HAND-HELD LABEL APPLICATOR WITH SCANNED DATA ACQUISTION AND SELECTIVE DATA RETRIEVAL ACQUISTION

A hand-held labeler with an integrally formed optical scanner prints labels with a coded record selected from a plurality of optically scanned and stored coded records. In a data acquisition mode, the optical scanner scans a plurality of coded records, such as bar codes, to generate data representing the coded records for storage in a memory. Selective printing of scanned code and/or information associated therewith is accomplished utilizing a display that is controlled by a keyboard to display information that identifies the data stored in the memory. When information identifying a desired coded record is shown on the display, a print switch may be actuated to cause the code associated with the displayed information to be printed on one or more labels. Further, the scanner may also be used to scan different types of bar codes where each bar code includes a coded information portion and at least one guard code identifying the type of code. A digital representation of the whole bar code may be stored in a list in the labeler's memory. Alternatively, the labeler may separate the guard codes from the information portion of the code such that only the information portion of the code is stored in the list in memory to save space. Upon subsequent selection of a particular bar code, the code may be reassembled with the same guard codes as scanned or with different guard codes to convert the code from one type to a different type.