UPC. How complex is it?

[soniw23]

Yes its me again i have a ton of questions. I would like to know how is the UPC made up? When was it originated and has anyone every cracked the UPC code. Can it even be cracked

[|3lack|ce]

Universal Product Codes are used on all things sold in the US. It's a system developed in the late 1970's to expedite all things inventory, checkout, the works, and it's a decent setup. There's really no need to hack in - most like products have the same UPC symbol on each item - for example the Dr. Pepper cans next to me all have 07831504, and my Marlboro 100's cigarettes (yes, I need to quit) all have 02885324.

How they work:

The thickness of the bars within the symbol have a set value. The scanner sees the thickness of the individual bars, and most don't care how many bars there are - it returns the values based on what it reads to the computer, which interprets it - "Oh, this is product number 02885324, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, which cost us $X to procure, and we sell at $Y. We have Z amount in stock," ad infinitum, ad nauseum - you get into database usage from there.

There's really no mean trick to deciphering a UPC - just look at the label on the product and you'll always match the UPC.

[soniw23]

lol

[Negative]

I banned you because I don't think members like spending time on answering your questions and getting "lol" as a reply time after time. The answers you've gotten in your 8-post AO quest were valuable, the questions weren't, and your answers were even less... banning members hides those questions and replies, but doesn't hide nice answers! How nice this feature is, I would never be able to describe, were it not that spring is in the land, blossoms are flowering, and flowers are doing their thingy!, and bees are buzzing, and ants are biting your body parts that you don't like being bitten...ahhhhhhhhh.... spring!

[ams2d]

UPC is a type of bar code, either UPC-A or UPC-E. UPC-A has a fixed length of 11 numerics 0-9 plus a checksum (with an optional 2 or 5 character extra set). UPC-E has a fixed length of 7 numerics 0-9 plus a checksum (with an optional 2 or 5 character extra set). So it depends what type of UPC barcode you are looking for information on. There are programs and/or fonts you can get to be able to reproduce barcodes on a printer.

|3lack|ce description on how the scanner interupts them is correct any scanner should read either versions of the UPC barcode.

This site is the home of the UPC org is http://www.uc-council.org/ may provide you with a little more info.

There are many other types of barcodes used for tracking such as Code 39 and I 2 of 5. Even the post office has their own bar code, PostNet, used for mailings.