DLSoft Application Note 0508a

Application Identifiers in EAN/UCC 128 barcodes

Application Identifiers (AIs) are codes used to define 
the meaning and format of data contained in a barcode. 
An AI consists of 2, 3 or 4 digits.

In the human readable text under a barcode an AI is 
usually enclosed in brackets and the characters following 
the close bracket symbol represent the data, 
e.g. (02)08726900931924(15)050425(37)080(10)02541 

Many AIs require data of a fixed length, eg (01) should 
be followed by 14 digits, and (3100) should be followed 
by 6 digits. 

Other AIs are followed by variable length data, 
e.g. (30) may be followed by up to 8 digits. Variable 
length AIs must be terminated by a FNC1 character 
(see the Barcodes Help system for details of how to 
include FNC1 characters).

AIs generally require the data following to be in a 
specific format. For example, specifying a weight of 
35kg requires (3100)000035

Although the human readable form of the barcode data 
shows AIs including the bracket symbols, the brackets 
are NOT encoded into the barcode - so when the EAN/UCC 
barcode is scanned the brackets will not appear. 
Software receiving the scanned data will be designed to 
identify the AIs and treat the following characters correctly.

Full details of the AI specifications may be obtained from
EAN International or other sources shown at
www.dlsoft.com/support/barcinfo.htm


dLSoft August 2005