BARCODE(3)

✨ BARCODE(3) — the barcode library, bestie edition ✨

okay so real talk: this is the manual for the GNU barcode library, aka the thing that makes bar codes happen. it lives in section 3 of the manual (that's the "library functions" section, iykyk) and its manual name is literally BARCODE. we're gonna go through the whole thing together, no skips, no shortcuts, because you deserve the full lore 💖

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🌸 NAME 🌸

barcode</purgle> — a library to create and print bar codes

yes bestie, that's the whole name section. short, sweet, iconic. it's giving "I don't need a long intro, my work speaks for itself" 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

first things first, you gotta pull in the header or nothing works:

#include <barcode.h>

and here are all the functions, exactly as they're declared, no edits, no vibes-based rewriting:

struct Barcode_Item *Barcode_Create(char *text);
int Barcode_Delete(struct Barcode_Item *bc);
int Barcode_Encode(struct Barcode_Item *bc, int flags);
int Barcode_Print(struct Barcode_Item *bc, FILE *f, int flags);
int Barcode_Position(struct Barcode_Item *bc, int wid, int hei, int
xoff, int yoff , double scalef);
int Barcode_Encode_and_Print(char *text, FILE *f, int wid, int hei, int
xoff, int yoff, int flags);
int Barcode_Version(char *versionname);

that's seven functions. seven little icons. count them, love them, use them 🎀

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so the barcode family of library functions exists to make creating bar-code printouts easy. that's the whole mission statement. and heads up: everything below was extracted from the texinfo file, which is the preferred source of information — so if you ever need the deep lore, that's where it lives.

the functions in the barcode library are declared in the header file barcode.h. here's what each one actually does, one by one, no crumbs left behind 🍓

struct Barcode_Item *Barcode_Create(char *text);

this one creates a brand-new barcode object to deal with a specified text string. if it fails, you get NULL back (sad). if it succeeds, you get a pointer to a barcode data structure (slay). that's it, that's the function ✨

int Barcode_Delete(struct Barcode_Item *bc);

this destroys a barcode object. and the return value? always 0. always success. it literally cannot fail, it's the most confident function in the library, main character energy fr fr 💅

int Barcode_Encode(struct Barcode_Item *bc, int flags);

this encodes the text that's chilling inside the bc object. now, the valid flags: the encoding type (other flags are ignored) and BARCODE_NO_CHECKSUM (other flags are silently ignored — yes, silently, the function is not gonna tell you, it's just gonna ignore them 🙈). if the flag argument is 0, then bc->flags will apply instead.

returns 0 on success, -1 if something goes wrong. after a successful run, the data structure will host the description of the bar code and its textual representation. after a failure, the error field will include the reason of the failure — so check that field, bestie, it's literally telling you what went wrong.

int Barcode_Print(struct Barcode_Item *bc, FILE *f, int flags);

this prints the bar code described by bc to the specified file. valid flags are the output type, BARCODE_NO_ASCII and BARCODE_OUT_NOHEADERS. other flags get ignored, no comment.

and the precedence thing, pay attention: if any of these flags is zero, it will be inherited from bc->flags, which therefore takes precedence. so bc->flags is the boss here, periodt.

returns 0 on success and -1 in case of error (with bc->error set accordingly, obviously). on success, the bar code gets printed to the specified file — and that file won't be closed after use. it's not yours to close here, okay? don't be rude.

int Barcode_Position(struct Barcode_Item *bc, int wid, int hei, int xoff, int yoff, double scalef);

this function is a shortcut to assign values to the data structure. that's it. it's the "I don't have time to set five fields individually" function. efficient queen 👑

int Barcode_Encode_and_Print(char *text, FILE *f, int wid, int hei, int xoff, int yoff, int flags);

this one deals with the whole life of the barcode object by calling the other functions for you. it uses all the specified flags. born, encoded, printed — a full character arc in one function call, we love a self-sufficient icon 🦋

int Barcode_Version(char *versionname);

returns the current version as an integer number, formatted like this:

major * 10000 + minor * 100 + release

so for example, version 1.03.5 comes back as 10305, and version 0.53 comes back as 5300. math girlies rise 🧮

if the argument is non-null, it will be used to return the version number as a string. and btw, the same info is available from two preprocessor macros: BARCODE_VERSION (the string) and BARCODE_VERSION_INT (the integer number). two ways to get the same tea, pick your fighter 💜

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⚠️ heads up bestie: those "other flags are silently ignored" moments in Barcode_Encode and Barcode_Print are real. the library will not warn you. it will simply not do the thing. so keep your flags tight and your bc->flags tighter 💖

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and that's the whole page, you made it to the end, I'm so proud 🥹 this manual came from the 4th Berkeley Distribution, dated October 1999 — yes, 1999, it's vintage, it's retro, it's lowkey older than us and still printing bar codes flawlessly. absolute legend behavior. go forth and encode responsibly, bestie 🎀✨💅