zint/readme

Zint and libzint 2.3.1
----------------------
Zint is a suite of programs to allow easy encoding of data in any of the wide range of public domain
barcode standards and to allow integration of this capability into your own programs. This version
of Zint is able to encode data in the following formats:

Code 11, Standard Code 2 of 5, IATA Code 2 of 5, Industrial Code 2 of 5, Interleaved Code 2 of 5,
Code 2 of 5 Data Logic, ITF-14, Deutche Post Leitcode, Deutche Post Identcode, UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-2,
EAN-5, EAN-8, EAN-13, UK Plessey, MSI Plessey, Telepen Alpha, Telepen Numeric, Code 39,
Extended Code 39, Code 93, PZN, Code 23, LOGMARS, Codabar, Pharmacode, Code 128, EAN-128, NVE-18,
Code 16k, PDF417, MicroPDF417, Two-Track Pharmacode, PostNet, PLANET, Australia Post 4-State Symbols,
RM4SCC, USPS OneCode, GS1 DataBar, DataBar-14, DataBar Limited, DataBar Extended, DataBar Stacked,
Composite Symbology, Data Matrix, QR Code, Maxicode, Aztec Code, EAN-13, Micro QR,
Korea Post Barcode, HIBC Code 128, HIBC Code 39, HIBC Data Matrix, HIBC PDF417, HIBC MicroPDF417,
HIBC QR Code, HIBC Codablock-F, HIBC Aztec Code, Japanese Postal Code, Code 49, Channel Code, Code One,
Grid Matrix, FIM and Flattermarken.

          ******************************************************************************
          *     PLEASE NOTE: This is just a simple guide to getting Zint working.      *
          *     More complete documentation is available from the project website:     *
          *                      >>>  http://www.zint.org.uk  <<<                      *
          ******************************************************************************

PROJECT STATUS
--------------
Version 2.3.0:
This release features a complete rebuild of QR Code and Micro QR Code functionality which now:

* Automatically detects and adjusts to Japanese characters
* Supports GS1 encoding
* Does not require the qrencode library.

Also new in this release is Grid Matrix support which similarly supports Chinese character encoding.

Version 2.3.1:
Correction of some minor bugs in Code 128 and Data Matrix, addition of --notext option to CLI and
better operation of --scale option which now scales human readable text and MaxiCode.

COMPILING THE CODE
------------------
The CMake Method: (Linux, BSD and Cygwin)
The easiest way to configure compilation is to take advantage of the CMake utilities. You will
need to install CMake first. If no Qt libraries are installed then CMake will not attempt to
build the Zint Barcode Studio GUI. Similarly if libpng is not detected then CMake will not attempt
to compile PNG image support.

Once CMake is installed follow these steps:

	cd build
	cmake ..
	make
	make install

The command line program can be accessed by typing

	zint {options} -d {data}

Notice that the data needs to be entered after all other options. Any options given after the
data will be ignored. The GUI can be accessed by typing

	zint-qt

The MakeFile Method:
(Linux, BSD and MinGW)
MakeFiles are provided for some systems although this method is depreciated. To compile using
this method simply run:

	make
	make install

If compiling on BSD, RHEL or CentOS substitute MakeFile.bsd for the default MakeFiles.
If compiling on MinGW substitute MakeFile.mingw for the default MakeFiles.

MS Windows:
Compiling on Cygwin and MinGW are covered above. Compiling with MS Visual Studio is more involved!
Full instructions are currently not available but will be placed on the project website as soon
as possible.

Mac OSX:
Efforts are currently under way to allow compiling on OSX using the CMake method. If you have
any success with compiling Zint on OSX then please get in touch.

THINGS TO DO
------------
If you are interested in improving this package then here are a few ideas.

Backend
-------
	* Create filters for more output file formats.
	* Add ECI character support to allow encoding in more languages than are covered
	  by the Latin-1 character set.
	* The code was developed to be easy to understand rather than efficient so may benefit
	  from some memory optimisation for embedded systems.

GUI Frontend
------------
	* Allow copying of generated barcodes to the clipboard with a "Copy" button.
	* Allow dragging and dropping to external apps.

Packaging
---------
	Binary packages are needed for distribution in the following formats
	* RPMs for various Linux distros (.spec file now available thanks to Radist)
	* Install binaries for Mac OSX

Translations
------------
	Documentation is currently only in English. If you have the knowledge and the
	time please consider translating into other languages.

Research
--------
	The following standards would be welcomed in Zint but the full documentation has
	not yet been found.
	* DPD Code
	* Italian Postal Code


CONTACT ME
----------
The home of libzint is:

	http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/zint

and the home for information about Zint is:

	http://www.zint.org.uk

I am keen to hear your ideas / recieve bug reports at robin@zint.org.uk

Thanks for your interest in libzint.
Happy encoding.

Robin.