SATO CX Series Owner's manual

Issued April 2001
CX Series
Programming Manual

SATO Group of Companies
BARCODE SATO INTERNATIONAL PTE
LT D
438A Alexandra Road #05-01/ 02,
Alexandra Technopark,
Singapore 119967
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.barcodesato.com
Email: sale[email protected]
SATO EUROPE NV
Leuvensesteenweg 369,
1932 Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Brussels, Belgium
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.sato-europe.com
Email: [e-mail]
SATO UK LTD
Valley Road, Harwich, Essex England
Co12 4RR, United Kingdom
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.satouk.com
Email: [e-mail]
SATO DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
Schaberweg 28, 61348
Bad Homburg, Germany
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.sato-deutschland.de
Email: [e-mail]
SATO POLSKA SP Z O.O.
Ul Okolna 2, 50-422 Wroclaw
Poland
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.sato-europe.com
Email: [e-mail]
SATO AMERICA INC.
10350 Nations Ford Road Suite A,
Charlotte, NC 28273
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.satoamerica.com
Email: [e-mail]
SATO SHANGHAI CO, LTD
11 Floor, D, Pudong South Road 1111,
Pudong New Area, Shanghai,
China 200120
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.barcodesato.com
Email: [e-mail]
BAR CODE SATO ELECTRONICS (S) PTE
LT D
438A Alexandra Road #05-01/02,
Alexandra Technopark, Singapore 119967
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.barcodesato.com
www.satosingapore.com
Email: [e-mail]
SATO BAR CODE & LABELLING SDN BHD
Suite B-08-11&12, Block B Plaza Mont'
Kiara, No.2, Jalan Kiara Mont' Kiara,
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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Email: sale[email protected]
BARCODE SATO (THAILAND) CO. LTD
370/8 Supattra Building, 5th Floor, Rama9
Road, Bangkapi, Huay Kwang
Bangkok 10320, Thailand
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.barcodesato.com
Email: [e-mail]

SATO CX Series Printer
Warning
It is essential that the safety and operating procedures contained within
this manual be brought to the attention of, and are used by, all personnel
likely to operate this printer/product.
This printer/product must only be used for the purpose for which it was
designed.
In the case of fire, water must not be used on the product to extinguish the
fire, and the appropriate type of fire extinguisher should be readily available.
No modifications, either mechanical or electrical, should be made to this
printer/product or accessory without the written consent of SATO Europe
GmbH. Any modifications made without this consent may invalidate guarantee
claims.
Other manuals relating to this printer include additional information relating to
other aspects of the safe operation of the printer, and are available from your
SATO supplier.
All consumable waste, such as the label backing paper and used carbon rib-
bon must be disposed of carefully, and in a manner that will cause the mini-
mum of environmental pollution.
Should you have any doubts regarding the setting, operating or any safety
aspects of this printer/product, please contact your SATO supplier.
SATO Europe GmbH makes no guarantee that all the features described in this
manual are available in all models, and, due to SATO’s policy of continuous
development and improvement, specifications are liable to change, without
notice.
Consumables
Always use SATO carbon ribbons or equivalent. The use of incorrect materials
may cause malfunctions of the printer and void the warranty.
Conventions
Text that appears bold italic and all in capitals such as LABEL refers to a key
or an LED on the operation panel.
Text that appears enclosed in brackets such as <ESC> refers to an Escape
sequence of a data string.
Text that appears bold italic such as On-Line refers to a function or to a result.
Text that appears in bold such as VR1 refers to electrical components like
pins, resistors connectors and so on.

SATO CX Series Printer
Warranty and Copyright
SATO Europe GmbH makes no guarantee of any kind with regard to this mate-
rial, including, but not limited to, the implied guaranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose.
SATO Europe GmbH shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for any
incidental consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, perfor-
mance, or use of this material.
This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copy-
right.
All rights are reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced or issued to third parties in any
form whatsoever without the express permission of SATO Europe GmbH.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© Copyright 2001 SATO Europe GmbH

SATO CX Series Printer
i
Contents
ContentsContents
Contents
CX SERIES PROGRAMMING GUIDE ................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ..............................................................1
THE SATO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE ...........................1
SELECTING PROTOCOL CONTROL CODES ...................... 2
USING BASIC ................................................................... 2
Printing with the Parallel Port ............................................ 3
Printing with the RS232 Port ............................................. 4
ROTATED FIELDS .............................................................. 5
COMMAND DEFAULT SETTINGS ......................................5
PRINTER CONFIGURATION ..............................................6
COMMAND CODE PAGE REFERENCE ...............................7
Bar Codes ........................................................................ 8
Bar Codes, Expansion ....................................................... 13
Bar Codes, Variable Ratio ................................................. 15
Base Reference Point ........................................................ 17
Characters, Custom-Designed .......................................... 19
Character Expansion ........................................................21
Character, Fixed Spacing .................................................. 23
Character Pitch .................................................................24
Character, Proportional Spacing ....................................... 26
Clear Print Job(s) & Memory .............................................27
Continuous Forms Printing ............................................... 28
Copy Image Area .............................................................29
Cutter Command ............................................................. 31
Fonts U, S, M, OA, OB, XU, XS & XM ................................. 33
Fonts WB, WL, XB & XL ..................................................... 35
Form Feed .......................................................................37
Form Overlay, Recall ........................................................ 38
Form Overlay, Store ......................................................... 40
Graphics, Custom .............................................................41
Graphics, PCX .................................................................. 43
Journal Print ..................................................................... 45
Label Size & Start Position ................................................47
Lines and Boxes ................................................................ 48

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SATO CX Series Printer
Line Feed ......................................................................... 50
Off-Line/Pause ................................................................. 52
Postnet ............................................................................. 53
Print Darkness .................................................................. 54
Print Length, Expanded ..................................................... 55
Print Position .................................................................... 57
Print Quantity ................................................................... 59
Print Speed ...................................................................... 60
Repeat Label .................................................................... 61
Replace Data (Partial Edit) ................................................ 62
Reverse Image ................................................................. 64
Rotate, Fixed Base Reference Point .................................... 66
Rotate, Moving Base Reference Point ................................ 68
Sequential Numbering ..................................................... 70
Start/Stop Label ............................................................... 73
Expanded Memory Option Commands .............................. 74
Expanded Memory Function
Fonts, TrueType Recall ...................................................... 75
Expanded Memory Function
Fonts, TrueType Store ....................................................... 77
Expanded Memory Function
Graphics, Custom Recall ................................................... 78
Expanded Memory Function
Graphics, Custom Store .................................................... 80
Expanded Memory Function
Graphics, PCX Recall ........................................................ 82
Expanded Memory Function
Graphics, PCX Store ......................................................... 83
Expanded Memory Function
Initialise ........................................................................... 85
Expanded Memory Function
Area Select ...................................................................... 86
Expanded Memory Function
Status .............................................................................. 87
Two-Dimensional Symbols ................................................ 88

SATO CX Series Printer
iii
Two-Dimensional Bar Codes
Maxicode ......................................................................... 89
Two-Dimensional Bar Codes
PDF417 ............................................................................91
CONFIGURATION COMMANDS .......................................94
Calibrate Sensor .............................................................. 95
Auto Calibration ............................................................... 96
Custom Protocol Command Codes
Download ........................................................................ 97
Label Tear-Off .................................................................. 99
Print Darkness Fine Adjustment ........................................ 100
Print Test Label .................................................................102
Set Print Mode ..................................................................103
Set RS232 Parameters ......................................................104
Set Sensor Type ................................................................ 105
Back Feed Enable ............................................................. 106

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SATO CX Series Printer
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SATO CX Series Printer
1
CX SERIES PROGRAMMING GUIDE
CX SERIES PROGRAMMING GUIDECX SERIES PROGRAMMING GUIDE
CX SERIES PROGRAMMING GUIDE
INTRODUCTION
This section presents the commands that are used with the SATO CX printers
to produce labels with logos, bar codes and alphanumeric data.
The following information is presented in this section:
❒The SATO Programming Language
❒Selecting Protocol Control Codes
❒Using Basic
❒The Print Area
❒Printer Configuration
❒Command Codes
THE SATO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
THE SATO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGETHE SATO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
THE SATO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
A programming language for a printer is a familiar concept to most program-
mers. It is a group of commands that are designed to use the internal intelli-
gence of the printer. The commands, which are referred to as SATO
Command Codes, contain non-printable ASCII characters (such as <STX>,
<ETX>, <ESC>) and printable characters. These commands must be assem-
bled into an organized block of code to be sent as one data stream to the
printer, which in turn interprets the command codes and generates the desi-
red label output. The programmer is free to use any programming language
available to send the desired data to the printer.
The command codes used are based upon “Escape” (1B hexadecimal)
sequences. Typically there are four types of command sequences:
<ESC>{Command}
These commands generally tell the printer to perform a specific action, like
“clear the memory.”
<ESC>{Command} {Data}
Commands with this format tell the printer to perform a specific action which
is dependent upon the following data, like “print X labels”, where the value
for X is contained in the data.
<ESC>{Command} {Parameter}
These commands set the operational parameters of the printer, like “set the
print speed to 3.”

2
SATO CX Series Printer
<ESC> {Command} {Parameter} {Data}
Some commands can contain both Parameter and Data elements, such as
“print a Code 39 symbol containing the data.”
SELECTING PROTOCOL CONTROL CODES
SELECTING PROTOCOL CONTROL CODESSELECTING PROTOCOL CONTROL CODES
SELECTING PROTOCOL CONTROL CODES
Protocol codes are the special control characters that prepare the printer to
receive instructions. For example, the <ESC> character tells the printer that
a command code will follow.
The Protocol Control Code set is made up of six special characters. The Stan-
dard Protocol Control codes are non-printable characters. They can be chan-
ged to printable characters using the Protocol Control code down-load
command. This may be useful on host computers using protocol converters or
in an application where non-printable ASCII characters cannot be sent from
the host. This manual uses the Standard Protocol Control codes for all of the
examples.
The Protocol Control codes must be down-loaded from the host using the
<ESC>LD command (See page 97). Once they are down-loaded, the printer
will not respond to standard protocol codes. The current protocol codes active
in a printer can be determined by printing a Test Label (see CX Series User’s
Guide).
USING BASIC
USING BASICUSING BASIC
USING BASIC
It may be useful to test your printer using a BASIC program on a PC. You may
also write your actual production programs in BASIC. Whatever the reason,
if you will be working in BASIC, some of the following hints may help you get
started:
Control
ControlControl
Control
Character
CharacterCharacter
Character HEX Value
HEX ValueHEX Value
HEX Value Description
DescriptionDescription
Description
STX 02 Start of Data
ETX 03 End of Data
ESC 1B Command Code to follow
ENQ 05 Not used on CX Series
CAN 18 Not used on CX Series
Off-Line 40 Take printer off-line

SATO CX Series Printer
3
1. Set the WIDTH of the output device to 255 characters to avoid au-
tomatically sending <CR> and <LF> characters after every line.
The command string should be continuous and uninterrupted by
<CR> and/or <LF> commands. The examples given in this ma-
nual are printed on separate lines because they will not fit on
one line and do not contain any <CR> and/or <LF> characters.
If these characters are needed, they are explicitly noted by the
inclusion of <CR> and <LF> notations.
2. If you are using the printer’s RS232 interface, it is necessary to set
the COM port on the PC such that the CTS and DSR signals will
be ignored. Send your OPEN “COM” statement in the following
way:
OPEN “COM1:9600,E,8,1,CS,DS” AS #1
This sets the RS232 communication parameters of the host PC’s COM1 port
for 9600 baud, Even parity, 8 Data bits, 1 Stop bit and directing the port to
ignore the CTS and DSR control signals.
3. You may want to minimize keystrokes and program size by assi-
gning the <ESC> character to a string variable since this charac-
ter is used quite often.
The following two examples in BASIC show a typical example using these
hints. Both of these examples use the Standard Protocol codes.
Printing with the Parallel Port
Printing with the Parallel PortPrinting with the Parallel Port
Printing with the Parallel Port
5 REM Parallel Example Identifies the program as a
parallel port print label. The
“REM” prevents this data from
being sent to the printer and
displays it only on the screen.
10 E$=CHR$(27) Sets the “E$” string as an
<ESC> character
20 WIDTH “LPT1:”,255 Sets the width of the output to
255 characters
30 LPRINT E$;"A"; Sends an “<ESC>A” com-
mand code to the LPT1 paral-
lel port
40 LPRINT E$;"H400";E$;"V100";E$;"WL1SATO"; Sends the data “SATO” to be
to be placed 400 dots horizon-
tally and 100 dots vertically on
the label and printed in the
“WL” font.

4
SATO CX Series Printer
50 LPRINT E$;"Q1"; Instructs the printer to print
one label.
60 LPRINT E$; “Z”; Tells the printer that the last
command has been sent. The
printer can now create and
print the job.
Printing with the RS232 Port
Printing with the RS232 PortPrinting with the RS232 Port
Printing with the RS232 Port
5 REM RS232 Example Identifies the program as a
RS232 port print label. The
“REM” prevents this data from
being sent to the printer and
displays it only on the screen.
10 E$=CHR$(27) Sets the “E$” string as an
<ESC> character.
20 OPEN “COM1:9600,N,8,1,CS,DS” AS #1 Opens the COM1 port for out-
put and sets the parameters as
9600 baud, No parity, 8 Data
bits, 1 Stop bit and instructs
the port to ignore the CTS and
DSR control signals.
30 PRINT #1,CHR$ (2); Sends an <STX> (ASCII Code
a decimal “2”) to the printer
instructing it to prepare to
receive a message.
40 PRINT #1,E$;"A"; Sends an “<ESC>A” com-
mand code to Print Port #1
opened by statement 20
above.
50 PRINT #1, E$;"H400";E$;"V100";E$;"WL0SATO"; Sends the data “SATO” to be
to be placed 400 dots horizon-
tally and 100 dots vertically on
the label and printed in the
“WL” font.
60 PRINT #1, E$;"Q1"; Instructs the printer to print a
quantity of one label.
70 PRINT #1, E$; “Z”; Tells the printer that the last
command has been sent. The
printer can now create and
print the job.
80 PRINT #1,CHR$ (3); Sends an <ETX> (ASCII Code
decimal “3”) to the printer tel-
ling it that this is the end of the
message.

SATO CX Series Printer
5
ROTATED FIELDS
ROTATED FIELDSROTATED FIELDS
ROTATED FIELDS
The printers can rotate each print field in 90° increments using the Rotate
command. There are two variations of this command.
•<ESC>% - The field rotates, but the base reference point for the field
remains the same.
•<ESC>R - The field and the base reference point rotate.
The following data stream will rotate the print field but will not change the
base reference point of the field:
<ESC>A<ESC>%1<ESC>V800<ESC>H200<ESC>L0202<ESC>WB1E
<ESC>Q1<ESC>Z<P255>
The following data stream will rotate both the field and the base reference
point for that field:
<ESC>A<D><ESC>R<D><ESC>V0200<ESC>H0100<ESC>L0202<E
SC>P02<ESC>WB1E<ESC>Q1<ESC>Z<P255>
COMMAND DEFAULT SETTINGS
COMMAND DEFAULT SETTINGSCOMMAND DEFAULT SETTINGS
COMMAND DEFAULT SETTINGS
There are some types of commands that must have a value specified before
a label can be printed. If the data stream does not contain these commands,
a “default” value is assumed. The commands and the corresponding default
values are:
Command
CommandCommand
Command Default
DefaultDefault
Default Note
NoteNote
Note
Print Rotation 0° (1)

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SATO CX Series Printer
NOTES:
(1) The settings for these commands will revert to the default value when the
printer receives an <ESC>Z or an <ESC>*.
(2) These values transmitted with these commands will remain in effect until
a new command is received.
PRINTER CONFIGURATION
PRINTER CONFIGURATIONPRINTER CONFIGURATION
PRINTER CONFIGURATION
The CX Series printers are different from other SATO models in that they do
not use DIP switches for printer configuration. Instead, all printer configura-
tion is done via software commands. The parameters that can be configured
are:
❒Sensor Calibration
❒Protocol Codes
❒Print Darkness Range
❒Sensor Type
❒RS232 Parameters
❒Label Tear-Off Position
❒Back-feed Enable/Disable
Because there are no DIP switches to indicate the current printer settings, a
Test Label can be printed that lists the active settings in the printer. This Test
Label lists all of the information a user needs to ascertain the printer configu-
ration. Test Labels can be printed out by sending a command via software
(See page 102) or by using the FEED and On-LINE/Off-Line Indicator buttons
on the control panel (see the CX Series User’s Guide).
Vertical Reference Point 0 (1)
Horizontal Reference Point 0 (1)
Character Pitch 2 (1)
Base Reference Point H=0, V=0 (2)
Character Expansion 1 (1)
Print Darkness 3 (1)
Print Speed 75 mm/second (2)
Command
CommandCommand
Command Default
DefaultDefault
Default Note
NoteNote
Note

SATO CX Series Printer
7
COMMAND CODE PAGE REFERENCE
COMMAND CODE PAGE REFERENCECOMMAND CODE PAGE REFERENCE
COMMAND CODE PAGE REFERENCE
This section contains all the printer Command Codes. The commands must
be sent to the printer in an organized fashion in order for the label(s) to print.
The purpose of this section is to:
Explain the different commands and provide examples of their
usage.
To provide a detailed reference for programming.
Each command begins on a separate page with its own heading. A uniform
layout is used to help you find key information about each command. For
each Command Code in this section, there will be a sample data input stream
to the printer and the expected print output. By studying the examples, you
can learn how to use the particular command within a whole block of printer
code. Pay particular attention to the “Special Notes” with each command to
learn other important information.
The subject commands are highlighted in bold letters in the Reference Sheets.
There are two parts of most, but not all, commands. The first is the command
character which immediately follows the <ESC> code. It is always an upper
case alpha or a special character (such as an “&” or a “%”). It is never a lower
case alpha character. If the command requires additional variable informa-
tion, it is represented by a group of lower case alpha characters immediately
following the command character. For example, if an aaaabb is listed follo-
wing the basic command, the printer will look for six characters immediately
following the command. The first four would represent the value of aaaa and
the next two the value of bb.
The maximum number of characters defined in a parameter is represented by
the number of characters shown in the command structure. For example, a
command followed by an aaaa can have up to four characters. In general,
commands with only one parameter following the command can be entered
without the leading zeroes. In the above example, you could enter either
“809” or “0809”. However, certain commands require the exact number of
matching characters. A command with two parameters listed following the
command code, such as aaaabbbb require the exact number of digits to be
entered. If the value of aaaa is “800” and the value of bbbb is “300”, then
the parameters must be entered as “08000300”. It is recommended that you
make it a practice to always enter leading zeros to prevent any mistakes.

8
SATO CX Series Printer
Bar Codes
Bar CodesBar Codes
Bar Codes
Command Structure
1:3 narrow/wide bar ratio: <ESC>Babbcccd
2:5 narrow/wide ratio: <ESC>BDabbcccd
1:2 narrow/wide bar ratio: <ESC>Dabbcccd
a=BarCodeSymbol
0 Codabar
1Code39
2 Interleaved 2 of 5 (I 2/5)
3 UPC-A / EAN-13
4EAN-8
AMSI
CCode93
EUPC-E
F Bookland
G Code 128
I UCC 128
bb = Number of dots (01-12) for narrow bar and
narrow space
ccc = Bar height in dots (001-600)
d = UCC 128 only. Not used for other bar code ty-
pes
0 No human readable text
1 Human readable at top
2 Human readable at bottom
Example: <ESC>BD103200
Placement: Immediately preceding data to be encoded
Default: None
Command Function
To print bar code images on a label. With this command, the-
re are 13 standard bar code symbologies available to be
printed and three two dimensional symbols (Two Dimensio-
nal bar code symbols (See page 88)).

SATO CX Series Printer
9
Input to Printer
<ESC>A
<ESC>H0025<ESC>V0025<ESC>B103100*CODE 39*
<ESC>H0155<ESC>V0130<ESC>XS*CODE 39*
<ESC>H0025<ESC>V0200<ESC>BD20210045676567
<ESC>H0075<ESC>V0310<ESC>XM45676567
<ESC>H0025<ESC>V0375<ESC>BD30215001234567890
<ESC>H0025<ESC>V0950<ESC>BA03100123455
<ESC>H0095<ESC>V1060<ESC>XS12345
<ESC>H0025<ESC>V1125<ESC>BC03100081234ABCD
<ESC>H0080<ESC>V1240<ESC>XS1234ABCD
<ESC>H0525<ESC>V0025<ESC>B002100A12345B
<ESC>H0565<ESC>V0135<ESC>XS12345
<ESC>H0475<ESC>V0200<ESC>BD303100123456789012
<ESC>H0525<ESC>V0375<ESC>BD4031001234567
<ESC>H0525<ESC>V0550<ESC>DE03100123456
<ESC>H0500<ESC>V0600<ESC>OB0
<ESC>H0533<ESC>V0655<ESC>OB123456
<ESC>H0350<ESC>V0725<ESC>D30315009827721123
<ESC>L0101<ESC>H0320<ESC>V0800<ESC>OB0
<ESC>H0365<ESC>V0878<ESC>OB98277
<ESC>H0505<ESC>V0878<ESC>OB21123
<ESC>H0665<ESC>V0760<ESC>BF0313021826
<ESC>H0680<ESC>V0730<ESC>OB21826
<ESC>H0425<ESC>V1125<ESC>D30315000633895260
<ESC>L0101<ESC>H0395<ESC>V1200<ESC>OB0
<ESC>H0440<ESC>V1278<ESC>OB06338
<ESC>H0580<ESC>V1278<ESC>OB95260
<ESC>H0730<ESC>V1155<ESC>BF0314024
<ESC>H0745<ESC>V1125<ESC>OB24
<ESC>H0325<ESC>V0950<ESC>BG03100>GAB>B789>C12
3456
<ESC>H0435<ESC>V1055<ESC>XSAB789123456
<ESC>Q1<ESC>Z
Note: Carriage Returns and Line Feeds have been added to the
command listing for clarity and should not be included in
the actual data stream.

10
SATO CX Series Printer
Printer Output

SATO CX Series Printer
11
UCC-128 Without Incrementing
<ESC>A
<ESC>H0100<ESC>V0100<ESC>BI071501012345670000
00001
<ESC>Q2<ESC>Z
With Incrementing
<ESC>A
<ESC>H0100<ESC>V0100<ESC>F001+001
<ESC>BI07150101234567000000001
<ESC>Q2<ESC>Z

12
SATO CX Series Printer
Special Notes
1. UPC and EAN bar codes are not affected by the different
types of narrow to wide ratios. Instead, the <ESC>D
command adds descender bars to these codes where
needed to meet UPC specifications. The <ESC>BD com-
mand puts descender bars and human readable text
below the symbol.
2. The Code 128, UCC 128, MSI, and Code 93 bar codes
are not affected by the narrow to wide ratios.
3. The Codabar and Code 39 bar codes are affected by the
Character Pitch command. This command must be pla-
ced before the Bar Code command.
4. Because of their unique characteristics, two-dimensional
symbols are covered separately(See page 88).
5. For UCC128, the FNC1 code is automatically inserted
and the Mod 10 and Mod 103 check digits are automati-
cally calculated.
6. For the MSI bar code, the check digit is not automatically
calculated.
7. To select UPC-A, 11 digits of data is sent. The printer
adds a “0” and automatically generates the check digit.
If 12 digits of data are sent, the printer assumes an EAN-
13 symbol and automatically generates the check digit.
The last digit of the bar code data is a modulo 10 check
digit. If 13 digits of data are sent to the printer, the check
digit is not created and must be supplied by the pro-
grammer. It must be the last character of the 13 digit
string.