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Barcode Types

xAssets Barcoding Guide
Barcodes

Barcode Types

This page covers the barcode standards relevant to asset tracking, explains which standard xAssets uses, and helps you determine whether your existing barcodes are compatible.

Barcode Standards Overview

Barcodes come in many standards (also called symbologies). For asset tracking, linear (1D) barcodes are the norm. The choice of standard depends on the length of your identifiers, the characters they contain, and the capabilities of your printers and scanners.

Common barcode standards encountered in asset management:

Standard Type Character Set Typical Use
CODE128 1D linear Full ASCII (numbers, letters, special characters) xAssets default -- general-purpose asset labels
Code 39 1D linear Numbers, uppercase letters, some symbols Older asset labels, government/military
QR Code 2D matrix Full ASCII, binary data Increasingly used on modern assets, may contain URLs
Interleaved 2 of 5 1D linear Numeric only Older inventory systems

CODE128 -- the xAssets Default

xAssets prints barcode labels using the CODE128 standard. CODE128 can encode numbers, letters, and special characters, making it suitable for most asset identifier formats. It produces compact labels and is widely supported by modern scanners.

Important: If you use labels printed from xAssets, your barcode scanners must support CODE128. Most modern scanners do, but verify this before purchasing hardware.

Using Existing Barcodes

If your assets already have barcode labels (for example, manufacturer serial number barcodes or labels from a previous asset management system), you can use those barcodes with xAssets as long as your scanner can read them. Simply enter the existing barcode value into the Barcode or Serial Number field on the asset record.

xAssets does not require the barcode to be in CODE128 format -- the scanner reads the barcode and sends the decoded text to xAssets. The barcode standard only matters for printing new labels from xAssets.

Tip: If you are transitioning from an existing barcoding system, you can import barcode values in bulk using a data transformation rather than scanning each label individually. See the Configuration Guide for details on transformations.

Printing Barcode Labels from xAssets

xAssets can generate barcode labels for printing. Labels are produced in the CODE128 standard and include the barcode value as both a scannable barcode image and human-readable text below it. You will need a printer capable of producing clear, high-resolution output -- thermal label printers produce the best results for durable asset tags.

For details on how barcode values are assigned to different entity types (assets, locations, departments, cost centres, custodians), see Barcode Identification.