How to grab a bar code scanner output ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]
  • Start date Start date
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Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]

There's no Microsoft-defined API for capturing 'barcode' input. Some
scanners will wedge that data into the keyboard stream, while others will
appear as serial port inputs. Still others may have a proprietary API.
Consult the documentation and your own common sense to decide which method
to use. If it's serial input (or emulates a serial port), there are classes
for Serial I/O in OpenNETCF's SDF at www.opennetcf.org. If it's
proprietary, it should come with an API from the scanner manufacturer...

Paul T.
 
Which barcode scanner are you using? I agree with Paul. I think most of
the barcode scanners will send them as keystrokes into the Form that
currently in focus. They usually allow you to configure the scanner drivers
to send a prefix and postfix included in the string to ease in the
identification of scanned input.
 
I have a CF application which has to trap the value returned by a bar code
scanner attached to the PPC . Which class / method should i use to do this ?

Thanks.
 
There are typically two options for capturing barcode decodes on
PocketPC/WinCE
devices with integrated scanners/imagers:

1. Use the Keyboard Wedge option on the device that simply presents the
decoded
barcode information as keyboard keystrokes to your app. This requires no
coding
in your application, but of course the user can scan at any time, even when
your app
is not prepared to accept keyboard input.

2. Control all aspects of scanning using the APIs that the device
manufacturer
provides. Companies like Symbol, Intermec, and HHP all provide .NET
Assemblies
for this purpose.

-Darren Shaffer
 
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