Setting up Barcode Scanners

How to setup your Barcode Scanner

• Plug the device into windows.
• Find the device in "Devices and Printers" in windows
• Look at properties for the device (Hardware > Properties)
• Find the Hardware ID (Properties > Details > Hardware ID -There may be multiple).
• Enter the Hardware ID into SaaSplications - "Settings > Devices Tab"
  • List Keyboards - will show all keyboards found on this computer
  • Look for the Hardware ID - it will be part of the string shown for one of the devices
  • Select this device in the list and press Mark Selected as Barcode Scanner

Has the scanner already be configured to send a suffix of Enter ?

1. Add a suffix - (of enter).  Basically this puts a carriage return at the end of the number scanned so the screen then actions the information
   1. From the manual for your scanner
      1. Scan options
      2. Data Suffix
      3. Enter

To test the scanner

• Open Notepad
  • Scan a Barcode - see if it finds the numbers and puts them into wordpad
  • Scan the barcode again - see if it creates a new line for the next scan.
• The scanner is working and ready for use

Troubleshooting your Scanner

What can go wrong with a barcode scanner?  A barcode scanner works the same way as a keyboard - simply typing into a field on the screen.

Is our system aware of it?

1. Our system simply sees it as a keyboard - NAV > System > Settings > Devices... in our system to your settings and look for the keyboard with "VID" in the key - ensure this is selected.  (we select this by default but check this anyway).

What complicates a scanner?

Scanners range from the simple to complicated.  Basically they look at a set of lines and convert it to a set of numbers - then pass the numbers to the screen with added characters.  

1. What Symbology is it looking at?
   1. When a scanner sees a set of lines they need to decide if they recognise the code - this is like a person looking at letters on a page and deciding if they know the language.  It could be greek, english, latin, spanish etc.  For a scanner it could be lots of different languages see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode#Types_of_barcodes
   2. To make the scanner faster - it is best if it is only looking for a small number of languages
2. Have you programmed it to append the return (and nothing else) - normally this involves the scanner manual and some software
   1. We get a carriage return appended to the end of the number so our system takes action once the number is entered
3. Is it beeping or flashing at you in unusual ways?  Check the manual to find out what it is trying to tell you.
4. Is it wireless - does it need batteries - are they charged?  A Battery failure may not be obvious.