character set for Code 128 barcodes

Code 128 Barcode Character Set

Each character in the Code 128 has 11 modules of black and white bars. There are 106 different combinations of 3 bars and 3 spaces used in Code 128. The stop bar is the exception. It has 13 modules: 4 bars and 3 spaces.

Code 128 has three variations: code set A, code set B, and code set C. The difference is what character set represents: A is uppercase letters, numbers, and lots of control characters; B is most like the lower 128 ASCII characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation; and C is only numbers with high compression. All Code 128 barcodes use the same stop bar but each code set has a unique start bar. A mod 103 check digit is part of all Code 128 bar codes. The use of a human readable character is optional but is sometimes required by an industry standard or specification.


Code 128 Bar Code Character Set
Check digit value Code A Code B Code C Pattern
B S B S B S
0 SP SP 00 2 1 2 2 2 2
1 ! ! 01 2 2 2 1 2 2
2 " " 02 2 2 2 2 2 1
3 # # 03 1 2 1 2 2 3
4 $ $ 04 1 2 1 3 2 2
5 % % 05 1 3 1 2 2 2
6 & & 06 1 2 2 2 1 3
7 ' ' 07 1 2 2 3 1 2
8 ( ( 08 1 3 2 2 1 2
9 ) ) 09 2 2 1 2 1 3
10 * * 10 2 2 1 3 1 2
11 + + 11 2 3 1 2 1 2
12 , , 12 1 1 2 2 3 2
13 - - 13 1 2 2 1 3 2
14 . . 14 1 2 2 2 3 1
15 / / 15 1 1 3 2 2 2
16 0 0 16 1 2 3 1 2 2
17 1 1 17 1 2 3 2 2 1
18 2 2 18 2 2 3 2 1 1
19 3 3 19 2 2 1 1 3 2
20 4 4 20 2 2 1 2 3 1
21 5 5 21 2 1 3 2 1 2
22 6 6 22 2 2 3 1 1 2
23 7 7 23 3 1 2 1 3 1
24 8 8 24 3 1 1 2 2 2
25 9 9 25 3 2 1 1 2 2
26 : : 26 3 2 1 2 2 1
27 ; ; 27 3 1 2 2 1 2
28 < < 28 3 2 2 1 1 2
29 = = 29 3 2 2 2 1 1
30 > > 30 2 1 2 1 2 3
31 ? ? 31 2 1 2 3 2 1
32 @ @ 32 2 3 2 1 2 1
33 A A 33 1 1 1 3 2 3
34 B B 34 1 3 1 1 2 3
35 C C 35 1 3 1 3 2 1
36 D D 36 1 1 2 3 1 3
37 E E 37 1 3 2 1 1 3
38 F F 38 1 3 2 3 1 1
39 G G 39 2 1 1 3 1 3
40 H H 40 2 3 1 1 1 3
41 I I 41 2 3 1 3 1 1
42 J J 42 1 1 2 1 3 3
43 K K 43 1 1 2 3 3 1
44 L L 44 1 3 2 1 3 1
45 M M 45 1 1 3 1 2 3
46 N N 46 1 1 3 3 2 1
47 O O 47 1 3 3 1 2 1
48 P P 48 3 1 3 1 2 1
49 Q Q 49 2 1 1 3 3 1
50 R R 50 2 3 1 1 3 1
51 S S 51 2 1 3 1 1 3
52 T T 52 2 1 3 3 1 1
53 U U 53 2 1 3 1 3 1
54 V V 54 3 1 1 1 2 3
55 W W 55 3 1 1 3 2 1
56 X X 56 3 3 1 1 2 1
57 Y Y 57 3 1 2 1 1 3
58 Z Z 58 3 1 2 3 1 1
59 [ [ 59 3 3 2 1 1 1
60 \ \ 60 3 1 4 1 1 1
61 ] ] 61 2 2 1 4 1 1
62 ^ ^ 62 4 3 1 1 1 1
63 _ _ 63 1 1 1 2 2 4
64 NUL ' 64 1 1 1 4 2 2
65 SOH a 65 1 2 1 1 2 4
66 STX b 66 1 2 1 4 2 1
67 ETX c 67 1 4 1 1 2 2
68 EOT d 68 1 4 1 2 2 1
69 ENQ e 69 1 1 2 2 1 4
70 ACK f 70 1 1 2 4 1 2
71 BEL g 61 1 2 2 1 1 4
72 BS h 72 1 2 2 4 1 1
73 HT i 73 1 4 2 1 1 2
74 LF j 74 1 4 2 2 1 1
75 VT k 75 2 4 1 2 1 1
76 FF l 76 2 2 1 1 1 4
77 CR m 77 4 1 3 1 1 1
78 SO n 78 2 4 1 1 1 2
79 SI o 79 1 3 4 1 1 1
80 DLE p 80 1 1 1 2 4 2
81 DC1 q 81 1 2 1 1 4 2
82 DC2 r 82 1 2 1 2 4 1
83 DC3 s 83 1 1 4 2 1 2
84 DC4 t 84 1 2 4 1 1 2
85 NAK u 85 1 2 4 2 1 1
86 SYN v 86 4 1 1 2 1 2
87 ETB w 87 4 2 1 1 1 2
88 CAN x 88 4 2 1 2 1 1
89 EM y 89 2 1 2 1 4 1
90 SUB z 90 2 1 4 1 2 1
91 ESC { 91 4 1 2 1 2 1
92 FS | 92 1 1 1 1 4 3
93 GS } 93 1 1 1 3 4 1
94 RS ~ 94 1 3 1 1 4 1
95 US DEL 95 1 1 4 1 1 3
96 FNC 3 FNC 3 96 1 1 4 3 1 1
97 FNC 2 FNC 2 97 4 1 1 1 1 3
98 SHIFT SHIFT 98 4 1 1 3 1 1
99 CODE C CODE C 99 1 1 3 1 4 1
100 CODE B FNC 4 CODE B 1 1 4 1 3 1
101 FNC 4 CODE A CODE A 3 1 1 1 4 1
102 FNC 1 FNC 1 FNC 1 4 1 1 1 3 1

Code 128 Barcode Character Set
Check digit value Start Code Pattern
B S B S B S
103 Start Code A 2 1 1 4 1 2
104 Start Code B 2 1 1 2 1 4
105 Start Code C 2 1 1 2 3 2
106 Stop 2 3 3 1 1 1 2