AAMVA PDF417 Element IDs Reference (DAQ, DCS, DBB)

Identity elements

DAQ is the customer ID number (license or ID number), DCS the family name, DAC the first name, DAD middle names, DBB the date of birth, and DBC sex.

Extracting It Automatically

When you read this data from photos, the Driver License PDF417 OCR API returns it as structured JSON, and you can apply the rules on this page as validation. Try it with the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• Document elements: DBA is the expiry date, DBD the issue date, DCF the document discriminator, DCG the country, DCA the vehicle class, DCB restrictions, and DCD endorsements.
• Address and description: DAG is the street address, DAI the city, DAJ the jurisdiction code, DAK the postal code, DAU height, and DAY eye color.
• Version differences: Version 1 records use DAA or DAB for names and DAR, DAS, DAT for class, restrictions, and endorsements; later versions use the codes above.

Extract It with the API

Read the document from a photo and validate the returned fields.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("license-back.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("document_kind:", data.get("document_kind"))
print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
print("date_of_birth:", data.get("date_of_birth"))
print("region:", data.get("region"))

Reference Summary

Key facts from this page in structured form, for quick lookup.

{
  "Identity elements": "DAQ is the customer ID number (license or ID number), DCS the family name, DAC the first name, DAD middle names, DBB the date of birth, and DBC sex..",
  "Document elements": "DBA is the expiry date, DBD the issue date, DCF the document discriminator, DCG the country, DCA the vehicle class, DCB restrictions, and DCD endorsements..",
  "Address and description": "DAG is the street address, DAI the city, DAJ the jurisdiction code, DAK the postal code, DAU height, and DAY eye color..",
  "Version differences": "Version 1 records use DAA or DAB for names and DAR, DAS, DAT for class, restrictions, and endorsements; later versions use the codes above.."
}