QRier

Javascript based QR-code generator. Supports QR versions (size) up to 40, byte mode only. Mask type and error correction level are configurable. Mask can be selected directly or determined automatically. Supports output to SVG and HTML Canvas

This repository includes code used by browser extension for Firefox with the same name but also stand-alone HTML-page (under docs folder) which has some IE/Edge compatibility additions.

Core libraries should work without any DOM interaction so they can be used as is for other purposes. Exception for this is canvas output which requires a canvas element as reference. QRgen.js requires ECCGen.js to create error correction codes.

You can find a work-in-progress description of QR-codes in general and this implementation inside docs.

API

Import qrGen.js as module in your project

Import

import { QRier_Gen } from "core/qrGen.js";

let generator = new QRier_Gen();
...

Usage

let input = "Hello, World!";
let resultObject = generator.make(input,<properties>);
console.log(resultObject);
/*
resultObject:
{
  "isValid":    <Boolean>,
  "validInfo":  <String>,
  "mask":       selected mask,
  "version":    QR-version <1-40>,
  "width":      Symbol width in QR "pixels" (modules)
  "embedWidth"  Relative width of embedded image
  "result":     Depending on selected outputType one of:
      QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_SVG      - <String> Full SVG file
      QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_PATH     - <String> SVG <path> describing the symbol
      QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_CANVAS   - <String> "CANVAS_OK"
      QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_ARRAY    - <Uint8Array> where value of each pixel is one element
      QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_UNMASKED - <Uint8Array> same as above but no masking applied
      
      Possible values for the array elements are:
        0 pixel is white and NOT part of functional pattern
        1 pixel is black and NOT part of functional pattern
        2 pixel is white and IS part of functional pattern
        3 pixel is black and IS part of functional pattern
}
*/

is an object describing the wanted properties for the symbol: The key is optional if it has some default.

{
  "maskNumber":  <1-9> - Default 9 /* 9 is autoselect */
  "eccLevel":    <1-4> - Default 3
  "padding":     <Number> - Default 3 /* whitespace around symbol in module units */
  "outputType": < QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_SVG
                  QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_PATH
                  QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_CANVAS
                  QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_ARRAY
                  QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_UNMASKED >
  "canvasProperties": <Object> /* Required for outputType "canvas" */
    {
      "canvasElement":  <HTMLCanvasElement>,
      "containerSize":  Width of the element that contains the <canvas>,
      "scale":          Default: 6 - Width of one module in pixels
    }
    // modules are scaled to fit containerSize if the key exists
    // Otherwise, modules will be drawn as scale x scale (px) rectangles
  "image":  <Object> /* Optional small image to be embedded inside the symbol */
    {
      "path":    <dataURI>,
      "scale":  <0-1> Default: 0 - Size relative to the symbol,
      "shape":  "circle", "square"
      "offset": <1-7> Default: 7 - Fine-tune whether some modules are shown or not close to the edge of the embedded image
    }
}

Notice that image is only supported on SVG output. The embedded image will be encoded in the SVG string when using svgFull output. When using svgPath the generator won't embed the image but prevents the modules that are within the images area from being drawn. In such case the size of the embedded image is passed to the result object in embedWidth key and some accompanying function should be used to update the inline SVG.

You should use higher ECC levels when embedding an image because it effectively destroys the symbol and successful decoding will require error correction.

Example on typical usage

let input = "Hello, World";
let SVGPath = document.getElementById("mySVGPath");
let SVGLogo = document.getElementById("mySVGLogo")
let logo = <dataURI>;
let codeGen = new QRier_Gen();
let properties =
{
"maskNumber": 9, // auto-select
"eccLevel": 4,
"outputType": QRier_Gen.OUTPUTMODE_PATH,
"image":{
  "path": logo,
  "scale": 0.4,
  "shape": "circle"
  }
}
let result = codeGen.make(input, properties);
SVGPath.setAttribute("d", result.result);
// Resize the SVG - parentNode is SVG root here
SVGPath.parentNode.setAttribute("viewBox", "0 0 " + result.width + " " + result.width);
(function(SVGLogo, result.width, result.embedWidth, shape){
  ...
  // Set properties here
  ...
})();
console.log("QR version: " + result.version + " with mask: " + result.mask);

QRier browser extension

Note that the source code for a browser extension is currently using manifest v3. And as such you need a browser that supports MV3 to build and install the extension. Firefox versions 102 and up can be used to test MV3 extensions by disabling extension signing (!!!) and setting pref extensions.manifestV3.enabled to true in about:config