Making Data Matrix Barcode in Microsoft Excel

Requirements
Placing Data Matrix Barcode in Excel Using Active Document
Placing Data Matrix Barcode in Excel Using ActiveX
Related Tutorials

An example how to use the ActiveX-based version of StrokeScribe barcode generator to insert a single Data Matrix barcode in Excel. Most of the examples do not require any programming.

If you need a non-ActiveX method or want to insert barcodes in bulk quantities, see the related tutorials.

Requirements

Download and install the barcode generator.

Placing Data Matrix Barcode in Excel Using Active Document

1. Switch to the Insert tab on the Excel Ribbon and click Object.

2. Look for the StrokeScribe Document in the list of available objects:

Inserting a Data Matrix barcode in Excel as an Active Document

3. Right-click the barcode object, select StrokeScribe Control->Properties from the context menu.

Go to the General tab in the barcode properties dialog;
Set Alphabet = DATAMATRIX;
Type any text in the Text field.

Setting up the Data Matrix barcode in Excel

Data Matrix Barcode Customization

There are no many properties to configure. You can set the quiet zone size around the Data Matrix object and choose a barcode color.

Switch to the Code-specific 2 tab in the barcode properties dialog.

Placing Data Matrix Barcode in Excel Using ActiveX

1. Switch to the Developer tab on the Excel Ribbon and click Insert->More Controls as shown below.

2. Select StrokeScribe Control from the list of available objects and press OK:

Inserting a barcode in Excel as an ActiveX

3. Click anywhere on the sheet to insert the barcode object.

4. Activate the Design Mode button on the Developer tab.

4.1. Right-click the barcode object, select Properties or activate the Properties button on the Ribbon:

5. Use the property list to customize your barcode. To create a Data Matix barcode, modify the following properties:

Alphabet = DATAMATRIX
Text = any text to encode.

Linking the Data Matrix Barcode to a Cell

To automatically update the barcode when a cell content changes, use the linked cell technique.

Data Matrix Customization with VBA

An example how to modify the barcode properties from VBA. We will modify the barcode that is already inserted into the sheet as described above.

1. Press Alt+F11 to open VBA window. Double-click the current sheet name in the VBA project tree:

Data Matrix customization - opening the VBA editor

2. Paste the following code into the VBA editor:

Sub CreateDataMatrix()
  StrokeScribe1.Alphabet = DATAMATRIX  ' Creating a Data Matrix barcode
  StrokeScribe1.Text = "ANY TEXT"    ' A text you want to encode in the barcode

  ' Optional parameters:
  StrokeScribe1.QuietZone2D = 1
  StrokeScribe1.FontColor = RGB(0, 0, 255)
  StrokeScribe1.Rotation = 90
End Sub

3. Place the caret into the CreateDataMatrix Sub body, press F5 to run the code, and switch back to the Excel window to see the barcode.

To encode data from a cell, use the following code:

StrokeScribe1.Text = Range("A1")

To encode a byte array, use the following code:

StrokeScribe1.CodePage = -1
Dim b(1 To 3) As Byte
b(1) = &H1
b(2) = &H2
b(3) = &H3
StrokeScribe1.Text = b

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