How to write Unicode and International Languages Barcodes in C

Unicode support varies by barcode type. Only selected barcode formats natively support Unicode and directly store Unicode text without encoding workarounds. Aside from the DataMatrix encoding we've done above, here's a quick list of encoding types that support Unicode.

Note the difference in the number of characters you can fit with each barcode encoding type. For example, using the string above with PDF417 won't work, as it contains more than 500 Unicode characters. In this case, you need to implement a workaround to make it work. As such, it's important to note the length of your string.

The barcode types listed above are all available from BarcodeWriterEncoding.

For a complete list of all available barcode encoding types from BarcodeWriterEncoding, please refer to our supported barcode formats documentation.

Best Practices for Unicode Barcode Generation

When working with Unicode barcodes, consider these important factors:

1. Character Encoding: Always ensure your source text is properly UTF-8 encoded before generating barcodes
2. Scanner Compatibility: Verify that your barcode scanners support Unicode decoding for your chosen barcode type
3. Data Size: Monitor the byte size of your Unicode text, as characters like Chinese or Arabic typically require 2-3 bytes each
4. Error Correction: For critical applications, use higher error correction levels to ensure reliable scanning

For QR Code generation specifically, check out our comprehensive C# QR Code Generator tutorial which includes advanced Unicode handling techniques.

Aside from writing in Unicode, IronBarcode also supports reading Unicode barcodes. To read the barcode, we use the Read method from the BarcodeReader class with the provided parameter being the Unicode barcode.

Here's a quick example using the Unicode barcode generated from above:

:path=/static-assets/barcode/content-code-examples/how-to/writing-in-unicode-read.cs

using IronBarCode;
using System.IO;

// Reading the Unicode barcode
BarcodeResults result = BarcodeReader.Read("Unicode.jpeg");

// Output the text value from the barcode to a txt file
File.WriteAllText("text.txt", result[0].Text);

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

Note that although you can output the text value to a terminal with Console.WriteLine, the terminal doesn't natively support displaying Unicode characters and requires additional setup. In this example, we directed the output to a txt file instead.

Output