Barcodes in database applications

For printing barcode labels etc., you can use the stand-alone AnyLabels, Really Simple Labels or dLabel-Pro to derive data from many databases via ODBC

or ....

Many modern database programs can utilise OLE technology, either through an OLE server or an OCX control programmable through Visual Basic for Applications. Microsoft Access is an example of such a program.

Access 2003-2010 can use the Barcode Macros for Office for most 1D barcodes, or Barcode 2D Macros for Office for common 2D barcodes.  Similar facilities for commercial developers are provided by  the dBarcode-1D Developers Kit or dBarcode-2D Developers Kit.
Access can also use one of the Active Barcode Components; These components can be placed on a report and take its source from a field

Database systems that use Crystal Reports as a front end can use the Barcode Tools for Crystal Reports and Barcode 2D Tools for Crystal Reports which include UFLs (user function libraries), image servers and OLE servers for the Crystal Reports Designer Component.

Where Microsoft Visual Basic (version 6) is being used to generate reports from a database the Active Barcode Component is recommended, and where Delphi is used the dBarcode DLLs include Delphi components derived from TImage.

For Visual Studio.NET - VB, C# or ASP.NET the dBarcode.NET components provide a simple mechanism for generating barcodes.

Some older database programs either do not support OLE (or OLE high-quality images) or are unable to handle OCX controls. Visual FoxPro is an example of such a program. In this case a barcode font may be the most convenient solution, as the programming code may be taken from the dFont Helper application provided in source form with each font. An example database is available for Visual FoxPro. If the application is able to make DLL calls under program control, then all of the dLSoft barcode fonts include DLLs and OCXs which greatly simplify the production of barcode checkdigits.

In all cases we recommend downloading a testware version of the relevant product so that you can be sure that the product is suitable for your application.