GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional Generator
GS1 retail point-of-sale symbol for variable-measure fresh food such as produce and meat.
How GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional is structured
GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional is a one-dimensional GS1 symbol that carries a single 14-digit GTIN under application identifier (01). Its height is deliberately short — the same job UPC-E did — but the bar pattern is readable by omnidirectional scanner windows at any angle, which is what makes it usable on a fast checkout. It carries no weight, price or date: those need the Expanded variant.
GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional check digit
There is no symbol-level check character. The last digit of the 14-digit GTIN is the standard GTIN check digit, computed with the mod-10 weighting used across every GS1 key, so a transposed digit in the item reference is caught the same way it would be in an EAN-13.
GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional compared with GS1 DataBar Expanded
DataBar Expanded uses the same family but chains several application identifiers, so it can carry weight, price and batch data that Omnidirectional cannot. EAN-13 and UPC-A remain valid at the checkout, but GS1 has reserved DataBar for variable-measure items and for the coupon and fresh-food categories where a 13-digit code does not fit. Compare the GS1 DataBar Expanded generator page for the same breakdown of structure, check digit and use cases.
Common GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional problems
The data is not a full 14-digit GTIN
Omnidirectional carries exactly one GTIN. A 13-digit EAN-13 needs a leading zero to become a GTIN-14; a truncated or padded value produces a symbol that scans cleanly and matches nothing in the retailer's item file.
Weight or price was added to the payload
This variant has no room for secondary data. Move weight, price and best-before data to GS1 DataBar Expanded, which chains application identifiers, or to the GS1-128 on the case label.
The preview looks like a Code 128
On this page the digits are drawn through the site's Code 128 encoder so you can check the data and the label layout. A production label needs a printer or service that emits a true GS1 DataBar symbol before it goes to a checkout.
Where GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional is used
- Loose produce, meat and cheese sold by weight at the point of sale
- Coupons and fresh-food items that do not fit a 13-digit retail code
- Item-level GS1 keys where the label height is too short for EAN-13
Not sure this is the right symbology? The barcode format guide groups every supported 1D and 2D format by industry with its character set and limits.