pattern of wide and narrow bars, printed on paper or a similar material. Acomputer reads the bar code by scanning it with a laser beam or with a wand that contains a light source and a photocell. Bar codes have been utilized to encode many kinds of data, including complete programs for some programmable calculators. The most familiar bar code is the Universal Product Code (see illustration) used with cash registers in supermarkets.
a pattern of wide and narrow bars printed on paper or a similar material. A computer reads the bar code by scanning it with a laser beam or with a wand that contains a light source and a photocell. The most familiar bar code is the Universal Product Code (Figure 26), used with cash registers in supermarkets, but bar codes have been utilized to encode many kinds of data, including complete computer programs. Circular bar codes are sometimes used on boxes or pieces of luggage that may be scanned from many different directions.
series of narrow and wide parallel lines representing a code that can be optically read and interpreted by a bar code scanner. Bar coding is used on envelopes and forms to speed data entry and for automated postal sorting. Bar coding on product labels controls pricing and tracks inventory. Bar codes are also used on boxes and pallets to speed the movement of materials in and out of warehouses.
