Storing Barcode values/Images in sql server 2005

Question

One my web application uses barcodes.... When i add a new item i am generating a barcode value which is converted to a barcode image... My question

• What would you suggest storing barcode values or barcode images in sql server 2005?

• Which one would you suggest?

EDIT:

• What Type of barcode you would suggest using with an asp.net application?

Linear Barcode (Code 128) is my choice.. Any other suggestion....

Answer 1

Without knowing your specific requirements, I would store just the value, especially if you can "regenerate" the image from the corresponding value at a later date (your phrase "i am generating a barcode value which is converted to a barcode image" seems to suggest that you can repeat that generation process, but I could well be wrong). Getting qualitative information from an image will require some of sort of OCR process, presumably.

Answer 2

I would probably suggest storing the value, since that is only a series of characters, right? (numbers/letters). But if you really need to be able to reproduce the barcode image again, you might want to store the image in e.g. a binary field.

Answer 3

It would be best to store the actual number of the barcode, as the barcode image is generated from the number, no point in storing the image as that will bloat up the database with binary images.

There is an excellent barcode generation program that can generate images for all types of barcodes and can be found here on CodeProject.

Hope this helps, Best regards, Tom.