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StartGS1128A

Function StartGS1128A : string;

Example​

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: Variant);
begin
  Value := StartGS1128A + 'ABC123';
end;

Usage​

StartGS1128A returns ReportBuilder's Code 128 start-set A character followed by its FNC1 character.

Returns

A two-character string: Char(208) followed by Char(207). In the current Velox Unicode string representation these are U+00D0 (Ð) and U+00CF (Ï). ReportBuilder interprets them as start A and FNC1 controls rather than printable data.

Behaviour

Set A supports uppercase letters, digits, punctuation and the Code 128 representation of ASCII control characters. This function supplies only the start and initial FNC1 controls. It does not append payload, a stop pattern or a check character, and it does not configure a report component.

Errors

No application-level error is raised or caught. Normal managed-string allocation failures can propagate.

Additional Technical Info​

StartGS1128A returns the two-character prefix that ReportBuilder uses to begin manually encoded Code 128 set A data and mark the symbol as GS1 data with FNC1.

Implementation

Velox registers the parameterless function directly. Its terminal implementation constructs and concatenates the two Delphi Char values. The numeric assignments match the constants in the shipped ReportBuilder manual Code 128 encoder.

Edge cases and quirks

  • The values 208 and 207 are ReportBuilder's private input convention, not the numeric Code 128 start-A and FNC1 codewords.
  • Modern Delphi defines Char as a 16-bit WideChar, while the cited Free Pascal Char is an 8-bit type. Both can represent these ordinal values, but storage and string encoding differ. Preserve the resulting characters through any database, file or transport layer.
  • ReportBuilder's automatic encoder strips explicit start and switch controls and chooses sets again. An explicit StartGS1128A prefix therefore requires a compatible manual-encoding report configuration to force set A.
  • The function does not validate later data against set A or add FNC1 separators between variable-length GS1 elements.
  • The historical identifier contains GS1128; the current standards name is GS1-128.

Side effects

The function returns allocated string data only. It does not mutate report state or perform I/O.

Performance and concurrency

The function performs constant work and returns a fixed-length string. It has no shared state and is re-entrant.

Related entries

  • StartGS1128B starts ReportBuilder set B.
  • StartGS1128C starts the numeric-pair set C.
  • AddGS1128 concatenates an application identifier and value without adding controls.

External references

Created 2026-07-15