How to create a barcode
Swift version: 5.6
You can generate a string into a traditional barcode using iOS using Core Image, but you should make sure and convert your input string to a Data using String.Encoding.ascii to ensure compatibility. Here's a function you can use that wraps it all up neatly, including scaling up the barcode so it's a bit bigger:
func generateBarcode(from string: String) -> UIImage? {
let data = string.data(using: String.Encoding.ascii)
if let filter = CIFilter(name: "CICode128BarcodeGenerator") {
filter.setValue(data, forKey: "inputMessage")
let transform = CGAffineTransform(scaleX: 3, y: 3)
if let output = filter.outputImage?.transformed(by: transform) {
return UIImage(ciImage: output)
}
}
return nil
}With that method in place, you can now write code like this:
let image = generateBarcode(from: "Hacking with Swift")
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Available from iOS 8.0
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