Symbology Identifiers

If you're using a barcode scanner which has enabled Symbology Identifier prefixes, your data will have a three letter prefix, e.g. ]E0 for EAN-13 barcodes. If a Symbology Identifier is detected, Biip will detect it and use the symbology identifier to only try parsing the payload with the parsers relevant for the specified symbology:

>>> print(biip.parse("]E09781492053743"))
ParseResult(
    value=']E09781492053743',
    symbology_identifier=SymbologyIdentifier(
        value=']E0',
        iso_symbology=ISOSymbology.EAN_UPC,
        modifiers='0',
        gs1_symbology=GS1Symbology.EAN_13
    ),
    gtin=Gtin(
        value='9781492053743',
        format=GtinFormat.GTIN_13,
        prefix=GS1Prefix(value='978', usage='Bookland (ISBN)'),
        company_prefix=None,
        item_reference=None,
        payload='978149205374',
        check_digit=3
    )
)

In this example, we used the ISBN from a book. As ISBNs are a subset of GTINs, this worked just like before. Because the data was prefixed by a Symbology Identifier, Biip only tried the GTIN parser. This is reflected in the lack of both results and error messages from the UPC, SSCC and GS1 message parsers.

Learn more

To learn more about Symbology Identifiers, see the biip.symbology reference documentation.