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 runtime and detectio 8000 n performance. It can both read and write barcodes in a number of formats.
You can sponsor this library at GitHub Sponsors.
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- Written in pure C++20 (/C++17), no third-party dependencies (for the library itself)
- Thread safe
- Wrappers/Bindings for:
- Android
- C
- iOS
- Kotlin/Native
- .NET
- Python
- Rust
- WebAssembly
- WinRT
- Flutter (external project)
| Linear product | Linear industrial | Matrix |
|---|---|---|
| UPC-A | Code 39 | QR Code |
| UPC-E | Code 93 | Micro QR Code |
| EAN-8 | Code 128 | rMQR Code |
| EAN-13 | Codabar | Aztec |
| DataBar | DataBar Expanded | DataMatrix |
| DataBar Limited | DX Film Edge | PDF417 |
| ITF | MaxiCode (partial) |
[Note:]
- DataBar used to be called RSS.
- DataBar, DX Film Edge, MaxiCode, Micro QR Code and rMQR Code are not supported for writing (unless the library is configured
ZXING_WRITERS=NEWandZXING_EXPERIMENTAL_API=ON). - Building with only C++17 (see CMakeLists.txt) changes the behavior of the library: it then lacks support for DataBarLimited and multi-symbol and position independent detection for DataMatrix.
- Load your image into memory (3rd-party library required).
- Call
ReadBarcodes()fromReadBarcode.h, the simplest API to get a list ofBarcodeobjects.
A very simple example looks like this:
#include "ZXing/ReadBarcode.h"
#include <iostream>
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
int width, height;
unsigned char* data;
// load your image data from somewhere. ImageFormat::Lum assumes grey scale image data.
auto image = ZXing::ImageView(data, width, height, ZXing::ImageFormat::Lum);
auto options = ZXing::ReaderOptions().setFormats(ZXing::BarcodeFormat::Any);
auto barcodes = ZXing::ReadBarcodes(image, options);
for (const auto& b : barcodes)
std::cout << ZXing::ToString(b.format()) << ": " << b.text() << "\n";
return 0;
}To see the full capability of the API, have a look at ZXingReader.cpp.
[Note: At least C++17 is required on the client side to use the API.]
- Create a
MultiFormatWriterinstance with the format you want to generate. Set encoding and margins if needed. - Call
encode()with text content and the image size. This returns aBitMatrixwhich is a binary image of the barcode wheretrue== visual black andfalse== visual white. - Convert the bit matrix to your native image format. See also the
ToMatrix<T>(BitMatrix&)helper function.
As an example, have a look at ZXingWriter.cpp. That file also contains example code showing the new ZXING_EXPERIMENTAL_API for writing barcodes.
[Note: those live demos are not necessarily fully up-to-date at all times.]
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.
- Make sure CMake version 3.16 or newer is installed. The python module requires 3.18 or higher.
- Make sure a sufficiently C++20 compliant compiler is installed (minimum VS 2019 16.10? / gcc 11 / clang 12?).
- See the cmake
ZXING_...options to enable the testing code, python wrapper, etc.
git clone https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp.git --recursive --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.]