A few months ago I wrote a series of articles (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) about barcode scanning in FileMaker Go 12. With the release of FileMaker 13, barcode scanning is now a native feature. There is no longer any need for the FileMaker Pro URL protocol and extra iOS applications.
In FileMaker 13, there is a new “Insert from Device” script step. The action is simple. Select the target field, a container, and from which device you want to insert (music library, photo library, camera, video camera, microphone, and signature).
Once you insert the barcode, you can get information about the barcode using the GetAsText( ) and GetContainerAttribute( ) functions. The former gets only the contents; the latter gets the contents and type of barcode.
There are currently 16 supported barcode types including QR Codes.
With barcode scanning now natively supported in FileMaker 13, there are more reasons to use FileMaker Go for inventory tracking and management.
For the purposes of barcode scanning, the target field can also be a text field — the decoded barcode gets inserted in the text field.
We still believe that a hardware scanner is still faster and more accurate than scanning with the camera on a device. We sell a wide variety of Bluetooth barcode scanners, as well as RFID readers that work with FileMaker out of the box. http://store.zerobluetech.com.
I’m considering using FMP13 to extract text from many documents which I have scanned (PDFs) that integrate in an area thereof, barcodes. Is it possible to introduce these PDFs in a container field and can recognize such barcodes? Or you need to use Filemaker Go and Camera iPhone / iPad to do this?
You might be able to accomplish this with a plugin. I saw might because I have not tried it, and so I don’t know for sure. There are at least two plugins that I know of that let you work with PDF content. One is Monkey Bread Software‘s plugin, the other is from Productive Computing. The latter lets you download a trial so you can test what you seek to accomplish.
Thanks Anders. The first of what you mention me too expensive, and its functionality is limited, as it requires making image cropping to recognize the barcode. And the second is not particularly solves what I need. For now, I renounce it. However, thanks for your directions.
Ric
Sorry it didn’t work out, Ric. It seems like a tricky and unique scenario.
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Anders
Great info and articles. Thank you! Unfortunately, the new FM 13 does not support scanning of PDF417 barcodes directly, which are often used at trade shows. So is it possible to help me by updating your older article series (Scanning Barcodes and More with FileMaker Go) so that FileMaker Go works with an app called PDF417 by PhotoPay (http://pdf417.mobi) or Barcode Scanners by Manatee Works, Inc. using the Open URL script step? Just can’t figure out how to get either of these to work.
Jason – As you mentioned, FileMaker Go 13 does not support scanning PDF417 barcodes using the Insert from Device script step. An alternative is to use a Bluetooth scanner with the iOS device. The following link is a list of barcode scanners that work with FileMaker Go from ZeroBlue.
http://store.zerobluetech.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=pdf417
PhotoPay just released a Pro version of PDF417.mobi app that can scan PDF417 barcodes and supports custom URL scheme. Here is the app and here are the docs.
Disclaimer: I work for PhotoPay.
Sasa – Thanks for sharing the iOS app.
Thank you Anders,
One question, out of the list of barcodes types that can be used, which one would you say is the easiest & fastest to be read from an iOS device (iPhone or iPad)?
Al
Al – There are a few things that can impact the scanning accuracy with an iOS device:
– Lighting level in the room
– Placement of the barcode on the object
– Quality of camera in the device (ex. iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 5S)
If scanning speed is important, you may want to consider a separate Bluetooth scanner.
Thank you for the informative article.
How about the creation of the bar code itself? I had been experimenting with a single seat plug-in (https://www.peninsula-group.com/barcode_filemaker/default.html) running on my v12 server. I’m about to migrate to FMPS-13, and this plug-in is not 64 bit, so it will not work. What is the best practices solution for creating the printable barcodes in the 1st place?
Alan – Other options to generate barcodes are the FileMaker plugin or iOS app from CNS plugins.
https://www.cnsplug-ins.com/Plug-ins/CNS_Barcode
https://www.cnsplug-ins.com/iOS/CNS_Barcode
Unfortunately FileMaker Go 13 still has no way to give audible cues as to what was just scanned. There is only the ‘beep’ command, for which there is not even a volume control.
Courtesy of Excelysis, here’s a demo file for creating linear (aka 1D) barcodes: http://excelisys.com/custom/stuff/filemaker-tips-and-tricks/
2D (aka QR) codes you can generate with Google’s Chart API.
https://developers.google.com/chart/infographics/docs/qr_codes
Nice! Very elegant
Louis – A couple of ways around this limitation are to use a Bluetooth barcode scanner or the CNS Barcode app. In the meantime, please submit this as a feature request to FMI.
http://www.filemaker.com/company/contact/feature_request.html
Does anyone know how to use the front camera instead of the back?
Bernard – In FileMaker 13, you can specify which camera you want to use for the Insert From Device script step when you specify “Insert Barcode”.
Hi there! It is just fine to scan a barcode within FMpro13, … but what about generate it? I’ve heard that with FMpro 13 you can generate native barcode (without any font or plugin). How does it work?