Bar Code Experiences...?

[Jerremy]

Hello all.

I'm gathering info on bar codes and FileMaker... Please post your experiences, good and bad. We are running Macs with FM 5.

I'd like to use the codes to scan in/out graphics as they are shipping out, then received back after use.

Any suggestions on systems, scanners?

Thanks for your help!

Jerremy

[LiveOak]

This is kind of a "tell me eveything you know about printers..." question or a "which car should I buy" question. It really depends upon exactly what you are trying to do. It's easier to answer a specific question than relate all of the barcode systems I have done for the Mac! Scanners depends upon the Mac interface (ADB or USB). Printers depend upon what label, material, adheasive and how many labels at a time you wish to print. -bd

[LiveOak]

All you need is a barcode scanner and a way to print. Welch Allyn makes a USB scanner (Imageteam 3800i). If printing multiple labels at one time on paper is acceptable, a barcode font and a laser printer will work fine. If you need to print on more exotic materials or print one label at a time, you'll need a more specialized printer. Barcodes (one dimensional) are a character by character translation of text. Barcodes lenght is practically limited by how long a code the scanner can scan at its maximum distance. Two dimensional barcodes can scan a lot more data (a paragraph), but require special printers and scanners. Two in common use are Maxicode (UPS bullseye pattern) and PDF417. The scanner attaches to the computer keyboard interface (most often). A scanned barcode looks to the computer like someone typing on the keyboard. Some scanners are capable of being programmed to append a preable and a postscript to the scanned characters (command-1 to run a script).

-bd

[Jerremy]

Hello again:

Some more info:

We are a trade show exhibit design/fab company. I would like to set up a system that when a graphic or crate leaves for a show, it is scanned out... and when it returns, it is scanned back in. All of our graphics and crates have a unique number and are tracked manually with a FM database.

We have new macs, so we would need a USB scanner, and we would print the labels on our laser printer (or will we need a special printer)?

I'm also looking to understand how these systems work.... How much info can be stored on a barcode? Are the systems that I see, like "Barcodet" just barcode fonts that, based on a calc, create the data that the scanner can read? When a code is scanned, what happens...?

I'm trying to learn how the process works, and what scanners/systems work the best.

Thanks for your help!

Jerremy

[Jerremy]

Thanks for the info bd!

-Jerremy

[CaelC]

Another thing to consider is that if your code is stuck to something that is not absolutely flat, you'll need to use a laser scanner which is a bit more costly than other types. If your code is stuck to something flat, you can get by just fine with a CCD scanner or even a super inexpensive pen scanner.

I use code 39 (a.k.a. "Interleaved 3 of 9"). It is perfect for holding my six digit inventory codes. I am tracking sculpture so I use a laser scanner.

Another thing to remember is that a standard bar code (not 2D which is slightly different) is vertically redundant. So, if you lose the top 75% of a code, you can still scan it accurately. If you lose either of the ends at all, the code won't work. When I say "lose" I mean if it gets ripped off in handling, etc. I think all bar codes (except maybe 2D) can also be scanned with complete accuracy upside down which is also nice.

I print on custom made little laser labels (120 per page) with a regular laser printer.

I just bought the code 39 font then used an incredibly simple calculation to add an asterisk to the front and back of the inventory number, display that calculated field in the code 39 font and it's ready to print.

My "Wedge" (the box that hooks up to the computer that the scanner then plugs in to) allows for extra programming like running scripts, creating new records, etc. after a number scans. I have also printed handy laminated sheets that contain commands that can be scanned at will so that nearly the whole process of inventory reconciliation can be controlled at the scanner. For example, you can print a barcode which when scanned behaves as if you have hit "Return" on your keyboard, command-N, command-E, etc. etc.

It's great! I've used the same system and same laser scanner/wedge for over 5 years with ZERO down time!

There's lots more but I hope this helps you get started,

Cael.

[Jerremy]

Thanks for all your help.

I purchased the WelchAllyn 3800PDF-12. I'm having lots of fun zapping barcodes.

I have a few more questions, I hope you all can share your thoughts.

The next step for us is to start adding bar codes to our properties... If I understand the printing of the barcodes, I would need to purchase a PDF417 font from somewhere, set up a calc field in FM to take the data I want to be coded into the bar code, and set that field's font as the PDF417 font...?

bd, you mentioned the scan triggering a script. Would that be bar code scanner specific, or could that be added to, say, the start of the bar code to trigger a script to enter find mode, go to a field, scan the code, and then perform the find...?

...Anyone have any experiences using a PDF417 font on the Mac... If so, how does it work for you, and where did you purchase it?

Thanks for all your help!

-Jerremy

[Jerremy]

Hello again bd:

The scanner we purchased does read the PDF417 code. We have been scanning them without a problem. We chose this one because it could read those codes.

Thanks for the website and the other info. I will check it out!

[LiveOak]

Oops! Yup, I was thinking of the 3800i.

-bd

[LiveOak]

I don't have any experience with PDF417 or the other 2D barcodes. I do know that your current scanner won't handle these symbologies. The 2D symbologies are a lot more complex than just a character by character replacement of text (they are not a font). They include such things as character count and error correction information on a message wide basis. To generate PDF417, you will need a FM plug-in. Take a look at www.oo7.net.

To trigger a script, the postable is added as a scanner programming option and is scanner specific. I don't know if there is a Code 39 printable ASCII code equivalent for the Command key. It's usually not done this way as it adds to the length of the barcode symbology required.

-bd

[sparling]

We just did a move, using bar codes for assets. We entered the assets,moved them, then checked them in.

All you need:

1.handheld scanner (we used posiflex 2820 off ebay $99USD)

2.computer (we used toshiba laptop)

3.filemaker 5.

4.pre-printed bar code labels ("Codabar" 'cause they're common).

The scanner works as keyboard wedge, so your application thinks it's a keyboard. We set the scanner to a "tab" as a post-amble character, to let us jump to the next field, once we had scanned.

I took pieces of cardboard and mounted labels:

1.employee names and a bar code label number for each.

2.asset types and a bar code label number for each.

3.We put a label on each asset.

I set up three simple databases:

1. name and number

2. asset type and number

3.a database that took bar code 1 (employee name), bar code 2 (asset type)and bar code 3 (asset). I added a "check-in and check-out" radio button.

All that was needed in database 3 was a check out layout:

Scan employee number off card and return name for feedback (from dB 1).

Scan asset type off card and return number for feedback (from dB 2).

Scan asset number and script a automatic 'set field "check-out"'.

So checking out an item was three scans. bleep,bleep,bleep.

The checking-in layout was a single bleep of the asset tag, which returned the name and asset type. All other fields locked out. Again a script to automatically set the check-in button.

The bottom line: cheap, efficient.

Hope this helps.

LS

[LiveOak]

Some months back I created license plate (just unique numbers) labels for a client and labeled all their capital assets. Office Depot has polyester labels in sheets which are more durable than paper and print on a laser printer. Inventory was performed using a Symbol Palm Pilot (built in barcode scanner) and the Palm JFile database. For each asses the tag and ofter serial number could be scanned and the location picked from a pull-down menu (take that FM Companion). The inventory was synchronized with a FM Inventory file using FMSync (for Mac).

-bd

[LiveOak]

Jesse is correct on PDF-417. It is NOT a character by character translation to a font. The plug-ins and such for FM that create PDF-417 process a whole "message" in total in combination with the desired redundancy to produce and return the PDF-417 graphic. It is definitely overkill if a system is at hand to relate a simple label code to a record in a database.

-bd

[Expression836]

I have installed systems using PDF-417 for the rail industry and have found them to be more of a pain than a blessing.

If you NEVER change the information about the items in the database that are being tagged, you should not have a problem, but as in my industry, there are modifications to the description or rev level that makes using PDF-417 painful.

Regarding the redundancy - my opinion is that is it's selling point. You can specify the amount of redundnacy individually to each label. We base our redundancy on the operating environment of the equipment being tagged.

PDF-417 is dynamic, that the information in the 2D code is the actual label data, unlike code 128, 39, et al which its bar code represents a alphanumeric value which is then cross referenced in an external database to identify what the label is identifying. Another selling point is that PDF-417 labels can help untrained users to identify materials without being "connected" to a "system" when they do not know what they are looking at. Some BC readers/decoders that can handle PDF-417 have LCD displays that can show the exact information on the label. This aids our technicians in the identification of rarely used parts.

In my opinion, PDF-417 is overkill for point-of-sale transactions. You could have just purchased a royalty free 128, UPC, 39 etc. font (for the printing), a label printer and a medium range CCD or laser scanner.

When I installed Oracle Applications for a different job, I had to pass data from my DB app to a third party aplication for the encoding. From my understanding of the code, there is no corresponding font to print data from a field. The data needs to be parsed and recalculated into a true graphic. That graphic could be copied and pasted into a container field in FM for quick retrieval, but if there is any data on the label that should change from label to label, such as serial numbers, you'll need to create a new "graphic" for each item.