How to pick a LabView-Supported barcode scanner?

[Shun]

Hello,

My company needs me to add a bar code reader feature to our final production test application (LabView). After a NI's field engineer told me I have the options of Microscan 810 and 850 for they are already supported by NI's driver, I found we are using the barcode format 3/9, which I am not sure the optional scanners are going to work for us. Thus I need more information/answers from the questions I have below.

1. Microscan said 810 and 850 already discontinued. Are the replacing model 820 and 860 supported as well?
2. Can 820 or 860 read barcode 3/9? Is barcode 3/9 a standard linear barcode?
3. Is there any else model (or other 3rd party scanner) that can be used for our application in LabView? It's appreciated that it can be USB interfaced and handheld (820 and 860 are not.)

Thank You Very Much!

[Dennis_Knutson]

The only thing that makes the 810 and 850 special is that someone already wrote a driver for them. They have a serial conection and you can write a driver yourself for any bar code reader with an RS-232 connection. If the reader has a USB connection and it uses the Microsoft HID class that makes it appear as another keyboard, you don't even have to write a driver. Just plug it in. A string control is all you need in a VI for data entry.

[smercurio_fc]

For what it's worth, the Microscan 820 comes with a keyboard wedge, so it would work like Dennis said, and you can just hook it in and it will act as if you received keyboard input, so no additional driver is needed. If you're not set on Microscan, I've used Gryphon scanners in the past. They also come with a keyboard wedge.

FYI: The 3/9 code is also known as Code 39 or Code 3 of 9, which is a standard bar code symbology. Any bar code scanner that doesn't support it should be thrown in the trash.