Barcode-dying need

[makbd]

Hi,
Can any body help me????

I am developing a invetory software that will use barcode. I need the feature of printing and reading barcode from my software.

Please help telling the the best hardware to use for that and the barcoding system.

Any tips most well come

Thank in advance

kashem

[honeybee]

To read barcodes, you have to use the barcode scanner or barcode reader. From my experience, you don't need any drivers or any other special software for using the input of the barcode scanner in your application. Your application will receive the input as if the user had typed in the characters. At the end of the barcode, the reader may send an Enter keystroke (in VB terms).

For printing barcodes, you can use either barcode fonts or barcode ActiveX controls. If you are making a commercial software, it will be better to go for a commercial barcode ActiveX control. To use the control, you need to specify the barcode symbology (such as Code 39) and the value of the barcode as a string. You will store this value for each inventory item in your database. In the application, you can drop the ActiveX control on a form and display the barcode graphic after reading the barcode value from the database. This would work just like a normal process. The control will most probably have its own methods of printing the barcodes on paper. You can use any printer that suits your needs, including inkjet. You will have to experiment with the best printer settings, by first taking a printout and then trying to make the reader read the printed barcode. Else you could use a thermal barcode printer (for which you would need its driver to be installed). The ActiveX control should be able to let you customize the size of a single barcode label.

Hope that's helpful.

.

[nkad]

dying indeed...

[nkad]

At the end of the barcode, the reader may send an Enter keystroke (in VB terms).

Also, to do that most barcode readers come with a flip book of functions that you scan to program the reader to get it to do various things like, return an Enter key or specify the type of barcode format that will be scanned.