WD: How to Read Postal Bar Codes

ID: Q155187

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1
Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

This article describes how to read a postal bar code in order to determine whether Microsoft Word created the correct bar code.

MORE INFORMATION

A postal bar code is composed of three main components: framing bars, number bars, and checksum bars.

The first bar on the left side and the last bar on the right side of the postal bar code are framing bars for the postal bar code. You can ignore these.

To read the bar code, start with the second bar. Group the bars into groups of five bars each. Each number in a postal bar code consists of five bars.

We will use the following address as an example:

||,|,,|,,|,||,,,,|,|,,,|,|,||,,,,||,|,|,,|,|,,||,,,,,,|||,,|,|

Microsoft Corporation 1 Microsoft Way Redmond, WA. 98052-6399

Postal Bar Code Legend:

   | represents a tall bar
   , represents a short bar

   Number   Barcode                Number    Barcode
   ------   -------                ------    -------
     0       ||,,,                   5        ,|,|,
     1       ,,,||                   6        ,||,,
     2       ,,|,|                   7        |,,,|
     3       ,,||,                   8        |,,|,
     4       ,|,,|                   9        |,|,,

Breakdown of Sample Bar Code:

Framing Bar                                                        Checksum
-----------                                                        --------
|                                                                     8
v                                                                   /   \ 

| |,|,, |,,|, ||,,, ,|,|, ,,|,| ,||,, ,,||, |,|,, |,|,, ||,,, ,,,|| |,,|, |

  \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   / \   /       ^
    9     8     0     5     2     6     3     9     9     0     1         |
                                                                          |
                                                                  Framing |
                                                                      Bar |
                                                                 ---------+
            9 8 0 5 2                   6 3 9 9             0 1
            ---------                   -------      -----------------
             ZipCode                     Zip+4        Last Two Digits
                                                     of Street Address

The checksum is the smallest number that, when added to the total of the other digits, gives a result that is a multiple of 10. The checksum in this example is 8. When you add 8 to 52 (the sum of the other digits)-- the result is 60, a multiple of 10.

For additional information on adding or creating a postal bar codes in Word, or if the bar code produces incorrect results, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q112252
   TITLE     : Word Assigns a Delivery Point Bar Code (DPBC) of 99

   
   ARTICLE-ID: Q126863
   TITLE     : Delivery Point Bar Code Use 99 in Last Two Digits of Address

   ARTICLE-ID: Q105576
   TITLE     : Position of Bar Codes is Certified by U.S. Postal Service

Additional query words: word6 macword98

Keywords          : kbualink97 kbenvelope word8 winword word97 kbmerge macword word7 word95 mmhelp998 
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,98; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a,97
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: May 11, 1999