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Adding barcode scanning/reading to existing program
What would be the best way to add barcode scanning/reading to an existing vb6 program.
The user can now manually add products once he has defined a category for the product and entered the required
fields into the database.
But simply adding a txt field to the existing won't work in this program. Should I create a new form specifically for the barcode reading and work with this? Is this how it's done.
I have no knowlege of barcode scanners and would need to do this for a customer. I don't have a way to test it out either, but the customer understands this and will work with me.
Any information anyone can provide along with links to sourcecode that you know work,,,, will be appreciated.
Also, I have questions on how to create a form which would be read by a scanner. If the product database requires price, sales tax , category etc for each product entered, how would a user be able to scan the product from the vendor into the database? Would a form created have to have all those fields? I am in the dark completely on this.
Jamie
The user can now manually add products once he has defined a category for the product and entered the required
fields into the database.
But simply adding a txt field to the existing won't work in this program. Should I create a new form specifically for the barcode reading and work with this? Is this how it's done.
I have no knowlege of barcode scanners and would need to do this for a customer. I don't have a way to test it out either, but the customer understands this and will work with me.
Any information anyone can provide along with links to sourcecode that you know work,,,, will be appreciated.
Also, I have questions on how to create a form which would be read by a scanner. If the product database requires price, sales tax , category etc for each product entered, how would a user be able to scan the product from the vendor into the database? Would a form created have to have all those fields? I am in the dark completely on this.
Jamie
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A couple of other questions Bingie:
http://www.barcodehq.com/primer.html
I was at the site you gave me above and read up on both the Wedge and Serial Readers. It seems that these are the easiest to program. Actually, the Wedge needs nothing as far as any coding goes ( is this true?), but an extra txtfield would have to be added and it would then read the barcode input to it as a simple txtfield. The serial reader uses the com port. So what I am asking is if your code that you gave as a link would work for a serial reader? And I guess if so, then every scanner would have it's own com port settings or is this basically standard?
& Sorry for all the stupid questions....Jamie
Which one would you suggest????
I already can add a simple txtfield to the database for the scanner, and the serial com port is equally easy to implement.
http://www.barcodehq.com/primer.html
I was at the site you gave me above and read up on both the Wedge and Serial Readers. It seems that these are the easiest to program. Actually, the Wedge needs nothing as far as any coding goes ( is this true?), but an extra txtfield would have to be added and it would then read the barcode input to it as a simple txtfield. The serial reader uses the com port. So what I am asking is if your code that you gave as a link would work for a serial reader? And I guess if so, then every scanner would have it's own com port settings or is this basically standard?
& Sorry for all the stupid questions....Jamie
Which one would you suggest????
I already can add a simple txtfield to the database for the scanner, and the serial com port is equally easy to implement.
The wedge reader describes its output to be like a keyboard. If so, the only coding needed would be to set focus to the text box when your are scanning:
txtBarCode.setfocus
would place the barcode data in the text box. Then you would need code to show the other data, which is not hard.
Even the Com Port (Serial) scanner is easy to use with the proper settings. Each unit probably has it's own settings BUT if you are selling a commercial product, you can just save the settings in a DB and have a menu where the user selects which scanner they are using. The proper parameters are set based on the data stored in the DB, with an option to use "user specified" settings if needed.
Which would I suggest? What ever fits your budget. I'd reccomend buying a scanner with good reviews. The best way to get it to work is to connect it and try. It's almost impossible to configure the reader without having one at your disposable. The manual will contain all necessary information needed to connect and configure, and if not, it should be available on the net.
greg
txtBarCode.setfocus
would place the barcode data in the text box. Then you would need code to show the other data, which is not hard.
Even the Com Port (Serial) scanner is easy to use with the proper settings. Each unit probably has it's own settings BUT if you are selling a commercial product, you can just save the settings in a DB and have a menu where the user selects which scanner they are using. The proper parameters are set based on the data stored in the DB, with an option to use "user specified" settings if needed.
Which would I suggest? What ever fits your budget. I'd reccomend buying a scanner with good reviews. The best way to get it to work is to connect it and try. It's almost impossible to configure the reader without having one at your disposable. The manual will contain all necessary information needed to connect and configure, and if not, it should be available on the net.
greg
That means I can scan on my asp web page too..?
with a ps2 port scanner / wedge scanner you can
How Barcodes Work:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm
Reading Data From The Com Port
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20721710/Reading-Data-From-the-Com-Port.html
To Purchase Bar Code Equiptment
http://www.barcodehq.com/G2/index.html
http://www.zebra.com
I have programmed many terminals to print and read barcodes with Zebera products.
I can assist with any questions, But the documentation included with the printers/readers are really easy to understand.
greg