[Advanced-java] barcoding system (OT)

[Nikolaos Giannopoulos]

Here's some info from my experience with a commercial project - mileage may
vary - and I'm not sure what the big picture is for you so just skip the
parts that are more than your willing to handle.


About 5 years ago we completed a production app (35 panel gui) that
extensively utilized bar codes and bar code scanning.

Look for a scanner that can come with a keyboard wedge - essentially the
wedge is a Y shaped cable.  You plug the wedge into your computer's keyboard
port and then you plug your keyboard and the scanner on the other end of the
2 open plugs.  For wharehouse station environments we didn't connect the
keyboards and just left them in a locked cabinet (underneath the unit).  I
know for a fact that Symbol makes these wedges but Symbol scanners weren't
that cheap back then.  But cheap is relative and I'm not sure what you may
consider inexpensive.

When you scan a bar code the scanner essentially sends ASCII text as if it
had been typed in from the keyboard.  No worries about serial connections.
The nice thing here is that administrative staff could still interface with
an app that expects a bar code scanner and type in the bar code number
manually (assuming of course you utilize human readable bar codes).

If you need an inexpensive unit you may not be able to find a wedge for it
but the dollars are definitely worth it if you can.

As far as bar codes themselves are concerned you can buy some bar code fonts
and have something like for e.g. Crystal Reports on Windoze print the bar
code on your labels, reports, etc....  You could just as easily use any
other software but it simplified matters that the report was fired against
the DB and voila labels.

You'll want to look at what the limitations (e.g. num char width,
alphanumric allowed, etc....) of different bar code fonts and *yes* believe
it dot matrix high speed printers (Okidata has quite a few workhorses) as
your far better off with form feed label printing than single sheet (at
least that was the case 5 years ago).

No need for a Java API to read the labels.

HTH.

--Nikolaos


> -----Original Message-----
> From: advanced-java-bounces@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu
> [mailto:advanced-java-bounces@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Joel
> Thompson
> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 2:11 AM
> To: advanced-java@lists.xcf.berkeley.edu
> Cc: joel@rhinosystemsinc.com
> Subject: [Advanced-java] barcoding system.
>
>
> I would like to know if anyone can recommend a
> simple (hopefully inexpensive, but not necessarily)
> barcode reader that I can attach to a parallel,
> serial, or usb port of a Windows (or LINUX) machine
> and use a Java API (is there one? I am sure there has to be) to read
> barcode labels, and deliver me an ID.
>
> Another part of this equation is to somehow get the
> barcodes (can you buy sheets of barcodes that you can
> just peel off and paste on the object you want to
> track?). Then I'd run the reader over the label, and
> assign my object to that ID.  Can you buy such labels and
> will they work with any barcode reader?
>
> I would be interacting with a database, obviously to
> store all the object information, that I want to
> track (by barcode ID).
>
> Thanks,
> Joel
>
>
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