British Royal Mail Mailmark 4-State Barcode C & L
This Symbology is also known as Mailmark 4-State Barcode C, Mailmark 4-State Barcode L
This Barcode Symbology is supported by the following Neodynamic products:- Barcode Professional SDK for .NET Projects
- Barcode Professional for Windows Forms
- BarcodePro Web API for Docker
- Barcode Professional for WPF
- Barcode Professional for ASP.NET (Web Forms, MVC Razor, AJAX)
- Barcode Professional for Reporting Services (CRI & DLL for SSRS (RDL))
- Barcode Professional for .NET STANDARD
- Barcode Professional for Blazor
- ThermalLabel SDK for .NET
Overview
A 4-state Mailmark barcode is a bespoke variant 4-state barcode. It looks like the existing 4-state barcodes that are used for Barcode and CBC option mailings as they use a similar looking 4-state font, however, they differ in that they are made up of encoded content, and the bars within the 4-state Mailmark barcodes do not combine, in groups, to represent alphanumeric characters. They have a defined data content which is compliant with the Royal Mail Mailmark specification.
There are 2 types of 4-state Mailmark barcodes available:
- Barcode L (long) – for Domestic Sorted & Unsorted customers which encodes 26 characters
- Barcode C – Domestic Sorted "Consolidator" customers which encodes 22 characters
Both are variable content contrast barcodes that have a unique identifier (ID) and include Postcode and Delivery Point information.
Identification: The data in the barcode will identify it as a Mailmark 4-state barcode. If there are two Mailmark barcodes on an item, the "consolidator" code will always be given preference.
Encoding: The 4-State Mailmark barcodes are encoded, including error correction, and are no longer a direct character font solution (as per CBC).
Mailmark 4-state barcode Data Contents
Mailmark 4-state barcode C will only be available to Domestic Sorted "Consolidator" customers. The Barcode C Data Content is the following:
| Field Name | Length | Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | 1 | "1" or "2" | |
| Version ID | 1 | "1" | For Mailmark Set to "1" |
| Class | 1 | "1" to "9" | |
| Supply Chain ID | 2 | "00" to "99" | 4-State Consolidator SCIDs are 2 characters |
| Item ID | 8 | "00000000" to "99999999" | |
| Destination Post Code plus DPS | 9 | The PC and DP must comply with a PAF format. | As with Barcode, if there was no DP then a default 9Z to be inserted. 4-State Barcodes require all Postcodes to be of the same length (9 Characters). To achieve this, padding <SPACE> characters will need to be added at the end of the Postcode/DP string prior to the data. If International, then "XY11<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE>" must be used. |
Mailmark 4-state barcode L will only be available to Domestic Sorted & Unsorted customers. The Barcode L Data Content is the following:
| Field Name | Length | Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | 1 | "1" or "2" | |
| Version ID | 1 | "1" | For Mailmark Set to "1" |
| Class | 1 | "1" to "9" | |
| Supply Chain ID | 6 | "000000" to "999999" | Type L SCIDs must be 6 characters. If less than this they should be padded with 0s at the start |
| Item ID | 8 | "00000000" to "99999999" | |
| Destination Post Code plus DPS | 9 | The PC and DP must comply with a PAF format. | As with Barcode, if there was no DP then a default 9Z to be inserted. 4-State Barcodes require all Postcodes to be of the same length (9 Characters). To achieve this, padding <SPACE> characters will need to be added at the end of the Postcode/DP string prior to the data. If International, then "XY11<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE>" must be used. |
How to create British Royal Mail Mailmark 4-State Barcode C & L using Barcode Professional for
- Set the Symbology property to Mailmark4StateC or Mailmark4StateL
- Setting up dimensions and quiet zones:
- Set the Postal4StateTrackerBarWidth property to a value ranging from 0.015 to 0.025 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the Postal4StateTrackerBarHeight property to a value ranging from 0.04 to 0.06 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the Postal4StateBarsSpacing property to a value ranging from 0.015 to 0.025 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the QuietZoneWidth property to 0.08 (Value is expressed in Inches)
- Set the TopMargin and BottomMargin properties to 0.08 (Value is expressed in Inches)
- Set the Code property with the value to encode based on Barcode C or Barcode L Data Content (refer to Tables above). For Barcode C it must be 22 chars, for Barcode L it must be 26 chars.
- Set the Symbology property to Mailmark4StateC or Mailmark4StateL
- Setting up dimensions and quiet zones:
All values for barcode dimensions are expressed in INCHES by default. However, Barcode Professional supports other unit of measurement such as Millimeter, Centimeter, and Mils. For modifying the unit of measurement for barcoding, please set up the BarcodeUnit property as needed.
- Set the Postal4StateTrackerBarWidth property to a value ranging from 0.015 to 0.025 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the Postal4StateTrackerBarHeight property to a value ranging from 0.04 to 0.06 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the Postal4StateBarsSpacing property to a value ranging from 0.015 to 0.025 (Values are expressed in Inches)
- Set the QuietZone property to 0.08 (Value is expressed in Inches)
- Set the Code property with the value to encode based on Barcode C or Barcode L Data Content (refer to Tables above). For Barcode C it must be 22 chars, for Barcode L it must be 26 chars.
Example of a British Royal Mail 4-State Barcode C & L
Symbology property = Mailmark4StateC and Code property = 21B2254800659JW5O9QA6Y will produce the following barcode image:
Symbology property = Mailmark4StateC and Code property = XY11<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE> will produce the following barcode image:
Symbology property = Mailmark4StateL and Code property = 41038422416563762EF61AH8T<SPACE> will produce the following barcode image:
Symbology property = Mailmark4StateL and Code property = 11000000000000000XY11<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE><SPACE> will produce the following barcode image:
