zint/readme

Zint and libzint 2.2
--------------------
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, Codablock-F, Micro QR,
Korea Post Barcode, HIBC Code 128, HIBC Code 39, HIBC Data Matrix, HIBC PDF417, HIBC MicroPDF417,
HIBC QR Code, HIBC Codablock-F, Japanese Postal Code, Code 49, Channel Code, Code One, FIM and
Flattermarken.

Full documentation is available at project website: http://www.zint.org.uk


PROJECT STATUS
--------------
With the release of version 2.2 of this project the status will change to a "maintainance mode".
This means that for the near future I do not expect to be adding new features and development work
will consist of fixing bugs when they appear. In the long term the only advances planned are the
addition of six more public domain barcode standards: Dot Code A, PosiCode, SuperCode, DataStrip,
Aztec Mesas and Grid Matrix. If you would like to see this process accelerated then please consider
donating to this project at http://sourceforge.net/project/project_donations.php?group_id=199350

If you would like to see this project expanded in other ways then your suggestions are very
welcome. Contact details are given below. If you want to expand it yourself there are some
ideas below and I am very happy to answer questions regarding the code or the barcode standards
which are supported.


COMPILING THE CODE
------------------
This package includes files for compiling in a number of ways depending on what functionality you
want and what platform you are targeting. Zint has been tested on both 32 and 64-bit systems.
It does not use any unusual memory manipulation and so should easily port to a wide range of hardware.

GNU/Linux and OpenBSD:
To compile the Zint library for you will need libpng and libz pre-installed. You can compile
with or without QR Code support. If you want QR Code support you will need qrencode installed. Then:

	make
	make install

If you do not want QR Code support:

	make zint_noqr
	make install

For some distributions it may be necessary to run

	ldconfig

as root before libzint can be used.

To install the GUI interface you will need Qt4 and cmake. Follow these steps:

	cd build
	cmake ..
	make -j2
	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

MS Windows:
On the Windows platform you have the choice of compiling with MinGW or with the native compiler,
Microsoft Visual C++. To compile with MinGW follow the instructions for Linux above substituting
the MinGW makefiles for the default Linux ones. For compiling with MS Visual Studio open the
libzint.vcproj project file in the win32 folder and compile in the usual way.

Mac OSX:
To compile on Macintosh you will need Qt4 and cmake. Follow the steps for the GUI interface
as given in the Linux section above.


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 MS Windows (MSVC and MinGW make files now included)
	* 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.