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To generate a boarding pass barcode in JavaScript, you build a BCBP (Bar Coded Boarding Pass) payload string in the fixed order defined by IATA Resolution 792, then render that string with a barcode library. For a printed pass, IATA’s default symbology is PDF417. The output is a synthetic test artifact: it can exercise your parser and a scanner, but a successful scan does not make it a valid boarding pass for travel or proof that an airline will accept it.
Keep the payload and the symbology separate
Most confusion in this area comes from treating “BCBP” and “QR code” as competing formats. They operate at different layers. BCBP is the structured data message: which passenger, which flight, which seat, and which sections follow. The symbology is the printed or displayed pattern that carries those characters. The same payload can, in principle, be drawn as different symbologies, subject to what the airline and the pass context allow.
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| Layer | What it is | Defined by | What changes if you swap it |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBP payload | A fixed-order text message with mandatory and conditional sections, fixed widths, padding, and hexadecimal size fields | IATA Resolution 792 and its implementation guide | Nothing about the symbology; the field layout must still conform |
| PDF417 | A stacked two-dimensional symbology | IATA’s default for printed passes | Only how the characters are drawn |
| Aztec, Data Matrix, QR | Matrix two-dimensional symbologies | Allowed for printed passes at airline request under later versions, and already used for electronic and mobile passes | Only how the characters are drawn; acceptance depends on the airline |
So the question “What is the difference between IATA BCBP and a QR code?” has a precise answer: BCBP is the message, and a QR code is one way to print it. A QR code that contains arbitrary text is not a BCBP barcode.
Start from the standard, not from a tutorial
IATA’s common-use standards page describes Resolution 792 as the document that defines the boarding-pass data elements and their format. The page states: “Version 8 of the resolution became effective on June 1, 2020.” It attributes maintenance of Resolution 792 to IATA’s BCBP group of experts. Treat version 8, effective June 1, 2020, as the most recent version we can point to from IATA’s published material. Check IATA for any later revision before you build a production issuer.
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Tutorials and demo code are useful for implementation patterns, but they are not normative. Every field width, padding rule, and size definition in your code should be traced back to the standard itself.
- A current copy of IATA Resolution 792 and its implementation guide, matched to the version you target
- Node.js or a modern browser environment, with the
bwip-jspackage installed from npm - A PDF417-capable scanner or decoder for the validation step
- A decision on which sections your test pass needs: mandatory only, or mandatory plus conditional sections
Step 1: Transcribe the field table
Create one ordered specification that lists each mandatory field, its width, and its padding direction exactly as the standard gives them. Keep it as data, not as scattered string literals, so you can reuse it for both assembly and parsing. The order is part of the format. A correct set of values in the wrong order is an invalid payload.
The mandatory section is fixed-width. Each field occupies a set number of characters, and short values are padded to that width. Do not trim values to fit a guess; if a value exceeds its width, reject it and report the field name.
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Step 2: Assemble the payload
Build the string in three passes: the fixed mandatory fields, the size fields, and any conditional sections. The two hexadecimal size fields are the most common source of failures. Each one counts characters that come after it, so it can only be computed once that following block is complete.
Fixed-width helper
function fixed(value, width) {
const s = String(value).toUpperCase();
if (s.length > width) {
throw new RangeError(`"${s}" exceeds ${width} characters`);
}
return s.padEnd(width, ' ');
}Hexadecimal size field
function hexSize(length) {
if (length > 0xff) {
throw new RangeError(`Section of ${length} characters does not fit in two hex digits`);
}
return length.toString(16).toUpperCase().padStart(2, '0');
}Use uppercase hexadecimal consistently and always write exactly two characters. Confirm in the standard how the size is counted for each section, since the count must match what your parser will measure.
Assembly sketch
// spec: the ordered [name, width] pairs transcribed from Resolution 792
function buildMandatory(spec, values) {
return spec.map(([name, width]) => fixed(values[name] ?? '', width)).join('');
}
// Compute the size field only after the following block is complete
function withSizeField(followingBlock) {
return hexSize(followingBlock.length) + followingBlock;
}Keep the function names and the way you thread values through them as your own design. The point is the sequence: fields in spec order, padding applied per field, sizes computed last.
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Step 3: Render the payload with bwip-js
Render only after the payload is complete and has passed your own checks. bwip-js can draw to a canvas in the browser or to an image buffer in Node.
// Browser: draw PDF417 onto a canvas element
import bwipjs from 'bwip-js';
export function renderPdf417(payload, canvas) {
bwipjs.toCanvas(canvas, {
bcid: 'pdf417',
text: payload,
scale: 2,
height: 12,
padding: 10,
});
}
// Node: produce a PNG buffer for a scanner test
const png = await bwipjs.toBuffer({
bcid: 'pdf417',
text: payload,
scale: 2,
height: 12,
padding: 10,
});The bcid value selects the symbology. Use 'pdf417' for the printed-pass default. For matrix output, the corresponding identifiers in bwip-js are 'azteccode', 'datamatrix', and 'qrcode', but choose these only when the pass context calls for them (see the next section).
Step 4: Choose the symbology deliberately
IATA’s implementation-guide summary says version 7, effective June 1, 2018, extended printed-pass options at airline request to Aztec, Data Matrix, or QR. Those matrix formats were already used for electronic and mobile passes. The practical rule is simple: PDF417 for a printed pass unless a specific airline has asked for something else under the version you implement.
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| Pass context | Symbology | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Printed pass, no airline request | PDF417 | IATA default for printed passes |
| Printed pass, airline has requested an alternative | Aztec, Data Matrix, or QR | Permitted from version 7, effective June 1, 2018, at airline request |
| Electronic or mobile pass | Aztec, Data Matrix, or QR | Already used for these passes, per IATA’s summary |
The table describes what the standard allows. Whether a particular airline or gate scanner accepts a given symbology is a separate question that IATA’s material does not answer, and that depends on the operator.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Step 5: Validate structure and readability separately
Validation has two independent checks, and each catches a different failure. Run both before you call the output a passing test.
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| Check | What it proves | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| Parser self-check | That your payload splits back into the same fields at the same offsets, and that size fields match the sections they describe | Whether a physical scanner can read the printed image |
| Optical scan of the rendered image | That a PDF417-capable scanner or decoder can read the symbol you drew | Whether the field layout is correct; a scannable symbol can still hold a malformed payload |
For the parser check, reuse the same specification from Step 1 to slice the decoded string, compare every field with the original input, and recompute each size field from the characters it counts. For the optical check, print or display the PNG at real size and scan it with a PDF417-capable scanner, then decode and compare the result with the payload string you generated.
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Troubleshooting
- Parser reports every field after one point as shifted. A mandatory width is off by one, or a value was not padded. Recheck the spec table against the standard, field by field.
- Size field does not match the section. The size was computed before a conditional section was appended. Compute it last.
- Scanner returns nothing or a partial read. The symbol is too small or the quiet zone is too narrow. Increase
scaleorpaddingand redraw at the size you will print. - Scanner reads the symbol but the parser fails. The symbology is working; the payload is wrong. Debug the payload, not the rendering.
- Hex size fields look correct but parse wrongly. Check for lowercase digits or a missing leading zero; both should be consistent and two characters long.
What a passing test does not establish
A payload that parses cleanly and a symbol that scans are evidence about your code and your scanner. They are not evidence that a pass is valid for travel. Airline acceptance, security data, issuance rules, and operational checks sit outside the barcode format. Generate and use these artifacts only for development, scanner testing, and parser regression, and label them as synthetic in any environment where a person could mistake them for an issued pass.
If you are building a production issuer, the authority is the current IATA Resolution 792 and its implementation guide, together with each airline’s own requirements.
(Note for the reader: IATA’s standards page does not name a specific scanner model or product, and this guide does not recommend one. Any PDF417-capable scanner or decoder that can read the rendered symbol will serve for the optical check.)
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