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tessl/npm-jsbarcode

JavaScript barcode generator library that creates various types of 1D barcodes with extensive customization options for both browsers and Node.js environments.

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Files

cli.mddocs/

Command Line Interface

JsBarcode provides a comprehensive command-line interface for generating barcode images from the terminal, perfect for batch processing, automation scripts, and server-side barcode generation.

Installation and Setup

The CLI tool is automatically available after installing JsBarcode via npm:

npm install jsbarcode

The CLI executable is registered as JsBarcode and can be used directly:

npx JsBarcode "Hello World!" --output barcode.png

For global installation:

npm install -g jsbarcode
JsBarcode "Hello World!" --output barcode.png

Capabilities

Basic Usage

# Basic syntax
JsBarcode <content> [options]

# Generate barcode with default settings
JsBarcode "Hello World!"

# Specify output filename
JsBarcode "Hello World!" --output mybarcode.png

# Output to stdout
JsBarcode "Hello World!" --stdout

Command Line Options

# Format and content
-f, --format <format>        Barcode format (CODE128, EAN13, etc.)

# Output options
-o, --output <filename>      Output filename (default: barcode.png)
-s, --stdout                 Output PNG data to stdout

# Barcode dimensions
-W, --width <width>          Width of individual bars
-H, --height <height>        Height of the barcode

# Margins and spacing  
-q, --quite <quite>          Empty space (margins) around barcode (maps to 'quite' option, not 'margin')

# Text options
-d, --displayValue           Display text under the barcode
-F, --font <font>            Font family for text
-a, --textAlign <align>      Text alignment (left, center, right)
-p, --textPadding <padding>  Padding between barcode and text
-S, --fontSize <fontsize>    Font size in pixels

# Colors
-b, --background <color>     Background color (maps to 'backgroundColor' in options)
-l, --lineColor <color>      Barcode line color

Format-Specific Generation

Generate barcodes in specific formats with appropriate validation:

# CODE128 barcodes
JsBarcode "Hello123" --format CODE128 --output code128.png

# EAN-13 barcodes (with checksum calculation)
JsBarcode "123456789012" --format EAN13 --output ean13.png

# CODE39 barcodes (alphanumeric)
JsBarcode "PRODUCT123" --format CODE39 --output code39.png

# UPC barcodes
JsBarcode "123456789012" --format UPC --output upc.png

# ITF barcodes (even-length numeric)
JsBarcode "1234567890" --format ITF --output itf.png

# MSI barcodes with checksum
JsBarcode "123456789" --format MSI10 --output msi.png

# Pharmacode
JsBarcode "12345" --format pharmacode --output pharma.png

Usage Examples

Basic Barcode Generation

# Simple barcode with default settings
JsBarcode "Hello World!"

# Custom filename
JsBarcode "Product123" --output product.png

# Specific format
JsBarcode "123456789012" --format EAN13 --output product-ean.png

Customizing Appearance

# Large barcode with custom colors
JsBarcode "LARGE123" \
  --format CODE39 \
  --width 4 \
  --height 200 \
  --background white \
  --lineColor black \
  --output large-barcode.png

# Small compact barcode
JsBarcode "SMALL" \
  --format CODE39 \
  --width 1 \
  --height 50 \
  --quite 5 \
  --output small-barcode.png

# High contrast barcode with text
JsBarcode "HC123456" \
  --format CODE128 \
  --displayValue \
  --fontSize 24 \
  --font Arial \
  --textAlign center \
  --background "#ffffff" \
  --lineColor "#000000" \
  --output high-contrast.png

Batch Processing

# Generate multiple barcodes in a script
#!/bin/bash

products=("123456789012" "234567890123" "345678901234")
for product in "${products[@]}"; do
  JsBarcode "$product" \
    --format EAN13 \
    --output "barcode-${product}.png" \
    --width 2 \
    --height 100 \
    --displayValue
done

# Generate barcodes from a file
while IFS= read -r line; do
  JsBarcode "$line" \
    --format CODE128 \
    --output "barcode-$(echo $line | tr ' ' '-').png"
done < products.txt

Pipeline Integration

# Output to stdout for further processing
JsBarcode "PIPELINE123" --stdout | convert - -resize 200% large-barcode.png

# Generate and immediately process
JsBarcode "DATA123" --format CODE39 --stdout | \
  convert - -bordercolor black -border 10 bordered-barcode.png

# Generate barcode and upload
JsBarcode "UPLOAD123" --stdout | \
  aws s3 cp - s3://mybucket/barcode.png --content-type image/png

Production Workflows

# Retail product barcode generation
JsBarcode "501234567890" \
  --format EAN13 \
  --width 2 \
  --height 100 \
  --displayValue \
  --fontSize 14 \
  --font "Arial" \
  --background white \
  --lineColor black \
  --quite 10 \
  --output retail-product.png

# Industrial asset tag
JsBarcode "ASSET-98765" \
  --format CODE39 \
  --width 2 \
  --height 60 \
  --displayValue \
  --fontSize 10 \
  --font monospace \
  --textAlign center \
  --output asset-tag.png

# Shipping label barcode
JsBarcode "1234567890123456" \
  --format ITF \
  --width 3 \
  --height 120 \
  --displayValue \
  --fontSize 16 \
  --quite 20 \
  --output shipping-label.png

Error Handling and Validation

Exit Codes

# Success
echo $?  # Returns 0 on successful generation

# Error cases
JsBarcode "invalid" --format EAN13 2>&1
# Outputs: "The data is not valid for the type of barcode."
# Exit code: 1

JsBarcode "test" --format INVALID 2>&1  
# Outputs: "Module INVALID does not exist or is not loaded."
# Exit code: 1

Input Validation

# Validate before processing
validate_and_generate() {
  local content="$1"
  local format="$2"
  
  if JsBarcode "$content" --format "$format" 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "Generated barcode for: $content"
  else
    echo "Failed to generate barcode for: $content" >&2
    return 1
  fi
}

# Usage
validate_and_generate "123456789012" "EAN13"
validate_and_generate "INVALID" "EAN13"  # Will fail

Robust Batch Processing

# Process with error handling
#!/bin/bash

generate_barcode_safe() {
  local content="$1"
  local format="$2"
  local output="$3"
  
  if JsBarcode "$content" --format "$format" --output "$output" 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "✓ Generated: $output"
  else
    echo "✗ Failed: $content (format: $format)" >&2
  fi
}

# Process list with error handling
while IFS=, read -r content format filename; do
  generate_barcode_safe "$content" "$format" "$filename"
done < barcodes.csv

Integration Examples

Web Server Integration

# CGI script for web barcode generation
#!/bin/bash
echo "Content-Type: image/png"
echo ""

# Get parameters from query string
content="${QUERY_STRING}"
JsBarcode "$content" --stdout

Docker Integration

FROM node:16-alpine
RUN npm install -g jsbarcode canvas
WORKDIR /app

# Generate barcodes in container
ENTRYPOINT ["JsBarcode"]
# Use Docker to generate barcodes
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/app barcode-gen "Hello Docker!" --output /app/docker-barcode.png

Automation Scripts

# Inventory update script
#!/bin/bash

# Generate barcodes for new inventory items
mysql -u user -p inventory -e "SELECT sku FROM products WHERE barcode IS NULL" | \
while read sku; do
  if [ "$sku" != "sku" ]; then  # Skip header
    barcode_file="barcodes/${sku}.png"
    JsBarcode "$sku" --format CODE128 --output "$barcode_file"
    
    # Update database with barcode file path
    mysql -u user -p inventory -e \
      "UPDATE products SET barcode='$barcode_file' WHERE sku='$sku'"
    
    echo "Generated barcode for SKU: $sku"
  fi
done

System Integration

# Print server integration
generate_and_print() {
  local content="$1"
  local format="$2"
  
  # Generate barcode
  JsBarcode "$content" --format "$format" --stdout | \
  # Convert to appropriate print format
  convert - -density 300 -units PixelsPerInch temp.pdf
  
  # Send to printer
  lp temp.pdf
  rm temp.pdf
}

# Usage
generate_and_print "123456789012" "EAN13"

Performance and Optimization

Optimizing for Batch Operations

# Pre-compile frequently used options
COMMON_OPTS="--width 2 --height 100 --displayValue --background white --lineColor black"

# Batch generation with common options
for code in "${codes[@]}"; do
  JsBarcode "$code" $COMMON_OPTS --output "barcode-${code}.png"
done

# Parallel processing for large batches
printf '%s\n' "${codes[@]}" | \
  xargs -n 1 -P 4 -I {} \
  JsBarcode {} $COMMON_OPTS --output "barcode-{}.png"

Memory Management

# For very large batches, process in chunks
process_chunk() {
  local -a chunk=("$@")
  for code in "${chunk[@]}"; do
    JsBarcode "$code" --stdout > "barcode-${code}.png"
  done
}

# Split large array into chunks
CHUNK_SIZE=100
for ((i=0; i<${#codes[@]}; i+=CHUNK_SIZE)); do
  chunk=("${codes[@]:i:CHUNK_SIZE}")
  process_chunk "${chunk[@]}"
done

docs

cli.md

code128.md

configuration.md

ean-upc.md

index.md

industrial-formats.md

tile.json