data character.
• emAlphanumeric: Indicates to use the Alphanumeric (Base 37) encoding mode. It encodes 26 upper case letters A to Z, 10 numeric characters 0 to 9, and the space character. The encoding density is 5.25 bits per data character.
• emPunctuation: Indicates to use the Punctuation (Base 41) encoding mode. It encodes 26 upper case letters A to Z, 10 numeric characters 0 to 9, and the space, point(.), hyphen(-), comma(,) and solidus(/) characters. The encoding density is 5.5 bits per data character.
• emASCII: Indicates to use the ASCII encoding mode. It encodes all 128 ASCII characters from ISO/IEC 646. The encoding density is 7 bits per data character.
• emBinary: Indicates to use the Binary encoding mode. It encodes all 256 8-bit bytes. It shall be used for closed applications, where the data interpretation shall be determined by the user. The encoding density is 8 bits per byte. The encoding mode has lowest encoding density.

The CurrentEncodeMode property can always be used to get the factual encoding mode.

See also the "Encoding modes" section in the "TBarcode2D_DataMatrix" article.

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