Azalea Software, Inc.

Printing Code 128 Code Set A Bar Codes in Excel

You can create Code 128 code set A barcodes from within Excel using Azalea Software's barcode fonts. Our Excel plug-in add the necessary start and stop bars, calculates the check digit, and maps the result into our fonts' character set.

Begin by making sure that you have AzaleaBarCodes.xla into your XLStart directory (Program Files/Microsoft Office/OFFICE11/XLSTART) and barcode.dll in either your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory (XP) or \WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory (WindowsNT and Windows2000). The C128Tools setup program installs both of these files by default. You're free to download and install both files in order to evaluate and play with C128Tools and Excel. The correct strings will be generated but you won't see a bar code without the fonts installed. You can also download and play with the sample file used below.

1. To create a Code 128 code set A symbol, you'll need your list of data to be encoded in one column. Be sure that your strings only include the characters Code 128 code set A encodes.

2. In the column you want the bar codes, type an "=". Select Insert/Function.

3. Use the category pop-up to select the "User Defined" functions. Within the list of Azalea bar code functions, select "AzaleaCode128A". Click OK.

4. The Inbuff value is the column that includes your bar code data, A1 in this case. Click OK.

5. Select the B column and select Edit/Fill/Down (Ctrl-D).

6. Use Format/Cells/Font to set the font to one of the Code 128 fonts at the correct point size. Adjust the size and alignment of the column as needed.

You can download and play with the sample file used above.