PDF417, or Portable Data File 417, is a two-dimensional stacked bar code symbology capable of encoding over a kilobyte of data per label.

This is important for applications where a bar code must be more than merely an identifier such as an index to reference a database.The "portable data file" approach is well suited to applications where it is impractical to store item information in a database or where the database is not accessible when and where the item's bar code is read.

Because a PDF417 symbol can store so much data, item data such as the content of shipping manifest or equipment maintenance history can be carried on the item, without requiring access to a remote database.

Our PDF417-ActiveX Control has all the features necessary to easily add professional quality barcodes to any Windows application including Web pages, database reporting and labeling, product packaging, document tracking, postal bar coding and special purpose barcode labeling applications.It is an extremely easy and powerful tool that will work flawlessly with any Windows application that supports ActiveX technology including Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro, C++, Internet Explorer Web pages, Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, etc.Simply insert the PDF417 Bar Code ActiveX Control into your application and specify a few properties in the properties window and your desired bar codes will be generated automatically.The PDF417-ActiveX Control supports data binding so you can bind fields in a database to the Control and generate barcodes for each data record automatically.

The data binding capability makes it trivially easy to produce reports and labels containing bar codes using any database that supports ActiveX technology including Microsoft Access or Visual Basic.