Introduction

ZXing-C++ ("zebra crossing") is an open-source, multi-format linear/matrix barcode image processing library implemented in C++.

The central class in the library is ZXing::Barcode, which represents a decoded or created barcode symbol, providing access to its content, format, position, and other metadata. It serves as the primary interface for working with barcodes in the library.

Reading barcodes

1. Load your image into memory (3rd-party library required).
2. Call ZXing::ReadBarcodes(), the simplest API to get a list of ZXing::Barcode objects.

A very simple example looks like this:

#include "ZXing/ZXingCpp.h"
#include <iostream>
 
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    int width, height;
    unsigned char* data;
    // load your image data from somewhere. ImageFormat::Lum assumes grey scale image data.
 
    auto image = ZXing::ImageView(data, width, height, ZXing::ImageFormat::Lum);
    auto options = ZXing::ReaderOptions().formats(ZXing::BarcodeFormat::QRCode);
    auto barcodes = ZXing::ReadBarcodes(image, options);
 
    for (const auto& b : barcodes)
        std::cout << ZXing::ToString(b.format()) << ": " << b.text() << "\n";
 
    return 0;
}

Writing barcodes

1. Create a ZXing::Barcode object using either ZXing::CreateBarcodeFromText() or ZXing::CreateBarcodeFromBytes().
2. Call ZXing::WriteBarcodeToImage() or ZXing::WriteBarcodeToSVG() to get the output.

A very simple example looks like this:

#include "ZXing/ZXingCpp.h"
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    auto barcode = ZXing::CreateBarcodeFromText("Hello, World!", ZXing::BarcodeFormat::QRCode);
    auto options = ZXing::WriterOptions().scale(4).addQuietZones(false);
    auto svg = ZXing::WriteBarcodeToSVG(barcode, options);
 
    std::cout << svg << std::endl;
 
    return 0;
}