scanthng.js

scanthng.js is a plugin to be used with the evrythng.js Web SDKs to quickly and easily identify products stored in the EVRYTHNG Platform via 1D, 2D barcodes or image recognition.

With scanthng.js there is no need to use a native mobile application to scan tags such as QR or EAN/UPC codes on products, or to recognize products in images - it works directly from any supported browser!

When an EVRYTHNG product or Thng has a redirection set, the resulting short URL is shown in the Dashboard as a QR code (this can also be generated via the API if needed).

After this is done, scanthng.js can be used to scan for this QR code when it is printed on a product using either scan() or scanStream() methods (see below).

In addition to simply decoding QR codes, more than 20 barcode types can also be decoded. Both single image and video stream scanning is also offered, applicable for all kinds of scanning use-cases.

Contents

• Installation
• Demo App
• Account Setup
• Available scan types
• Scan a Single Photo
• Scan a Camera Stream
• Scan a QR code value only
• Full Scan Options
• Example Scenarios

Installation

In addition to the instructions below, make sure to also install the evrythng.js (or evrythng-extended.js) SDKs according to their instructions.

npm

Install the scanthng npm module:

npm i -D scanthng

Include using a script tag:

<script src="./node_modules/scanthng/dist/scanthng.js"></script>

CDN Distribution

Add the script tag to your HTML page, specifying the version you will use:

<script src="https://d10ka0m22z5ju5.cloudfront.net/js/scanthng/4.14.0/scanthng-4.14.0.js"></script>

Supported Devices

The following browsers are currently supported by scanthng.js, based on support for getUserMedia().

• Chrome 53+
• Safari 11+
• Firefox 36+
• Edge 17+
• Firefox for Android 62+
• Safari for iOS 11+
• IE 10+ (except scanStream())

Demo App

Check out our scanthng.js demo app to see how barcode scanning works in the browser on desktop and mobile devices. You can use the example Application API Key or your own key to test scanning all the supported barcode types. Scan the QR code below to open the demo app on your phone:

Account Setup

scanthng.js is designed for recognition of EVRYTHNG products and Thngs via the Identifier Recognition API.

Before using this can be done you will need:

• An EVRYTHNG Dashboard account.
• A project and application within that account.
• One or more products or Thngs that have redirections and identifiers set corresponding to the type chosen (see below).

In order to be recognised when scanned, an EVRYTHNG product or Thng must have a redirection set up. Depending on the method and type of code selections, some identifiers to associate the item with barcodes such as DataMatrix or UPC/EAN 13 etc. are required.

For example, to associate a Thng with a datamatrix code:

{
  "name": "Test Pallet",
  "tags": ["demo"],
  "identifiers": {
    "dm": "84289433"
  }
}

or associating a product with an EAN-13 barcode:

{
  "name": "Iain M. Banks - Excession",
  "tags": ["books"],
  "brands": ["Orbit"],
  "identifiers": {
    "ean_13": "9781857234572"
  }
}

Available scan types

The full range of method and type parameters are listed below:

method: 2d

types available:

• dm
• qr_code

method: 1d

types available:

• codabar
• code_11
• code_39
• code_93
• code_128
• ean_8
• ean_13
• industr_25
• itf
• rss_14
• rss_expanded
• rss_limited
• upc_a
• upc_e

Note: You can use method: 1d and type: auto after including zxing-js/browser to perform decoding of 1D barcodes locally, instead of via the API.

method: digimarc

types available:

• gs1:01 - Watermarks containing GTIN match to gs1:01 product identifiers.
• gs1:21 - Watermarks containing Serial or Extra data match to gs1:21 Thng identifiers.
• serialized - Watermarks containing GTIN and Serial/Extra Data. Same as gs1:21, except Thng and product are both verified as linked.
• discover - Watermarks containing a 'discover-type' payload match to digimarc:discover Thng identifiers.

When scanning with method: digimarc, the following imageConversion configuration in option is recommended, and will be used if not specified explicitly:

imageConversion: {
  greyscale: false,
  exportFormat: 'image/jpeg',
  resizeTo: 1080,
  exportQuality: 0.85,
}

Additionally, make use of pre-imported discover.js with the useDiscover option to only send frames to the API when there is a high chance of decoding a Digimarc watermark. You can also get notified when detection results are available:

useDiscover: true,
onWatermarkDetected: (discoverResult) => console.log(discoverResult),

If useDiscover is enabled, make sure you also include discover.js and associated libraries as well.

Scan a Single Photo

Note: Due to browser security features, the scan() or scanStream() methods (without supplied image) Base64 data must be called as a result of a user action - a click event handler or similar.

Use the scan() method on an SDK scope to scan for a barcode or QR code. This method will use either the device's camera app, or a file browser depending on what is supported and available.

// Operator, Application, or AccessToken can be used
const operator = new evrythng.Operator(APP_API_KEY);

operator.scan({
  // Specify the code type to be identified
  filter: { method: '2d', type: 'qr_code' },
})
  .then(res => console.log(`Results: ${JSON.stringify(res)}`))
  .catch(err => console.log(err));

If photo data is already obtained, the raw Base64 format data can also be scanned without taking a new photo:

// Image converted to Base64 from disk or Canvas (truncated for brevity)
const base64 = 'data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQE...';

// Scan the data
operator.scan(base64)
  .then(res => console.log(`Results: ${JSON.stringify(res)}`))
  .catch(err => console.log(err));

See the Matching and Response section to see the expected response format. Both the recognised Thngs/products and metadata about the scan attempt is returned. An example is shown below:

[
  {
    "results": [
      {
        "redirections": [
          "https://tn.gg/Q9Wqcg4w"
        ],
        "product": {
          "id": "UYKNDMGcswyFBdf6wr7M5Erm",
          "properties": {},
          "name": "Box of Cereals",
          "identifiers": {}
        }
      }
    ],
    "meta": {
      "method": "2d",
      "score": 100,
      "value": "https://tn.gg/Q9Wqcg4w",
      "type": "qr_code"
    }
  }
]

Scan a Camera Stream

For a more seamless user experience, we recommend scanning for barcodes from a device's camera stream, similar to the default experience in modern mobile barcode scanners including Google Lens and the iOS Camera app. This is achieved simply by using the scanStream() method instead of scan(), with a slightly different HTML page structure.

This method uses client-side libraries to scan a video stream for QR codes or 1D barcodes locally in the browser via the native getUserMedia() Web API. To use the scanStream() method, make sure you add the required library to your project and include it with a <script> tag, for example:

<!-- For QR codes (method=2d type=qr_code) use jsQR -->
<script src="./lib/jsQR.js"></script>

<!-- For 1D barcodes (method=1d type=auto) use zxing-js/browser -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/@zxing/browser@0.0.3"></script>

Then, specify the id of a container such as a <div> that the SDK can insert the camera viewfinder <video> element into. This <video> should be styled as desired to fit the application experience.

<div id="stream_container">
  <!-- video will be inserted here -->
</div>

This container is then used when calling scanStream(). The results are in the same format as for the scan() method.

// Scan locally for QR codes in a video stream every half-second
operator.scanStream({
  filter: { method: '2d', type: 'qr_code' },
  containerId: 'stream_container',
  interval: 500,
})
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

Note: specifying other method and type combinations to method=2d and type=qr_code will still use the camera stream, but will query the web API instead of analysing the image locally, and at a slower rate by default (300ms vs 2000ms). The minimum scan rate for non-native scanning is 500ms.

Scan a QR code value only

If all you want to do is scan a QR code for a string representation, and do not require any kind of lookup of the corresponding Thng or product in the EVRYTHNG Platform, use convenience scanQrCode() method. This is similar to scanStream() available from an SDK scope (see above), but doesn't communicate with the Platform to enrich the results.

Similar to the example above, a specified container ID is used, instead calling scanQrCode() with no SDK scope required. The result in this case is a single string decoded from the observed QR code.

ScanThng.scanQrCode('stream_container')
  .then(console.log)
  .catch(console.log);

The scanner can be stopped at any time:

ScanThng.stopScanQrCode();

Full Scan Options

This section details all of the available options values that can be passed to scan() or scanStream() when performing a scan.

Name	Type	Default	Description
filter	object	Required	Contains the method and type for the type of code to scan. See above for all available values.
autoStop	boolean	true	Stop the stream and remove the video when the first scan result is obtained.
onScanResult	function	None	When autostop=false, get multiple results using this callback. You must stop the video stream manually.
useDiscover	boolean	false	(Digimarc only) Use discover.js to detect a watermark and only send likely frames to be decoded. Saves on bandwidth.
onWatermarkDetected	function	None	Callback to be notifed when a frame may contain a watermark. Useful for showing in the UI when something is detected and a result is expected soon after.
useZxing	boolean	false	(1D only) Use zxing-js/browser to decode locally. Check which code types are supported in src/utils.js. Currently, version 0.0.3 should be used to prevent issues on iOS.
idealWidth	number	1920	Request an ideal video stream width, which may be honored by the browser.
idealHeight	number	1080	Request an ideal video stream height, which may be honored by the browser.
imageConversion	object	See media.js	Optional constraints for how a single image scan photo is processed before being sent to the API.
imageConversion.greyscale	boolean	true	Convert the image to greyscale which can yield better results.
imageConversion.resizeTo	number	1000	Sets the maximum size of the smaller dimension of the image.
imageConversion.exportQuality	number	0.8	Sets the quality of exported image in relation to the original with 1 being the original quality.
imageConversion.exportFormat	string	image/png	Sets the format of exported image, possible values are image/png and image/jpeg.
imageConversion.cropPercent	number	0	(Digimarc only) Specify a square crop percentage. For example, 0.1 to crop 10% of each edge.
invisible	boolean	true	Hide the input element used to prompt for file upload.
offline	boolean	false	Do not attempt to resolve the scanned URL as an EVRYTHNG resource.
createAnonymousUser	boolean	false	(Application scope only) Try to create an Anonymous User.
debug	boolean	false	Include debug information in the response.
downloadFrames	boolean	false	(API only) Prompt a file download for each frame just before the request is sent. Useful for debugging image format/quality.
onScanFrameData	function	None	Callback to receive video frame when a scan value was decoded, for local scan types only.

Example Scenarios

Scan an image and redirect to URL (using redirections short URL).

operator.scan({
  filter: { method: '2d', type: 'qr_code' },
}).then((matches) => {
  const result = matches[0].results[0];

  // Redirect the browser (this will create an implicitScan action)
  return operator.redirect(result.redirections[0]);
});

Scan an image, then create a scan action and redirect to URL (using reaction URL). createAnonymousUser is required!

operator.scan({
  filter: { method: '2d', type: 'dm' },
  createAnonymousUser: true,
}).then((matches) => {
  const result = matches[0].results[0];

  // Action made as an Anonymous User
  return result.thng.action('scans').create();
}).then((action) => {
  console.log(action);
  return operator.redirect(action.reactions[0].redirectUrl);
});

Try to recognize the product, correct the incorrectly decoded value returned and try and identify the product again. In this example, 0 was omitted from the start of the barcode.

operator.scan({
  filter: { method: '1d', type: `ean_13` },
}).then(matches => {
  const meta = matches[0].meta;

  return operator.identify({
    filter: {
      // Correct the value originally decoded
      value: '0' + meta.value,
      type: meta.type,
    }
  });
}).then((matches) => {
  const result = matches[0].results[0];
  console.log(result);
});

More Documentation

Check the Identifier Recognition API page for full details on the EVRYTHNG Platform API behind the scenes of this SDK.

Testing

The test directories contain simple pages that allow quick testing of SDK functionality. See their respective README.md files for more details.

Third-party Software

We use these great software projects help us build this one:

• jsQR.js (under Apache 2.0)

• zxing-js/browser (under MIT)