Java Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

QR Code with Non-English Text (UTF-8 and ECI)

See more QR Code Examples

Demonstrates text outside ASCII. QrCode always stores text as UTF-8 bytes, which is what phones expect. A QR code can also say so explicitly with an ECI header: setting encoding.eci to 26 declares the bytes to be UTF-8, for readers that would otherwise assume another character set. The header costs a little space, and a few older readers do not understand it, so it is off by default. Chilkat2 Java

import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Formats;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.JsonObject;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.StringBuilder;

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
        // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

        // The text is "Gruesse aus Muenchen" written with u-umlaut and sharp s.  It is given here with
        // JSON escapes only so that this source is plain ASCII.  Decode turns the escapes into characters.
        StringBuilder sbText = new StringBuilder();
        sbText.append("Gr\u00fc\u00dfe aus M\u00fcnchen");
        sbText.decode("json", "utf-8");

        JsonObject json = new JsonObject();
        json.updateSb("payload.text", sbText);
        json.updateString("output.path", "qa_output/qr_utf8.png");
        json.updateBool("output.overwrite", true);
        json.updateString("output.return", "none");

        Formats fmt = new Formats();
        JsonObject jsonOut = new JsonObject();
        try {
            fmt.qrCode("generate", json, jsonOut);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // 17 characters, three of which take two bytes in UTF-8.
        System.out.println("characters: " + sbText.getLength());
        System.out.println("bytes encoded: " + jsonOut.intOf("symbols[0].payloadBytes"));
        System.out.println("ECI header: " + jsonOut.hasMember("symbols[0].selectedEncoding.eci"));

        // Without an ECI header (qa_output/qr_utf8.png):

        // 

        // The same text with an ECI header declaring UTF-8.
        json.updateInt("encoding.eci", 26);
        json.updateString("output.path", "qa_output/qr_utf8_eci.png");
        try {
            fmt.qrCode("generate", json, jsonOut);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        System.out.println("with encoding.eci = 26, ECI header: " + jsonOut.hasMember("symbols[0].selectedEncoding.eci") + ", value " + jsonOut.intOf("symbols[0].selectedEncoding.eci"));

        // With the ECI header (qa_output/qr_utf8_eci.png).  Both scan as the same text:

        // 

        // Sample output:

        // characters: 17
        // bytes encoded: 20
        // ECI header: False
        // with encoding.eci = 26, ECI header: True, value 26
    }
}