Introduction to Reduced Space Symbology
The Uniform Code Council (UCC) has been working to develop standards and applications for space-constrained products that previously could not be bar coded. One such standard is the Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) family of bar codes. RSS bar codes are being heavily used by the medical industry where they will play an important role in increasing patient safety through reduction in drug administration errors.
Types of RSS
There are several types of linear RSS symbols: RSS-14, RSS Limited, and RSS Expanded. RSS-14 encodes the full 14-digit EAN.UCC item identification in a linear symbol. RSS Limited encodes a 14-digit EAN.UCC item identification with Indicator digits of zero or one in a linear symbol for use on small items. RSS Expanded encodes EAN.UCC item identification plus supplementary AI element strings such as weight and "best before" date in a linear symbol.
Other variations include RSS-14 Truncated and RSS-14 Stacked. RSS-14 Truncated is a shorter (not as tall) version of RSS-14 that can be used where height is a constraint and is best suited for scanning by handheld scanners. RSS-14 Stacked is a variation of the RSS-14 symbology that is stacked in two rows and is used when the normal symbol would be too wide for the application. Any member of the RSS family can be printed as a stand-alone linear symbol or as a Composite symbol with an accompanying 2D Composite Component printed directly above the RSS linear component.
Features and Characteristics RSS features:
a. Data compaction: Each member of the family has data compaction methods optimized for the data strings that they will encode.
b.Component linkage: Each RSS symbol contains a linkage flag which, if set, indicates to the reader that a 2D Composite Component is adjacent to the RSS family linear component.
c. UCC/EAN-128 emulation: Readers set to the UCC/EAN-128 emulation mode transmit the data encoded within the RSS family symbol as if the data were encoded in one or more UCC/EAN-128 symbols.
The characteristics of the RSS family are:
a. Encodable character set: RSS-14 and RSS Limited: digits 0 through 9 RSS Expanded: upper and lowercase letters, digits, and 20 selected punctuation characters in addition to the special UCC/EAN function character, FNC1
b. Code type: Continuous, linear bar code symbology
RSS-14
RSS-14 Truncated
RSS Limited
RSS-14 Stacked
RSS-14®
Truncated with CC-A
RSS Limited™ with CC-B
Examples of RSS linear symbol types to help in recognizing RSS bar codes
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Examples of RSS Composite symbols
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