Premier Customer Guide

4. T for Track bar. The DAFT text strings when presented in the Royal Mail 4-state font form the Royal Mail 4-state Mailmark barcode. Figure 36 shows a Full bar followed by a Descender bar, an Ascender bar and a Track bar. All systems that are required to read and extract data from Barcode C and L Mailmark shall have a configurable file that can contain up to 100 different 2 character strings to identify different data fields within the code. The configurable file shall for each of the Barcode C/L Mailmark defined by the 2 character string: • assign the precedence of each Barcode C/L Mailmark string where more than one Barcode C/L Mailmark exists on a Mailing Item; • set the threshold limit for the amount of error correction by the ECC algorithm that is allowed before rejecting the code read; The representation of the 2 character string within the configuration file shall comprise of characters 0 – 9 only. No wild cards will be used. 14.5 Optical specification for all Royal Mail 4-state barcode Mailmark The Mailmark barcode must be printed so that it contrasts with the background, typically black bars on a white background, and the print quality shall be consistent throughout the code. The optical characteristics of the printed Mailmark barcode characters can vary substantially, depending on the varied print processes used to produce them, and the quality of the substrate onto which they are printed. Please make sure that the reflectance and print quality characteristics are maintained within acceptable limits, to ensure the reading process is reliable. 14.6 Print Contrast Ratio (PCR) for all Royal Mail 4-state Mailmark barcodes The PCR is an indication of how well the printed Mailmark barcode on the Mailing Item stands out from the background. For Mailmark barcode mail this must be a minimum of 40%. Positive Contrast or Inverse Printing (Barcode lighter than the Background) is not permitted. 14.7 Symbology, dimensions and tolerances measurement for the Royal Mail 4-state Mailmark barcode When Mailmark barcodes are magnified, their edges may not always be clearly defined, making accurate measurement more difficult. In order to ensure that measurements are within required specifications, it is necessary to define the edges between each light and dark element of the Barcode. The edge of a bar is defined as: “the position where the apparent reflectance is exactly halfway between the minimum and maximum reflectance values of the adjacent bar and space, when viewed using a circular sample aperture of less than 0.6X, where X is defined as the nominal width of the bars in the code”

the 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode is differentiated from other Data Matrix symbols by a defined string of 6 characters in the first part of the data within the code. Each of the Royal Mail products that use the 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode has the following data strings in the first part of the data content: - UPU identifier – 1 Characters (J); - Royal Mail identifier assigned by the UPU – 3 Characters (e.g. GBA, or GB); - Information (Product) type ID – 1 Character; and - Information type ID version number – 1 Character; • each attribute within any 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode is of a fixed and defined length. This is to ensure that any individual attribute can be located by specifying the start character of the attribute with reference to the start of the character string; • the information within the 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode shall comply with the C40 encodation scheme (Character set) as described within ISO 16022. All data that is within the code shall comply with the C40 Basic Character set (Uppercase Alphas, Numerals and SPACE only); • the data within the barcode will not comply with optional message structures that are referenced from ISO 16022, such as ISO 15434 or 15418. The data will be a single continuous string of data with no header, footer or data identifiers included; • for 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode, the information contained in the barcode is not sensitive as much of it can be found within human readable information on the Mailing Item and the 2D data matrix Mailmark Supply Chain ID is not relevant to any other Royal Mail or customer account information. Therefore, there is no requirement for encryption; • all of the attributes must start at a defined point in the data string, so any missing or optional attributes must be filled with the SPACE character unless otherwise stated in the barcode definition. The one exception to this rule is the customer data space that is available in some codes. Any unused data space shall not be filled with space characters as this maximises the amount of error correction employed in the 2D data matrix Mailmark barcode; and • where space characters have been inserted into the code for the purposes of padding out the code as outlined above, these padding characters will not be included in the data fields after the parsing of the barcode information following barcode reading. 14.4 Royal Mail 4-state Mailmark barcode 4-state Mailmark barcodes look like the existing Royal Mail 4-state barcodes that are used for CBC mailings. However they differ from the existing barcodes as they are made up of encoded content, and the bars within the 4-state Mailmark barcode do not combine to represent alphanumeric characters. The encoded content will be output as a string of text that consists of 4 characters:

1. D for Descender bar; 2. A for Ascender bar; 3. F for Full bar; and

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