README.md

ZXing-C++

ZXing-C++ ("zebra crossing") is an open-source, multi-format linear/matrix barcode image processing library implemented in C++.

It was originally ported from the Java ZXing Library but has been developed further and now includes many improvements in terms of quality and performance. It can both read and write barcodes in a number of formats.

Sponsors

You can sponsor this library at GitHub Sponsors.

Named Sponsors:

• Liftric GmbH
• KURZ Digital Solutions GmbH & Co. KG
• Useful Sensors Inc
• Sergio Olivo

Thanks a lot for your contribution!

Features

• Written in pure C++17 (/C++20), no third-party dependencies (for the library itself)
• Thread safe
• Wrappers/Bindings for:
  • Android
  • C
  • iOS
  • Python
  • WebAssembly
  • WinRT
  • Flutter (external project)

Supported Formats

Linear product	Linear industrial	Matrix
UPC-A	Code 39	QR Code
UPC-E	Code 93	Micro QR Code
EAN-8	Code 128	Aztec
EAN-13	Codabar	DataMatrix
DataBar	DataBar Expanded	PDF417
	ITF	MaxiCode (partial)

[Note:]

• DataBar used to be called RSS.
• DataBar, MaxiCode and Micro QR Code are not supported for writing.
• Building with C++20 (see CMakeLists.txt) changes the behaviour of the library: it then supports multi-symbol and position independent detection for DataMatrix. This comes at a noticable performace cost. To enable this in the Android library, one needs to use at least NDK version 25.

Getting Started

To read barcodes:

As an example, have a look at ZXingReader.cpp.

1. Load your image into memory (3rd-party library required).
2. Call ReadBarcodes() from ReadBarcode.h, the simplest API to get a list of Result objects.

To write barcodes:

As an example, have a look at ZXingWriter.cpp.

1. Create a MultiFormatWriter instance with the format you want to generate. Set encoding and margins if needed.
2. Call encode() with text content and the image size. This returns a BitMatrix which is a binary image of the barcode where true == visual black and false == visual white.
3. Convert the bit matrix to your native image format. See also the ToMatrix<T>(BitMatrix&) helper function.

Web Demos

• Read barcodes
• Write barcodes
• Read barcodes from camera

[Note: those live demos are not necessarily fully up-to-date at all times.]

Build Instructions

These are the generic instructions to build the library on Windows/macOS/Linux. For details on how to build the individual wrappers, follow the links above.

1. Make sure CMake version 3.15 or newer is installed.
2. Make sure a C++17 compliant compiler is installed (minimum VS 2019 16.8 / gcc 7 / clang 5).
3. See the cmake BUILD_... options to enable the testing code, python wrapper, etc.

git clone https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp.git --single-branch --depth 1
cmake -S zxing-cpp -B zxing-cpp.release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build zxing-cpp.release -j8 --config Release

[Note: binary packages are available for/as vcpkg, conan, mingw and a bunch of linux distributions.]