Where does IdentifierDefinition live in the IronBarcode API?

IdentifierDefinition is a class in the IronBarCode namespace, shipped in IronBarCode.dll, with base type Object. It supports parsing structured payloads by describing the rules for a single identifier field.

How does IdentifierDefinition describe the size of a field in C#?

Length gives the fixed width of the field, IsVariableLength flags fields whose length can vary, and MaxLength caps how far a variable field may run. Identifier holds the code that introduces the field and Format describes its expected content.

How do you validate a field value with IdentifierDefinition?

Call the Validator property, a Func of string to ValidationResult, with the candidate value. It returns a ValidationResult that reports whether the value is well formed, which the parser uses while turning a payload into ParsedElement objects.

Class IdentifierDefinition

Base class for defining identifiers in structured data formats, including validation rules.

Inheritance

System.Object

IdentifierDefinition

Namespace: IronBarCode

Assembly: IronBarCode.dll

Syntax

public class IdentifierDefinition : Object

When a structured barcode payload such as a GS1 string needs to be split into named fields, IdentifierDefinition is the rule that describes one of those fields. Structured formats prefix each value with an identifier code that says what the value is and how long it runs, and a definition captures that contract for a single identifier so the parser knows where one field ends and the next begins. A developer works with these definitions when reading or validating application-identifier data rather than treating a barcode as one opaque string.

A definition states the shape of its field. Identifier is the code that introduces the field, Description is a human-readable label for it, and Format describes the expected content. Length is expressed by Length for fixed-width fields, with IsVariableLength flagging fields that can vary and MaxLength capping how far a variable field may run. These together let the parser carve a payload into the right pieces without guessing.

Validation rides on Validator, a Func<string, ValidationResult> that checks a candidate value and returns a ValidationResult reporting whether it is well formed. A developer reads these properties to understand how a field is recognized and constrained, and the resulting ParsedElement objects carry the data each definition extracted. Treat the definition as the read-only description of a field's rules. The checksum and format validation how-to walks through validating structured values, and the output data formats how-to shows how parsed fields are surfaced.

using IronBarCode;

Console.WriteLine($"{definition.Identifier}: {definition.Description}");
ValidationResult check = definition.Validator(candidate);
Console.WriteLine(check.IsValid);

The reading barcodes tutorial covers the wider read and parse workflow.

Constructors

IdentifierDefinition(String, Int32, String, String, Func<String, ValidationResult>)

Initializes a new instance of the IdentifierDefinition class.

Declaration

public IdentifierDefinition(string identifier, int length, string description, string format, Func<string, ValidationResult> validator = null)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	identifier	The identifier string.
System.Int32	length	The length of the data (negative for variable length).
System.String	description	Description of the identifier.
System.String	format	Expected format of the data.
System.Func<System.String, ValidationResult>	validator	Optional validator function. Uses default validator if null.

Properties

Description

Description of the identifier.

Declaration

public string Description { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Format

Expected format of the data.

Declaration

public string Format { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Identifier

Identifier string that this definition represents.

Declaration

public string Identifier { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

IsVariableLength

Gets a value indicating whether this identifier represents variable-length data.

Declaration

public bool IsVariableLength { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

Length

Length of the data element. Negative values indicate variable length.

Declaration

public int Length { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Int32

MaxLength

Maximum length of the data (absolute value of Length property).

Declaration

public int MaxLength { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Int32

Validator

Validator function for this identifier.

Declaration

public Func<string, ValidationResult> Validator { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Func<System.String, ValidationResult>