Barcodes, magnetic cards, etc.
Good morning, people. I was wondering, can Zope interface to barcodes, magnetic cards (e.g. credit cards) and other common shop-"accessories"? Feedback is greatly appretiated :)
Erik Enge wrote:
Good morning, people.
I was wondering, can Zope interface to barcodes, magnetic cards (e.g. credit cards) and other common shop-"accessories"?
Feedback is greatly appretiated :)
zope is a great integration platform. anything you can touch in python either through natively, swigged(www.swig.org), or just plain old intefaced(piped shell call, xml-rpc, etc) you can play with in zope. kapil
[Kapil Thangavelu] | zope is a great integration platform. anything you can touch in python | either through natively, Is there a repository or somesuch where I would find a more complete index of all devices Python can interface to?
On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote:
[Kapil Thangavelu]
| zope is a great integration platform. anything you can touch in python | either through natively,
Is there a repository or somesuch where I would find a more complete index of all devices Python can interface to?
Well, you could start at http://www.python.org and go from there. Try the search link. Their link to Vaults of Parnassus is good, too. http://www.vex.net/parnassus/ Curtis.
On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote:
Good morning, people.
I was wondering, can Zope interface to barcodes, magnetic cards (e.g. credit cards) and other common shop-"accessories"?
Well, I have used Zope with a Barcode scanner. Since the scanner (as do most) work via the keyboard, AS a keyboard, there is really nothing special to do. We did include some JavaScript to make the focus change when ENTER is hit, since the scanner sends that at then end of a scan. <input type="text" name="name" onKeyUp="if (event.which == 13) { document.forms[0].NextField.focus(); }">
Feedback is greatly appretiated :)
From what I can find (working for a company that sells barcode and mag stripe scanners) you should have little trouble finding either that will interface as a keyboard.
Have a better one, Curtis Maloney <dtml-var standard_work_disclaimer>
[Curtis Maloney] | Well, I have used Zope with a Barcode scanner. Since the scanner | (as do most) work via the keyboard, AS a keyboard, there is really | nothing special to do. Ok, so it translates the barcodes to a string or what? Which scanner was this? Product, model type, etc. | From what I can find (working for a company that sells barcode and | mag stripe scanners) you should have little trouble finding either | that will interface as a keyboard. What is the mainstream format for the codes when the are scanned in? | Have a better one, I will - you too :)
On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote:
[Curtis Maloney]
| Well, I have used Zope with a Barcode scanner. Since the scanner | (as do most) work via the keyboard, AS a keyboard, there is really | nothing special to do.
Ok, so it translates the barcodes to a string or what?
No, it types the barcode, as if it were a keyboard. MOST barcode scanners I've encountered (Intermech, Symbol, various others) plug into AT or PS/2 keyboard ports, and act exactly as keyboards.
Which scanner was this? Product, model type, etc.
Check out http://www.umd.com.au/contents.html
| From what I can find (working for a company that sells barcode and | mag stripe scanners) you should have little trouble finding either | that will interface as a keyboard.
What is the mainstream format for the codes when the are scanned in?
I don't understand what you mean.
| Have a better one,
I will - you too :)
Curtis.
[Curtis Maloney] | On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote: | > What is the mainstream format for the codes when the are scanned in? | > | I don't understand what you mean. Are the barcodes usually a collection of integers, characters, special characters or what? And, by the way, do you know if there exist a magnetic card scanner that plugs in to the PS/2? And if yes, which information would get from such a card? Just a number, or are there other possibilities? Thanks.
On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote:
[Curtis Maloney]
| On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote: | > What is the mainstream format for the codes when the are scanned in? | | I don't understand what you mean.
Are the barcodes usually a collection of integers, characters, special characters or what?
Ah.. now we come to the interesting parts. (o8 Different barcode character sets contain different symbols. Mostly, however, they will contain letters and numbers. Take a look at an item with a barcode, and you will see a string underneath it. This is the human readable form of the barcode.
And, by the way, do you know if there exist a magnetic card scanner that plugs in to the PS/2? And if yes, which information would get from such a card? Just a number, or are there other possibilities?
What is on the card is, strangely enough, what is on the card. Magstripe readers commonly interface to ps/2 keyboard ports via a 'chok' or 'wedge', which just plugs inline with your regular keyboard.
Thanks.
Not a problem. Curtis.
On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Erik Enge wrote:
And, by the way, do you know if there exist a magnetic card scanner that plugs in to the PS/2? And if yes, which information would get from such a card? Just a number, or are there other possibilities?
[Curtis Maloney]
What is on the card is, strangely enough, what is on the card. Magstripe readers commonly interface to ps/2 keyboard ports via a 'chok' or 'wedge', which just plugs inline with your regular keyboard.
Several vendors (afair, Keytronic and Cherry at least) make keyboards with integrated magnetic or smart card readers, both in regular PS/2 format as well as smaller keyboards for the POS (cash register) market. In effect, these keyboards behave such that when you swipe a card, the contents of the selected track (magnetic cards usually have three tracks, see the relevant ISO standards for details) is "typed". Often, the magnetic card data is prefixed by an identifier, but that's about it. If you swipe a card (or scan a barcode with your keyboard-attached barcode reader) while in a text editor, you'll see what the reader "types" just as if the user typed it. Most of the barcodes are standardized, albeit by different standards bodies. UPC, EAN and such are used on food cans and the like. 2 of 5 and similar are used for various purposes, e.g., labelling sample bottles for medical labs so you are not treated for that other person's ailments... Use your favorite search engine on bar codes and magnetic cards. This is not really a Zope issue, as Zope never notices that the article ID or whatsnot was scanned, not typed. Jan
participants (4)
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Curtis Maloney -
Erik Enge -
Jan H. Haul -
Kapil Thangavelu