BarCode WbeService...

BarCode WbeService

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The Article is come form codeproject website

Web address - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cpp/wsbarcode.aspx

Introduction

Some days ago,?I was asked to find a solution to create a barcode to be printed on documents produced by a web application. After trying to find some components that produced barcodes,?I soon realized that their price was very high when dealing with an unlimited number of clients licences. I needed an alphanumeric barcode representation and the preferred barcode representation was Code39.

In order to expose this service to the maximum of clients while delivering a standardized solution,?I thought of writing a web service that would generate the barcode dynamically and return it streamlined as an image.

This article describes the solution that I’ve implemented.

The Barcode Generation

Instead of writing a code39 barcode generator that mimics the algorithm for that barcode representation,my idea was to use one of the freely available barcode fonts to produce the barcode (http://www.squaregear.net/fonts/free3of9.shtml).

So my approach was simple:

1. Load the Barcode Font

2. Create an image object

3. Draw a string into that image using a code39 barcode font

4. Return that image serialized.

Using the Code39 Font...

The way to use a font in windows is simple,all you have to do is install it (by copying it to the c:/WINDOWS/Fonts - under XP) and just use it.

Unfortunately,the ASP.NET graphic context does not allow you to use any font? (free3of9.ttf for example) because .NET GDI only uses/enumerates OpenType fonts. So what you have to do is create a temporary font object.

This method is very straighforward,as you can see in the code sample below:

// Create a private font collection

objectPrivateFontCollection pfc=new PrivateFontCollection();

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// Load in the temporary barcode font

pfc.AddFontFile("c://barcodefont//free3of9.ttf");

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// Select the font family to use

FontFamily family=new FontFamily("Free 3 of 9",pfc);

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// Create the font object with size 30

Font c39Font=new Font(family,30);

With this easy way,you get a font object mapped to the barcode font so that you can create the barcode.

Creating the Barcode Image Container

The image creation is very simple. .NET classes allow you to generate images on the fly. So,in order to create a image large enough to accommodate the barcode,first you need to determine the size that will be occupied by the code string drawing,using the barcode font.

You can do it using the MeasureString method:

// Create a temporary bitmap...

Bitmap tmpBitmap = new Bitmap(1,1,PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

objGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(tmpBitmap);

// measure the barcode size...

SizeF barCodeSize=objGraphics.MeasureString(barCodeString,c39Font);

The returned type barCodeSize has the width,and the height that will be occupied by the code string drawing.

Draw the Barcode

So now we need to draw the barcode. We will use the code39 barcode font object instantiated earlier.

Assuming the the barcode variable holds the barcode string,the required code is:

// Draw the barcode

objGraphics.DrawString(barCode,Code39Font,new solidBrush(Color.Black),0,0);

Please note that usualy the code39 barcodes are represented concatenating? the char (*) at the beginning and end of the barcode string…meaning that code 123456 has to be written as *123456*. But I will leave that to your experience.

Serialize/Deserialize the Image

In order to return the image from the web service method,you now have to serialize the image,meaning that your web method has to return an array of bytes.

This way,you have to create a stream from the bitmap image,and return it as an array of bytes. Once again,the .NET framework makes it easy for us do perform that task:

// Create stream....

MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();

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// save the image to the stream

objBitmap.Save(ms,ImageFormat.Png);

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//return an array of bytes....

return ms.GetBuffer();

On the other end (the client side) when you are consuming the web service,you need to be able to deserialize the array of bytes back to the image:

Byte[] imgBarcode;

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// Call the webservice to create the barcode...

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// Create a stream....

MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream(imgBarcode);

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// Recreate the image from the stream Bitmap bmp=new Bitmap(memStream);

A final note about the sample code attached…

After creating the barcode web app that will be your webservice,you need to configure the web.config file in order to specify where your barcode font is located. Search for the following section and make your changes accordingly.

<appSettings>

?? <add key="BarCodeFontFile" value="c:/temp/font/FREE3OF9.TTF" />

?? <add key="BarCodeFontFamily" value="Free 3 of 9" />???????

</appSettings>

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--the below is I changed the program to vb.net code.

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-web service class:? BarCode39.vb

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Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic

Imports System

Imports System.Drawing

Imports System.Drawing.Imaging

Imports System.Drawing.Text

Imports System.IO

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

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Namespace Barcodes

??? Public Class BarCode39

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??????? Private Const lint_ItemSepHeight = 3

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??????? Private lint_TitleSize As SizeF = SizeF.Empty

??????? Private lint_BarCodeSize As SizeF = SizeF.Empty

??????? Private lint_CodeStringSize As SizeF = SizeF.Empty

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??????? Private lstg_TitleString As String

??????? Private lfnt_TitleFont As Font

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??????? Sub New()

??????????? lfnt_TitleFont = New Font("Arial",10)

??????????? lfnt_CodeStringFont = New Font("Arial",10)

??????? End Sub

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?? ?????Public Property Title() As String

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lstg_TitleString

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As String)

??????????????? lstg_TitleString = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Public Property TitleFont() As Font

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lfnt_TitleFont

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As Font)

??????????????? lfnt_TitleFont = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Private lbool_ShowCodeString As Boolean

??????? Private lfnt_CodeStringFont As Font

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??????? Public Property ShowCodeString() As Boolean

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lbool_ShowCodeString

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As Boolean)

??????????????? lbool_ShowCodeString = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Public Property CodeStringFont() As Font

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lfnt_CodeStringFont

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As Font)

??????????????? lfnt_CodeStringFont = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Private lfnt_C39Font As Font

??????? Private lint_C39FontSize As Decimal = 12

??????? Private lstg_C39FontFileName As String

??????? Private lstg_C39FontFamilyName As String

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??????? Public Property FontFileName() As String

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lstg_C39FontFileName

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As String)

??????????????? lstg_C39FontFileName = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Public Property FontFamilyName()

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lstg_C39FontFamilyName

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value)

??????????????? lstg_C39FontFamilyName = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Public Property FontSize() As Decimal

??????????? Get

??????????????? Return lint_C39FontSize

??????????? End Get

??????????? Set(ByVal value As Decimal)

??????????????? lint_C39FontSize = value

??????????? End Set

??????? End Property

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??????? Private ReadOnly Property Code39Font() As Font

??????????? Get

??????????????? If lfnt_C39Font Is Nothing Then

??????????????????? Dim pfc As PrivateFontCollection = New PrivateFontCollection

??????????????????? pfc.AddFontFile(lstg_C39FontFileName)

??????????????????? Dim family As FontFamily = New FontFamily(lstg_C39FontFamilyName,pfc)

??????????????????? lfnt_C39Font = New Font(family,lint_C39FontSize)

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??????????????? End If

??????????????? Return lfnt_C39Font

??????????? End Get

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??????? End Property

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??????? Public Function GenerateBarcode(ByVal barcode As String) As Bitmap

??????????? Dim bcodeWidth As Integer = 0

??????????? Dim bcodeHeight As Integer = 0

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??????????? Dim bcodeBitmap As Bitmap = CreateImageContainer(barcode,bcodeWidth,bcodeHeight)

??????????? Dim objGraphics As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bcodeBitmap)

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??????????? objGraphics.FillRectangle(New SolidBrush(Color.White),New Rectangle(0,bcodeHeight))

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??????????? Dim vpos As Integer = 0

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??????????? If lstg_TitleString <> "" Then

??????????????? objGraphics.DrawString(lstg_TitleString,lfnt_TitleFont,New SolidBrush(Color.Black),XCentered((CInt(lint_TitleSize.Width)),bcodeWidth),vpos)

??????????????? vpos += ((CInt(lint_TitleSize.Height)) + lint_ItemSepHeight)

??????????? End If

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??????????? objGraphics.DrawString(barcode,XCentered(CInt(lint_BarCodeSize.Width),vpos)

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??????????? If lbool_ShowCodeString Then

??????????????? vpos += ((CInt(lint_BarCodeSize.Height)))

??????????????? objGraphics.DrawString(barcode,lfnt_CodeStringFont,XCentered(CInt(lint_CodeStringSize.Width),vpos)

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??????????? End If

??????????? Return bcodeBitmap

??????? End Function

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??????? Private Function CreateImageContainer(ByVal barcode As String,ByRef bcodeWidth As Integer,ByRef bcodeHeight As Integer)

??????????? Dim objGraphics As Graphics

??????????? Dim tmpBitmap As Bitmap = New Bitmap(1,1,PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb)

??????????? objGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(tmpBitmap)

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??????????? If lstg_TitleString <> "" Then

??????????????? lint_TitleSize = objGraphics.MeasureString(lstg_TitleString,lfnt_TitleFont)

??????????????? bcodeWidth = CInt(lint_TitleSize.Width)

??????????????? bcodeHeight = CInt(lint_TitleSize.Height + lint_ItemSepHeight)

??????????? End If

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??????????? lint_BarCodeSize = objGraphics.MeasureString(barcode,Code39Font)

??????????? bcodeWidth = Max(bcodeWidth,CInt(lint_BarCodeSize.Width))

??????????? bcodeHeight += CInt(lint_BarCodeSize.Height)

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??????????? If lbool_ShowCodeString Then

??????????????? lint_CodeStringSize = objGraphics.MeasureString(barcode,lfnt_CodeStringFont)

??????????????? bcodeWidth = Max(bcodeWidth,CInt(lint_CodeStringSize.Width))

??????????????? bcodeHeight += lint_ItemSepHeight + CInt(lint_CodeStringSize.Height)

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??????????? End If

??????????? objGraphics.Dispose()

??????????? tmpBitmap.Dispose()

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??????????? Return (New Bitmap(bcodeWidth,bcodeHeight,PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))

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??????? End Function

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??????? Private Function Max(ByVal v1 As Integer,ByVal v2 As String)

??????????? If v1 > v2 Then

??????????????? Return v1

??????????? Else

??????????????? Return v2

??????????? End If

??????? End Function

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??????? Private Function XCentered(ByVal localWidth As Integer,ByVal globalWidht As Integer) As Integer

??????????? Return ((globalWidht - localWidth) / 2)

??????? End Function

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??? End Class

End Namespace

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-Barcode Service:?? BarCodeService.asmx

Imports System.Web

Imports System.Web.Services

Imports System.Web.Services.Protocols

Imports System

Imports System.Collections

Imports System.ComponentModel

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Diagnostics

Imports System.Drawing

Imports System.Drawing.Imaging

Imports System.IO

Imports System.Configuration

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<WebService(Namespace:="http://tempuri.org/")> _

<WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo:=WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)> _

<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.DesignerGenerated()> _

Public Class BarCodeService

???? Inherits System.Web.Services.WebService

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??? <WebMethod()> _

??? Public Function HelloWorld() As String

??????? Return "Hello World"

??? End Function

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??? <WebMethod()> _

?? Public Function Code39(ByVal code As String,ByVal barSize As Integer,ByVal showCodeString As Boolean,ByVal title As String) As Byte()

??????? Dim c39 As Barcodes.BarCode39 = New Barcodes.BarCode39

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??????? 'Create stream....

??????? Dim ms As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream()

??????? c39.FontFamilyName = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Get("BarCodeFontFamily")

??????? c39.FontFileName = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Get("BarCodeFontFile")

??????? c39.FontSize = barSize

??????? c39.ShowCodeString = showCodeString

??????? If title + "" <> "" Then

??????????? c39.Title = title

??????? End If

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??????? Dim objBitmap As Bitmap = c39.GenerateBarcode(code)

?????? ?objBitmap.Save(ms,ImageFormat.Png)

??????? 'return bytes....

??????? Return ms.GetBuffer()

??? End Function

End Class

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-Web Client Call Web Service Generate Barcode

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?? Protected Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object,ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click

??????? Dim barCodeGen As New BarCodeLive.BarCodeService

??????? barCodeGen.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials

??????? Dim barsize As Integer

??????? barsize = System.Convert.ToInt32(Me.TextBox_BarCodeFontSize.Text)

??????? Dim imgBarcode As System.Byte() = barCodeGen.Code39(Me.TextBox_BarCodeString.Text,barsize,Me.CheckBox_TitleShow.Checked,Nothing)

??????? Dim memStream As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream(imgBarcode)

??????? Dim xx As New System.Drawing.Bitmap(memStream)

??????? '? xx.SetPixel(10,20,System.Drawing.Color.Empty)

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??????? Dim lstg_file As String = Page.Server.MapPath("BarcodeTemp/")

??????? Dim lstg_file_name As String = Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd") + ".png"

??????? Dim lstg_fn As String = lstg_file + lstg_file_name

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??????? xx.Save(lstg_fn)

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??????? Me.Image_BarCode.ImageUrl = "BarcodeTemp/" & lstg_file_name & ""

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??? End Sub

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The Result: