The Data Content of barcodes is comprised of several types of characters, organized into contiguous segments of a particular character type.
Barcode specifications take advantage of both aspects to reduce the barcode size for certain character types, as follow:
Digits occupy the least space.
Capital letters require more space.
Lower case letters on their own, or mixed with capital letters, require even more space
Binary data requires the most amount of space.
Barcode specifications also favor homogeneous data pattern. For example 100 digits followed by 100 letters require much less space than random mix of 100 digits and 100 letters.
In the most general terms, the size of barcode is determined by:
Data length - total number of characters
Data content - as described above
When the barcode will be used with variable data supplied at runtime to the Barcode For Documents Engine, the design should take in account both the potential data length as well as the data content.
Recommended Data usage practices:
Constant length and content. This the most common way to use barcodes, for example to encode account numbers. Enter any valid data in Data Panel. Use Data only or Data and Area in Barcode Size.
Variable length, fixed content. Enter the longest typical data plus a few more characters in Data Panel. Use Data only or Data and Area in Barcode Size.
Variable length, variable content. Use the longest typical data in Data Panel. Use Area only in Barcode Size. Ensure that the Estimated Max. Capacity value in the Results Panel is larger than the maximum anticipated data length at runtime.