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Introduction
EAN-8 is the short version of EAN-13,
the same as UPC-E vs. UPC-A. While they looks very similar, some
differences exist. UPC-E does not explicitly encode the first
digit(NS) while EAN-8 encodes all 8 digits. If you are using Morovia
UPC/EAN/Bookland font to draw a EAN-8 symbol, you must take this
as note. That also means that EAN-8 is not compatible with UPC-E
from encoding and decoding perspective. Moreover, though a UPC-E
number can be converted back to UPC-A, this is not the case for
EAN-8. There are no defined method for conversions between EAN-13 to
EAN-8.
An EAN-8 number contains 7 digits of message plus 1 check digit.
The first two or three digits identify the numbering authority; the
remaining 4 or 5 digits identify the product. You must apply the
EAN-8 number separately from the numbering agency responsible for
your country or region.
Check Digit Calculation
The EAN-8 check digit is calculated using modulo 10 method. Here
outlines the steps to calculate EAN-8 check digit:
- From the right to left, start with odd position, assign the
odd/even position to each digit.
- Sum all digits in odd position and multiply the result by 3.
- Sum all digits in even position.
- Sum the results of step 3 and step 4.
- Divide the result of step 4 by 10. The check digit is the
number which adds the remainder to 10.
Encoding
The encoding of an EAN-8 symbol uses all three two character set.
An EAN-8 symbol has the following structure:
- Start guard bars, always with a pattern bar+space+bar.
- Two number system characters, encoded with character set A.
- The following two characters, encoded with character set A.
- Center guard bars, with a pattern space+bar+space+bar+space.
- Last three characters, encoded in character set C.
- Stop guard bars, always with a pattern bar+space+bar.
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