Data Manipulation is required when a structured barcode is scanned. What this means is that if there is more than one bit of information contained in a barcode, then the scanned barcode needs to be manipulated to extract the relevant bits of data.

 

Examples of custom structured barcodes are:

[S]LOT100[L]00000500[Q]123 - in this case the elements are separated by a custom delimiter that tells you what the element means. For example [S] for Stock Code and [L] for Lot Number.

LOT100-00000500-123 - In this case the elements are separated by a single character with no indication of what each element is

LOT10000000500123 - In this case there is no separation and each element is assumed to be of a fixed length

 

An example of a standard structured barcode would be an EAN128 barcode

(01)LOT100(15)170124(10)00000500

 

Another use of data manipulation is to perform an arithmetic calculation on scanned data. Say for example, something is weighed on a scale that returns data in grams but we wish to store that data in Kilograms (or vice versa). We can use data manipulation to divide the data we receive from the scale by 1000 and to store that for later use.

 

 

In the case of EAN128, the delimiters between the elements are pre-defined and follow international standards.

 

By using TransLution data manipulation, it is possible to extract any elements from a barcode, validate them and manipulate them without needing to do any custom logic. This section covers how to do that.