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Creating barcodes ​

Every barcode in this package is a Barcode instance. Barcode is an abstract readonly class that takes your data, runs it through an encoder and stores the result as a boolean matrix. Two concrete formats extend it: QRCode and PDF417. You never construct Barcode directly, you pick one of the two formats.

The Barcode base class ​

Raxos\Barcode\Barcode implements Raxos\Contract\Barcode\BarcodeInterface. Its constructor takes the raw data, a BarcodeFormat and an EncoderInterface, then immediately encodes the data into the matrix property. From the matrix it derives height (the number of rows) and width (the number of columns).

Every barcode therefore exposes the same five read only properties:

  • data: the original string that was encoded.
  • format: a BarcodeFormat enum case identifying the format.
  • height: the number of rows in the matrix.
  • width: the number of columns in the matrix.
  • matrix: a two dimensional array of booleans, where true is a dark module.
php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use Raxos\Barcode\QRCode;

$barcode = new QRCode('https://bas.dev');

echo $barcode->format->value; // qr
echo $barcode->width;         // number of columns
echo $barcode->height;        // number of rows

QR codes ​

Raxos\Barcode\QRCode encodes data as a QR code. Its constructor takes the data and an optional error correction level, a QRCodeErrorCorrectionLevel case that defaults to M.

php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use Raxos\Barcode\QRCode;
use Raxos\Barcode\Enum\QRCodeErrorCorrectionLevel;

$default = new QRCode('RAXOS');
$robust = new QRCode('RAXOS', QRCodeErrorCorrectionLevel::H);

The error correction level controls how much of the code can be damaged and still be scanned. The four levels are L (lowest), M, Q and H (highest). A higher level adds redundancy at the cost of a denser matrix. Under the hood, QRCode uses QRCodeEncoder and chillerlan/php-qrcode to build the matrix.

PDF417 barcodes ​

Raxos\Barcode\PDF417 encodes data as a PDF417 barcode. Its constructor takes the data, an optional column count (default 4) and an optional security level (default 2).

php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use Raxos\Barcode\PDF417;

$default = new PDF417('RAXOS-0001-EXAMPLE');
$wider = new PDF417('RAXOS-0001-EXAMPLE', columns: 6, securityLevel: 3);

The column count sets how many data columns the symbol uses, which affects its width and aspect ratio. The security level (0 to 8) controls the amount of error correction. PDF417 encoding is handled by the package's own PDF417Encoder, no external library is involved.

The BarcodeFormat enum ​

Raxos\Barcode\Enum\BarcodeFormat is a string backed enum with two cases, QR ('qr') and PDF417 ('pdf417'). Every barcode exposes its format through the $format property, which is handy when you need to branch on the format or persist it.

php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use Raxos\Barcode\{PDF417, QRCode};
use Raxos\Barcode\Enum\BarcodeFormat;

$barcode = new PDF417('RAXOS');

if ($barcode->format === BarcodeFormat::PDF417) {
    // Handle the PDF417 case.
}

Once a barcode is built, see Rendering to PNG or SVG to turn the matrix into an image.