.FO OFF .RH ON Document ID G022871 .SP 2 .RH OFF TITLE: WSC FLASH 9140 USING THE POSTNET BAR CODE FONT PRODUCT, 5799-DGX, ON AFP PRINTERS USING THE POSTNET BAR CODE FONT PRODUCT, 5799-DGX, ON AFP PRINTERS IBM provides a programming RPQ to produce bar codes conforming to the spec- ifications of the U.S. Postal Service, commonly called the "POSTNET font." The RPQ can be ordered as program product 5799-DGX. It provides the font characters needed to produce the three kinds of bar code that the Postal Ser- vice will recognize on mail: the "ZIP+4" font, the Facing Identification Marks, and the Business Reply bar. The fonts can be printed on 240-pel printers supported by PSF/MVS, PSF/VM, and PSF/VSE. The fonts are provided in bounded-box format for use on the 3812, 3816, 3820, 3825, 3827, 3828, 3835, and 3900 printers, and in unbounded-box format for use on the 3800 Models 3, 6, and 8. Because the 3800 cannot print characters with a height greater than one-half inch, the Facing Identification Marks and the Business Reply bar, which exceed this limit, cannot be printed on the 3800. The "ZIP+4" barcode is provided as a 12-point font. The Program Directory for 5799-DGX contains instructions for installing the fonts, but it does not provide any information on the application programming considerations for using them. The Postal Service requires twelve font char- acters in the ZIP+4 field, comprising a start character, the nine-digit ZIP code, a check digit, and an end character. The actual characters printed must be: * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 C * | | | | | | | | | ---- End character (x'FA') | | | ------ Modulus 10 check digit | | -------- Last zip code digit | ---------------------- First zip code digit ------------------------ Begin character (x'FA') The begin and end characters are at hex code point 'FA' and all other charac- ters are printed using their respective code points ( 0 = X'F0', 1 = X'F1', etc.). The modulus 10 check digit is calculated by adding all of the zip code values and subtracting the sum from the next highest multiple of 10. For example, the zip code 803019191 adds up to 32. When this is subtracted from the next highest multiple of 10, which is 40, the result is 8. Therefore the check digit is 8. The check digit must be calculated for every zip code. This can be done by a simple subroutine in the application program. Complete zip code information, including the check digit, can also be stored in a data base of names and addresses. The check digit cannot be calculated in the AFP page definition. The Postal Service has announced plans to expand to an 11-digit ZIP code for- mat in the near future. It is anticipated that the font provided in 5799-DGX will be valid to use in printing this bar code string also. The customer must include code in his application that generates the 14-character string required for this format. That string is: Start/stop bar 11 digits of ZIP Code Modulus 10 check digit Start/stop bar The check digit is calculated in the same way as described in the procedure above. As a second example, if the sum of the digits were 46, then the check digit would be 4, to arrive at the number 50, which is a multiple of 10. The application program must calculate the correction character. For complete information on the Postal Service bar code requirements, contact your local post office and ask for publication 25, "A Guide to Business Mail Preparation."