GS1 Databar Expanded

The GS1 DataBar Expanded character set includes the upper and lower case letters, the digits 0-9, the special function character, FNC1, and the following punctuation marks: ! " % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? _ <space character>.

Each barcode consists of up to 74 numerals or 41 alphabetic characters. The string is encoded as a binary number and the first bit is simply a flag indicating whether or not the barcode is part of a composite barcode.

The height of the barcode is at least 34 modules, and the width varies from 53 to 543 modules. Each barcode begins and ends with two one-module wide guard bars, the left pair is always space-bar and the right one is always bar-space. Following this is one or more (up to a maximum of 11) triplets each of which contains a finder pattern between two data characters. (But the first data character of the first triplet is actually a check character and, if there are an odd number of data characters, then the last "triplet" does not have second data character. It does have a finder pattern.)

Each of the data characters is of 17 modules with 4 bars and 4 spaces. The finder patterns are 15 modules. Each has 5 bars and spaces, total.

The bars and spaces of the right-most of the two data characters in any given triplet are read right-to-left.

GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked can be used when the area available for applying a barcode is very narrow. This symbology is essentially the same as GS1 DataBar Expanded, except that the barcode is broken into lines containing one or more triplets. Each row begins and ends with the guard bars, as in GS1 DataBar Expanded. Each row is a minimum of 34 modules high and there is a 3-module high separator area between the rows. (If the barcode is part of a composite barcode, then the two-dimensional part is placed above the top row.)