How can I get text data from Handheld QR code scanner?

Question

I am using honeywell barcode scanner(HF680). And I connected it to my Android Device(Desktop). I need to get the scanned data as text. It works like keyboard. So, It seems like I can't get the data internally like Camera Scanning.

How can I approach this?

I don't think Honeywell's supporting SDK nor Document. I can't find it.

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 07 '20 at 08:19

1

The easiest way is probably to use an EditText. The scanner input will go into it when it is focused. You can then read it from there.

answered Dec 07 '20 at 08:19

Henry

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Yes, I can get it but I want to manage the data internally(not visible). I can make the text and EditText white or invisible. However, I think it's not a good approach, I want it to work internally like QR scanner camera. Ex. as soon as it detects and decode the code then, it logs in automatically with the user data in QR code. I don't want the user to click a button after scan. – c-an Dec 07 '20 at 08:57
@c-an did you find any way? – Sushant Somani Dec 02 '21 at 03:20
@Sushant Somani yes sure. – c-an Dec 02 '21 at 04:19
can you share with me? – Sushant Somani Dec 02 '21 at 05:24
I added the answer. @SushantSomani – c-an Dec 02 '21 at 08:31
@c-an how are you getting these characters? – Sushant Somani Dec 02 '21 at 08:33

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 02 '21 at 08:31

It depends on the port you use. HF680 provides two different ports. If you use USB then, you can't use serial input. But it acts as keyboard. So, you can onKeyDown method.

    val barcode = StringBuilder("")

    override fun onKeyDown(keyCode: Int, event: KeyEvent?): Boolean {
        // TODO: add up the chars
        barcode.append(...)
        return super.onKeyDown(keyCode, event)
    }

And generally, scanners provides some feature that indicates the end such as '\n' or Enter key or special characters. Otherwise, you can set a receiving time so that after a few milliseconds it wouldn't append the string.

Hi do you have any sample related to getting the barcode scanner output while waiting for a few milliseconds? — SVG, Jan 13 '23 at 08:13

Sanjay TM · Answer 3 · 2023-03-02T12:42:35.583

Its good to use dispatchKeyEvent than onKeyDown.
Because, dispatchKeyEvent() will pass the event to onKeyListener if there is activity. This is when onKey() is called.

private var barcode = ""
override fun dispatchKeyEvent(event: android.view.KeyEvent): Boolean {
    
    val c = event.unicodeChar

    //accept 0-9, A-Z, a-z, " " and "enter"
    if (c in 48..57 || c in 65..90 || c in 97..122 || c == 10 || c == 32) {
      if(event.action == 0) {
        if (c in 48..57 || c in 65..90 || c in 97..122 || c == 32) {
          barcode += c.toChar()
        } else {
          if (barcode != "") {
            val bar = barcode
            barcode = ""
            Toast.makeText(this, "Barcode: $bar", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
            Log.i(TAG, "Barcode: $bar")
          }
        }
      }
    }
    return true
}

How can I get text data from Handheld QR code scanner?

3 Answers3