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POSTNET Barcode Problem


-Lisa-

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Hi Everyone,

 

Usually I use Bulk Mailer to generate all my mail files and then use the Postnet Barcode Rule in Desktop to output my barcode which is always successful. The barcode field I use almost always looks something like this:

 

:117295784358:

 

Now, I have a mailhouse providing me with a presorted file directly and their barcode field looks something like this in the data file:

 

07405-1736070

 

I try to use the PostNetBarcode rule straight from FP Desktop as I always do and it computes the checksum however the first digit of the barcode is dropping out so I'm generating 57 digits as opposed to 62. I've checked the data file to confirm that it's not simply an issue with a leading zero and it's not. This is hapening even on Zip Codes that start with a number other than zero.

 

I never have issues when I generate the mail file using my software so I'm at a loss as to what's happening here...

 

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm open to anything at this point....

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Now, I have a mailhouse providing me with a presorted file directly and their barcode field looks something like this in the data file:

 

07405-1736070

 

I try to use the PostNetBarcode rule straight from FP Desktop as I always do and it computes the checksum however the first digit of the barcode is dropping out so I'm generating 57 digits as opposed to 62. I've checked the data file to confirm that it's not simply an issue with a leading zero and it's not.

I'm not sure I understand the issue. How are you getting 57 or more digits from the 10 digits in your example ("07405-1736070")? Is there other data going into the barcode as well? If so, that's an important piece of the puzzle. It might help to post the rule syntax, or the entire job, so that I (or someone else here) can reproduce the problem.

 

Also, how do you know that the first digit is dropping out? Are you scanning the barcode, and if so, with what scanner, and what exactly is the output?

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Hi Dan,

 

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I'm getting a total of 57 bars - not digits - instead of 62 total bars (including frame bars) which is what I should have in a full POSTNET barcode.

 

The barcode scanner I'm using won't even recognize the barcode at all so I had to go by a manual check (thankfully, POSTNET allows for a manual "decoding"). The fact that I only have 57 bars is the first tip-off that something is wrong. The second is the fact that the scanner won't recognize it, and the third is that when I manually "decode" each of the 10 individual digits, the 5 bars that make up each of the digits that should appear in the barcode is not correct. It is always missing the 5 bars that make up the first digit.

 

As I mentioned, I usually run these types of files through my own mailing software and never have an issue computing the POSTNET barcode using the rule in FP Desktop. This time, I'm using someone else's presorted datafile so I'm sure that's a good part of the reason I'm having an issue...but I need to resolve it because I can't re-run the presort.

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What's happening is that the data supplied by the mailhouse already has the checksum digit appended, and FusionPro's MakePostNetBarcode function is appending another one.

 

There are two options to resolve this: One, remove that last character (the checksum) before calling the MakePostNetBarcode function (which will add it back on):

return '<f name="AdvPNET">' + MakePostNetBarcode(Field("Your Field Name").slice(0,-1));

Or Two, strip out the hyphen and simply enclose the result in parentheses (which is really all the MakePostNetBarcode function does after adding the checksum):

return '<f name="AdvPNET">' +"(" + Field("Your Field Name").replace(/-/g,"") + ")";

Either of these should give you what you need.

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Thanks Dan.

 

I actually also spoke with Support about this. It appears the issue lied with the dash that was included in the customer's data field. Once the dash is removed, the rule works just fine.

 

Thanks for your help!

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