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Barcode Scanning

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4.89/5 (8 votes)
5 Jan 2011CPOL 70.9K   33   15
A fragment showing how easy it is to read barcodes from serially attached Symbol barcode scanners

Introduction

The following contains some code required to read barcodes from a Symbol barcode scanner.

The StringReceivedEvent serves up scanned barcodes.

The purpose of this tip is to show that getting barcodes from barcode scanners is quite simple.

Luc Pattyn[^] made a few hints, so I've reduced the code part of the tip to make it more readable. I'll obviously have to rewrite this as an article at a later time :-O

C#
public class SerialPortIO : Component
{
    private static void LogException(Exception exc, System.Reflection.MethodBase method)
    {
    // Log exceptions here
    }
    SerialPort serialPort;
    public EventHandlerzSerialPortIOStringEventArgs> StringReceivedEvent;

Code removed, just standard component constructors, initialization and error handling stuff.

So raise the event:

C#
protected virtual void OnReceiveString(string characters)
        {
            if (StringReceivedEvent != null)
            {
                SerialPortIOStringEventArgs eventArgs = new SerialPortIOStringEventArgs(characters);
                StringReceivedEvent(this, eventArgs);
            }
        }

Event handler registered with the internal SerialPort Component:

C#
private void ProcessSerialPortDataReceivedEvent(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                ProcessSerialPortData(sender, e);
            }
            catch (Exception exc)
            {
                LogException(exc, System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod());
            }
        }

Method that can be overridden in derived components to modify how to retrieve the data from the SerialPort component.

C#
protected virtual void ProcessSerialPortData(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                string characters = ReadLine();
                if (characters != null)
                {
                    characters = characters.Trim();
                    OnReceiveString(characters);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception exc)
            {
                LogException(exc, System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod());
                throw;
            }
        }

I hope that it might prove useful.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Architect Sea Surveillance AS
Norway Norway
Chief Architect - Sea Surveillance AS.

Specializing in integrated operations and high performance computing solutions.

I’ve been fooling around with computers since the early eighties, I’ve even done work on CP/M and MP/M.

Wrote my first “real” program on a BBC micro model B based on a series in a magazine at that time. It was fun and I got hooked on this thing called programming ...

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More information about what I do for a living can be found at: harlinn.com or LinkedIn

You can contact me at espen@harlinn.no

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionHow to read Barcode images in asp.net application Pin
MChandraKanth25-Nov-15 1:35
MChandraKanth25-Nov-15 1:35 
AnswerRe: How to read Barcode images in asp.net application Pin
Espen Harlinn25-Nov-15 10:13
professionalEspen Harlinn25-Nov-15 10:13 
I haven't tried it, but you could have a look at QuaggaJS[^]

Best regards
Espen Harlinn
Espen Harlinn
Chief Architect - Powel AS

Projects promoting programming in "natural language" are intrinsically doomed to fail. Edsger W.Dijkstra

Questionbarcode scanning result Pin
AdeleB24-Aug-14 16:50
AdeleB24-Aug-14 16:50 
QuestionMessage Closed Pin
31-Jul-13 16:10
hongdida31-Jul-13 16:10 
AnswerRe: how to output the scanning data Pin
Espen Harlinn31-Jul-13 16:20
professionalEspen Harlinn31-Jul-13 16:20 
GeneralMessage Closed Pin
4-Mar-13 17:24
Thomasssss4-Mar-13 17:24 
GeneralMessage Closed Pin
13-Jun-13 16:35
Member 984580013-Jun-13 16:35 
GeneralRe: Very helpful post, thanks Pin
Espen Harlinn14-Jun-13 5:07
professionalEspen Harlinn14-Jun-13 5:07 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Good one man Pin
thatraja22-Feb-11 15:26
professionalthatraja22-Feb-11 15:26 
GeneralRe: Thank you thatraja! Pin
Espen Harlinn23-Feb-11 9:55
professionalEspen Harlinn23-Feb-11 9:55 
GeneralThanks Pin
Espen Harlinn10-Jan-11 8:58
professionalEspen Harlinn10-Jan-11 8:58 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 nice presentation Pin
kiranbhakre110-Jan-11 7:20
kiranbhakre110-Jan-11 7:20 
GeneralOK, Luc, I've modified it Pin
Espen Harlinn2-Jan-11 10:26
professionalEspen Harlinn2-Jan-11 10:26 
GeneralIf you were to show only a fraction of the code, explaining ... Pin
Luc Pattyn2-Jan-11 6:58
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn2-Jan-11 6:58 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 Too much code. Pin
Luc Pattyn2-Jan-11 6:56
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn2-Jan-11 6:56 

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