barcodes in Indesign CC Data Merge

To complete the list of plug-ins: earlier, @John_Messinger mentioned Chartbot. That one does work with Data Merge. It generates barcodes on-the-fly within InDesign during the merge operation, getting barcode data directly from Data Merge variables.

Right, that's really what drew me to Chartbot. I was tasked with merging a large number of product records, each including a UPC entered numerically in a cell. Charbot works as a graphic (the barcode) placeholder that "reads" the merged data in its text frame, then follows instructions you add to that same frame to populate the placeholder and produce the barcode.

There are some caveats:

• Getting the barcode size and arrangement you want can be tricky if for any reason the default output doesn't suit your application.
• Barcode generation doesn't happen during data merge, but rather requires the additional step of printing—to paper or PDF. It is during print "interpretation" that Chartbot's "active EPS" method actually reads the input to produce the output. I could see that being a deal breaker for some, but many barcode applications are rudimentary enough to fit the workflow.

OK, here is a general rule. You can use a font to generate a barcode if the code does not require any special calculations for a start code, end code or checksum.