Hi,
Anyone any idea or experience how to create barcodes within Servoy.
By using Beans or specific fonts, anything?
Thanks…
I believe member “arumalla” has somew experience with barcoding.
I would also be interested in any barcoding feedback.
I have a client who is interested in implementing bar code reading for the electronic components which they manufacture.
The client already has a FileMaker system in-house which we designed and implemented.
FM already has some well documented solutions for scanning barcodes and automatically reading this data directly into FM files.
I would like to be able to compare & contrast against Servoy options to be able to offer an alternate solution
Harry Catharell:
I have a client who is interested in implementing bar code reading for the electronic components which they manufacture.
Yes, someone did put this question on my desk too.
FM already has some well documented solutions for scanning barcodes and automatically reading this data directly into FM files.
I know it does, using plugins from several vendors.
Here I found some scanners who work with every desktop-application so Servoy shouldn’t be any problem
I have a client who is interested in implementing bar code reading for the electronic components which they manufacture.
Barcode readers usually let you set a string of characters that they will add before and/or after the barcode they read. So setting the reader so it automatically appends an or a to the code they read can be probably enough to let you handle the input with an onDataChange or an onAction method.
Hope this help, ciao
automazione:
Barcode readers usually let you set a string of characters that they will add before and/or after the barcode they read. So setting the reader so it automatically appends an or a to the code they read can be probably enough to let you handle the input with an onDataChange or an onAction method.
Hope this help, ciao
Yes, thanks, but I also meant generating barcodes so users can print them using Servoy?
I usually print bar code labels with film transfer thermal printers. Every brand (I prefer TEC) have a specific printing language and you can drive them with their driver or with a sequence of ASCII characters or with plain text string commands.
Or you can use a bar code font, you can find some for free (usually code 39 type) on internet. If they do not work… we will know in here soon
The easiest way is to use a barcode font and print it.
When scanning, because Servoy has events you have way more control over how the results are processed compared to non event driven environments.
I’ve done many barcode solutions in the past and I’m always surprised why programmers think implementing barcodes is difficult. Processing and printing barcodes is not rocket science, a barcode is just like any other text for an application and a barcode scanner is just like a keyboard: it sends characters to a machine. Most barcodes can be printed using any printer, more specific ones (or high volume) have special printers but those printers always ship with detailed drivers and documentation.
If you have to do a lowcost barcode implementation:
- using existing printers combined with a barcode font
- use cheap barcode scanners that hookup to USB or PS/2, I DO recommend at least getting LASER based scanners, the very cheap ones have LED and the users will be having a hard time scanning.
If you need a more sophisticated implementation it really depends on what the exact requirements are. If you need any additional help you can always contact me.
Harry Catharell:
I would like to be able to compare & contrast against Servoy options to be able to offer an alternate solution
The short version is: Servoy will offer you all you have found in the FM world and more. The main difference is that in Servoy you don’t need additional plugins, drivers for nearly any integration.
Many industrial barcode solutions provide ODBC connectivity and the possibility to inject data directly from people scanning in the warehouse into SQL databases, with this you can link data live into your Servoy solutions. Other solutions use ftp to upload dump files, also for this Servoy is better equiped (using events, scheduling and the ability to parse text files).
It really depends on your exact needs before a full comparison can be made, in all cases Servoy will offer more possibilities, better integration and faster development.
Using a font is not a good idea.
If you setup a client and do not have the font…
Have a look at this site:
I try to implement it into my solution.
Rainer
rainer / dsp:
Using a font is not a good idea.
If you setup a client and do not have the font…
Ok, but a barcode font isn’t just another font, so adding one to your solution to be installed by a user should be logic or reasonable and therefore ‘less unconvenient’.
Have a look at this site:
http://www.idautomation.com/
I try to implement it into my solution.
I’ve been at this site and several others today, but thank you anyway
Question: where should I look at idautomation.com
Thanks…
bert:
Question: where should I look at idautomation.com
I think rainer / dsp intended:
Java Barcode Applets, Servlets, JavaBeans and Bar Code Class Libraries
ciao
Great… thanks again
I have an extensive FM solution that I use bar codes in. Jan is correct, It was very simple to implement. I use USB barcode readers ($200) for scanning parts out of inventory to assign there current value to work orders.
I cheated a bit
I purchased ‘barcodeit’, which came with the fonts that need to be installed on machines that need to view or print the barcode.
It also came with a small three file FMP solution. All I wanted to do was assign barcodes to inventory numbers. Instead of rewiting the logic that was sent with the software into my files, I just set up a script to export / import to generate the code.
I use standard avery labels and print on both laser and injet printers. I am currently running 50 large FMP files, 75 users (PC XP), windows server 2000. I have had no problems except for the limitations of filemaker starting to haunt me (Running complex reports that come close to taking down the whole network).
I willl be implementing barcodes with my new servoy build and would appreciate feed back if anyone beats me to it.
Thanks,
Erich
ebrandt:
I willl be implementing barcodes with my new servoy build and would appreciate feed back if anyone beats me to it.
Well at this point I’ve found 2 javabeans but I’ve not been able to test these yet.
Using fonts is still an option but depents on how many users need to print out the codes because one has to have a fontlicense and has to do an additional install for each user.
I have an extensive FM solution that I use bar codes in. Jan is correct, It was very simple to implement. I use USB barcode readers ($200) for scanning parts out of inventory to assign there current value to work orders.
Forgive the naivety, but what machine do you plug the barcode reader into ?
Are the users carrying a laptop around or maybe a PDA ?
For those developers who enjoy a challenge. It is also possible to make a font-free solution for printing barcodes. I did this in FileMaker but have yet to make it happen in Servoy.
Although, in Servoy it will be much easier. I will assume that the http://www.idautomation.com/java/ beans are actually creating the graphics for representing a barcode on the fly. Yep, just read that they create JPEGs.
You can do the same thing essentially by making a table and storing your own barcode graphics for each symbol. You would then need a graphics bean that would allow you to combine these into a single graphic image. I haven’t looked for any graphics manipulation beans but I’d bet there are some out there.
While this would be a task to undertake, it may save you licensing from places like ID Automation. However, it may not be worth the time and simply buying the bean from ID Automation, if it works with Servoy, would be more worth while.
Just some input. Once one developer makes all the barcode symbols they they could be used over and over again. One limitation is the ability to control the size. You couldn’t scale them very well. UNLESS, you find a javabean that will work with vector based images such as eps - which can be stored as binary in a field.
You could also grab one of the opensource projects, for example:
http://barbecue.sourceforge.net/
and make it into a Servoy plugin.
[Forgive the naivety, but what machine do you plug the barcode reader into ?
Are the users carrying a laptop around or maybe a PDA ?]
We are using the scanners pluged into usb ports. We have a few extentions that run about 35 - 40 feet.
When we do annual inventory, I use laptops and export the ID’s and quantities into a reporting data base.
The PDA’s ($600 + FM mobile companion) have to be sync’d with the database and are expensive. Our inventory is in serveral specific locations that all have PC’s near by, so this was not a big issue.
If you want to go wireless it is a bit costly. WASP has some new wireless devices that look like thay might be reasonably priced. They will most likely have limited range.
I am running on a stramline bugdet (Hence the filemaker solution), so I went the cheapest route to solve the solution.
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You can also have a look to datalogic products, they have a complete serie of readers, from hand held to wireless to portable data collection terminals. http://www.datalogic.com