BARCODES 128 ENCODING PROBLEM

Question

We are using IDAutomation tools in order to print barcodes in our forms.
We are using the IDautomation barcode font and the special PLL for reports developer.
The system we are using is Oracle 11.5.10.2 and UTF8 as our NLS_LANG.
The problem is that we need BARCODE 128 standard for the reports which means that there is an encoding function which we sent a string to and it prints an encoded barcode string as an output.
When I try to run the report locally on my computer which uses
NLS_LANG="AMERICAN_AMERICA.IW8MSWIN1255" it runs ok and when i try to use the print layout in reports developer it bring the correct barcode.
But, when I try to run the report from the application in the server, the barcode prints invalid.
After some investigations we found:
a. the fonts are installed correctly.
b. the encoding function of the 128 barcode brings different results when run on UTF8 and on AMERICAN_AMERICA.IW8MSWIN1255.
It seems that the problem is not with the barcodes font rather than with the
function that calculates and encodes the 128 barcode.
The same function bring different output when is it running locally and when is
running on the server. The function we are running is the standare one taken
from the IDAutomation PLL for oracle applications and report developer.
Since it is a common PLL used by most of the companies, we think it is a
problem related to the NLS_LANG we are running.
I tried to change the string output of the function and find the ASCII
characters it outputs.
When trying to encode into barcode the string "1234567890" it brings locally
the output:
chr(205)chr(205)chr(44)chr(66)chr(88)chr(110)chr(122)chr(117)chr(206). This is
the right output which was supposed to be.
Butm, when trying to run the encoding function on the server with the UTF-8
NLS_LANG it brings the following INVALID
output:chr(44)chr(44)chr(66)chr(88)chr(110)chr(122)chr(68)
My guess is that some of the ASCII characters in the right output are not
supported in the UTF8 NLS_LANG environment.
Thanks alot,
Please advise

Answer 1

Thanks for your reply
Yes, i know the BIG5 is for Traditional Chinese and japansese is using like Shift-JIS or EUC.
So when i try to post japanese in a BIg5 web page, i think it's normal that i can't see it in BIG5 encoding.
But then i change the Safari default decoding to BIG5 HKSCS, the japanese appers! At the same time i can see the traditional chinese too!
And if i use Firefox, i can both see the japanese and chinese at the default BIG5 encoding.
So i simple think maybe safari translate my japanese into BIG5 HKSCS,not Shift-JIS. But if i use Firefox, i can get the same result with only BIG5 encoding, not BIG5 HKSCS. So i am just wondering why it's different between Safari and Firefox with the same BIG5 encoding.
Following is a example URL
It's a MAC discussing froum with BIG5 encoding in Taiwan.
http://ubb.frostyplace.com.tw/viewtopic.php?t=19162
It's a froum topic posted by me. I input some japanese into this topic
If you browse this page with Safari BIG5 encoding, you can see a lot of question mark instead of the original japanese word that i and other people posted.
But if you change the encoding to BIG5 HKSCS, the japanese appears. And if you using Firefox with BIG5 encoding, the japanese appears too.
So is it someing wrong with Safari's BIG5 encoding or some other reason makes this happen?