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Bar Code Implementation

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    Bar Code Implementation

    Hi,
    I need to implement onto my inventory program a bar code ( create, reading and print).

    As I don't have any Idea how implement them, if you know they exist external tools for Alpha Five V8 ready for implementatonto my project?

    Thank you

    Cristiano
    Cristiano
    [email protected]

    Skype: cris-do

    #2
    Re: Bar Code Implementation

    Originally posted by Cristiano View Post
    Hi,
    I need to implement onto my inventory program a bar code ( create, reading and print).

    As I don't have any Idea how implement them, if you know they exist external tools for Alpha Five V8 ready for implementatonto my project?

    Thank you

    Cristiano
    Barcode reading is an activity handled by a scanner. The scanner does the translation from barcode to character string, usually appears to Alpha as if it had been typed in.

    Creating and printing are different matters. You first need to choose a symbology that is suitable. You need a font that will allow you to print that symbology. For most symbologies you need calculations to compute a check digit and translate the data to be barcoded into the appropriate font character.

    Do a search on this board for "barcode". This has been done by other people.
    There can be only one.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Bar Code Implementation

      Originally posted by Stan Mathews View Post
      Barcode reading is an activity handled by a scanner. The scanner does the translation from barcode to character string, usually appears to Alpha as if it had been typed in.

      Creating and printing are different matters. You first need to choose a symbology that is suitable. You need a font that will allow you to print that symbology. For most symbologies you need calculations to compute a check digit and translate the data to be barcoded into the appropriate font character.

      Do a search on this board for "barcode". This has been done by other people.

      Thank you Sran I search now

      Cristiano
      Cristiano
      [email protected]

      Skype: cris-do

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Bar Code Implementation

        Cristiano,

        On the surface, barcode scanning appears to be trivial, and in some limited cases, it is. But there are many complexities that I have found in development of an Alpha 5 library addin (AEX). If you want the scanner to do multiple functions depending upon which form has focus or mode you are in, these problems tend to grow.

        When scanning, some of these include
        • how to activate the input when the scanner scans something and collect the scanned data
        • When input, do you have to validate a checksum, or did the scanner do it
        • Do you have to strip the checksum or store it?
        When you have the barcode, what do you do?
        • Do you save the current record?
        • Do you do a find with a value?
        • If you don't find the value, do you do a record enter?
        • Do you move the focus to the barcode field, or not?
        When printing,
        • do you have to convert the string to include stop/start/checksum digits?
        • What if you use different fonts with different mappings for different printers (Not typical, but occasionally required)
        Then you have to decide on what barcode type to use, e.g code 39, code 93, code 39 extended, codabar, etc., what scanner to use, what barcode font is best for a printer (most important for lower quality printers).

        So the basic requirements are
        • Scanners
        • Barcode Font
        • Software to handle Alpha 5 the way you need it to
        The last item is a product I'll be finalizing after the Alpha Five 2007 conference (which coincidentally I'm speaking at!:D)
        Regards,

        Ira J. Perlow
        Computer Systems Design


        CSDA A5 Products
        New - Free CSDA DiagInfo - v1.39, 30 Apr 2013
        CSDA Barcode Functions

        CSDA Code Utility
        CSDA Screen Capture


        Comment


          #5
          Re: Bar Code Implementation

          Printing - I have not found any free bar code fonts, so you will likely need to purchase that. If you do not have specialized requirements, Code 39 (Code 3 of 9) is the easiest to process, and is what I use. It will come with instructions for printing, but basically just put an asterisk at the front and end of the string, and print the field using the barcode font. So printing is pretty simple.

          Scanning - For Code 39, the scanner will handle all translations and give you the string you want, minus the asterisks. It is just like keyboard input. The trick, as Ira says, is getting the input to go where you want, and do what you want. You can do this manually, but I always use a code in the scanner to send a 'hot key' to the form. This pushes a button on the form, and now a script does whatever I want. The first thing this script will do is display a msg box to accept the scanner input.
          Code:
          vReply = ui_get_text("","Barcode input")
          This will flash so fast on the screen that ylu will never see it. Your value is now in the variable vReply.

          The scanner - If you need to scan from far away in a warehouse you might need a laser scanner, but I always use the cheaper, simpler, CCD scanner. You want a scanner that can add a preamble and postamble with control codes. That way you can add a preamble to send, for example, "Ctl-2" as a hot key to push a button. Suprisingly, there is much variation in the capability that scanners have as far as control codes in the preamble. For when the scanned barcode is close I have used an Idtech Econoscan scanner.

          Bill.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Bar Code Implementation

            I am curious if anyone has been able to format an Alpha label to print on a barcode printer directly. We use a cognitive printer and, while I haven't spent a huge amount of time on it, I have had difficulty getting the labels to print correctly with the Alpha label formatting, they always seem to shift or do something else weird. It may have something to do with the Cognitive driver.
            We save all the required labels to a table, in the required format and then print them using Wasp Barcode program. It works well so I haven't had a lot of incentive to get the Alpha one working, but would like to at some point.

            Comment


              #7
              Been doing it for yaers

              There is a great free code 39 barcode fornt avaialable and it works great. Simply instal it in the windows fornt directory and add your field suct as item number and format it with the font. Works great!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Been doing it for yaers

                Originally posted by rmssoftware View Post
                There is a great free code 39 barcode fornt avaialable
                Why don't you share where to find it?
                There can be only one.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Bar Code Implementation

                  http://www.idautomation.com/code39faq.html

                  Check this out. I purchased one of their ccd scanners to do some barcode testing with code 39. Very informative site, for someone who needs starting info.

                  Ed

                  I also meant to include the URL for the free code 39 download, so you can take a look.

                  http://www.idautomation.com/fonts/free/

                  Ed
                  Last edited by Ed Barley; 03-31-2007, 07:06 PM.

                  Comment

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