Various CNC machines differ in their part barcode requirements from the manufacturer, and also in the way they are set up by the machine technician. It is necessary to know those requirements when a part label is configured that contains a file name barcode. 

Some of the commonly used barcode formats are included in Microvellum, but it is impossible to identify all the possible combinations of formats. Therefore, Microvellum provides two other mechanisms for customizing barcodes to match the format required by the machine, or set up by the machine technician. 

One is by creating a custom barcode string in the part label report. This involves setting up a combination of hard strings and field values in the report text component or the report barcode component. If you are using a spreadsheet toolfile, this is the only way to customize a barcode format. 

If you are using an IPP toolfile (Integrated Post Processor), there is another option using the custom string writer described at the end of this article. 

The purpose of this article is to document the commonly used barcode format requirements to use when customizing a label barcode. It will demonstrate some of the typical requirements for a barcode. Be sure to check with your machine technician if you are unsure about the exact format required for your machine!

Spreadsheet Toolfile Face 5 & 6 "Barcode Format" Values:

Manufacturer Barcode Formats:

Barcode Format Notes: 

">" = Single Space

">>" = Double Space

"ZONE" = Run Field name if populated - second column on the toolfile fields tab. 

"ZONE" = Default Normal Zone or Default Mirrored Zone if Run Field is blank - first column of the toolfile fields tab. 

Spreadsheet Toolfile "Horizontal Barcode Format" Values:

Manufacturer Horizontal Barcode Formats:

Once the barcode string modifications have been completed, the next step is to verify that the part label barcode scans. A barcode scanner is usually set up to give an audio confirmation when the barcode has been recognized by the scanner as a valid barcode. This is often a beep or other tone. 

If the scanner does not give the audio confirmation, there are a few possible causes. One is that the font of the label barcode component is not one that is supported by the scanner. Confirm from the scanner documentation that the font and font size for the label barcode is correct. 

Another cause may be that barcode string or formatted data is incorrect, even if the format selected is from the dropdown list, as seen below. This is possible because the format may have been altered from the machine default when the CNC machine was setup. To confirm whether that is the case, you will need to get the specific string format information from the machine technician, and then reproduce the elements of that string in the label barcode. Set the Barcode Format to Custom. 

If the scanner gives the audio confirmation, it is still possible that the CNC machine will not load the correct G-Code file and perform the machining operation. 

There are several reasons for this. One is that the part may not be correctly set. Thus, although the file exists somewhere on the machine, and the barcode was recognized as a valid barcode by the scanner, the machine cannot find the file to load. Correct the path before continuing. 

Another potential cause of the problem may be that the file was not created, or contained an error and was deleted. You will need to resolve the cause of that error before proceeding. 

The list of barcode formats above also applies to IPP Toolfiles. To set a custom string, display the IPP Settings interface after purchasing the module and configuring the toolfile as described elsewhere. Once that is complete, open the IPP toolfile in the interface and click Custom Sequence Strings > Custom Barcode. Enter the custom string there. 

See the article "Integrated Post Processor Toolfiles" for more information in the section for Custom Sequence Strings.