How to manually

[Gilli]

This is probably a really stupid question - but is there some magic formula and/or accessible database available, in order that a barcode can be read without using a supermarket style scanner ? ....

..... so, in other words, if I have a barcode, can I find out which product it relates to without going into a shop and making a nuisance of myself ?!

[Mattk]

but barcodes have numbers underneath them.surely they can be enetered somewhere ?

[Sammy Snake]

It depends what you are buying. for example, the barcodes on CD's have a 13 digit EAN number underneath. This is different for each CD, not dependant on which company produces it.

After a quick look, I found this:  barcodes

[Sammy Snake]

oops, it cut me off mid-answer there - which seems to explain how barcodes are arrived at.

I only work with music so can't comment on all products but the above link might explain it a bit better.

[Gilli]

Thanks all - I did think that they were probably store specific, and guessed I was probably being a bit optimistic to imagine a comprehensive database somewhere that us mere mortals could refer to, given the huge no. of variables involved.

I asked because I am doing a very frustrating quiz where I have to idfentify a barcode - i.e. say which product it's for.

If they ARE store specific - and I expect that's correct, I will make a right twit of myself going into Tesco if the barcode in question is a Sainsbury's one !

[adydb]

May I just post a little off topic on this as I study Barcodes....Hmmmm!

But joking aside wondered why they can be read the right way up or upside down?....It's because ALL codes start and finish with the same Two lines so the reader knows what to read first and where to stop.....Therefore if the tin is upside down the reader knows that its reading backwards.

[Famous5]

Surprising as it may seem, but not all products are sold in supermarkets or by shopkeepers using scanners.(Books, CDs and magazines bought by post for example, or Fairtraid goods often sold in church halls and the llike). But they all seem to have barcodes, which can be programmed at the shop or supermarket to give different information to the till eg price, 2 for 1 offers. The barcode for this weeks Radio Times is the same as for last weeks, but I bought them in different shops. Similarly, the barcode for the RT and for Gardeners World both start with the same 6 digits. I guess that tells the till that you are buying a magazine. To sum up, I would think you should be able to find out what an item is without trawling every shop.

[Ralph]

Famous5 is right, barcodes do not change between shops. The first number is apparently the Number System. Foodstuffs seem to be 5, CDs to be 8, etc, etc, but I have found exceptions to this in the 3 minutes I spent looking!

The next 5 digits is the manufacturer number which is assigned by the Uniform Code Council and so should be unique to your particular company.

The next group are assigned by the manufacturer and can be anything they want them to be.

The last number is a checksum to make sure that the computer (till) read the code right. It then goes and looks it up in its database which returns a price and if necessary for the reciept, a brief description.

There probably won't be one big database on the internet which will give you the product from a barcode, at least not for free. The closest thing will be your local supermarket, as long as they sell the item. They won't think you're a nuisance, maybe just a bit strange!

[adydb]

in a pickle.......read the last Two         ;-)