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Let's say I have a USB magnetic card reader

(http://image.ec21.com/image/szttce09/oimg_GC03950917_CA03950946/Triple_Track_USB_Magnetic_Credit_Card_Reader.jpg)

I am running windows 10 on my machine. All I want to do is read data from the magnetic card and use that data in a java Application. How can I do this ? I heard the java communications api is suitable for what I want. How exactly do I use this api or any other api to read data from the card reader and show that data in my java application. Assume I have eclipse opened. Now what? Do I import the communications api ? If yes , what do I do next ? If you can give a simple example of how to do this it would be greatly appreciated.

Abbas Baydoun
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The first thing to do is search the internet for a Java library, which allows you to communicate with that device. Put in the model and serial number, and see what comes up. If nothing comes up, and that is quite likely to happen, you will need to find the native driver, and wrap it in Java.

This is not normally a straight forward or easy process. When dealing with third party hardware, most vendors don't supply a little Java library that you can use. If you can find the native drivers, you can wrap them from C to Java, but you might not even be able to find the drivers at all.

Start by going to the manufacturer's page, and looking around. If you find the driver, great. If you find documentation for the driver, even better. You will need to read the documentation, and understand how to use the driver from C code, which implicitly requires you to have a basic understanding of C.

Then you will need to link it in to Java, using the Java Native Interface.

In Summary: If it didn't say "For Java developers" in the description when you bought it, you're going to have to do a lot of work just to get it usable in Java.

Andrew Williamson
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  • Thank you so much. I'm new to this stuff and learning I don't get why so many people automatically vote down my questions. I thought stack overflow was a place I can ask questions and learn. I'm starting not to like it that much. Thanks really for being helpful. – Abbas Baydoun Dec 24 '15 at 00:41
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    No worries. Most of the time, questions are down voted because they are so broad, there is no real answer. I think they at least deserve a comment asking for refinement, if not an answer. – Andrew Williamson Dec 24 '15 at 07:55