Using a 2D barcode scanner instead of the camera

[DanielDM325]

Hello,

We make custom made self scan kiosks using Android tablets. We are wondering if it's possible to scan QR codes using an infrared 2D barcode scanner hooked up (or integrated directly into the device) instead of using the regular built-in camera. I have noticed a similar issue posted in August in which the support for Zebra devices were mentioned and plans the expand support in general for dedicated barcode scanners. I am wondering how the progress regarding this issue is. Ideally we would like to hook up an external barcode scanner which returns the QR code content as a keyboard input. Is this possible?

Thank you for your time.

Daniel

[modest-mark]

Same requirement is here! Fully agree to the advantage of this hardware possibiltiy.

Every 2D barcode scanner can decode pretty fast and decoding the QR does take less effort.

Thanks for considering!

Mark

[ijansch]

We have tried keyboard input but the qr data is too big for keyboard entry. It takes quite a while. A better option is via CDC, which we are evaluating. Would your scanner be able to work in CDC mode?

[modest-mark]

That would surely help! Most scanners have something like this

If not we can make minor alterations to see if it can be optimized.

[DanielDM325]

We have tried keyboard input but the qr data is too big for keyboard entry. It takes quite a while. A better option is via CDC, which we are evaluating. Would your scanner be able to work in CDC mode?

Hello ijansch,

Could you elaborate a bit more on the CDC option? I see you mentioned capturing the input as keyboard input. But if I take a look at the code it seems either a camera or zebra scannner is used to setup the scanner. If I launch the app on a Android device without a camera the app simply crashes. Your profile mentions you are a member of minvws. Any idea when this option will be rolled out or how it's progressing?

Thank you for your time.