bidirectional coms with barcode scanner

[ElectroLund]

Hey everyone.  I'm trying to think big thoughts today.

I have implemented a CVI 2012 app that used a Symbol / Motorola LI4278 barcode scanner.  Works well.  For that application, I went next-to-simplest method by pre-formatting the scanners into CDC driver mode to work with Win7 as virtual com ports.  Pretty simple then in CVI with a custom serial callback.

So onto my "big idea" question.  It would be great to send warning beeps and LED blinks back to the user weilding the scanner.  Mot has an SDK that I've stared at, but it appears to be C++ only.  I'm not about to get in there and attempt a wrapper for it.

I found this discussion here, and it sounds relevant, but I'm not sure where they got their device library.  So anyway, any thoughts on this?

[dsFlux]

Hi ElectroLund,

Where are you wanting to send the warning beeps and LED blinks? Does the scanner have this sort of functionality? If so, you should just need to look at the manual of the device to see how to access these features via serial commands.

[ElectroLund]

Yes, the scanners have a bi-color LED and beeper built into them.  By default, these beep and light according to various scanning actions.

The trick with the "just RTFM" solution is that there is a fairly complicated C++ library you have to use, as part of their SDK.  So there would be a translation that would need to happen to use it, since LabWindows' compiler is ANSI-C only.

[dsFlux]

Hi ElectroLund,

For the forum thread you linked in your previous post, he said the scanner in question came with a DLL. Since it seems your device did not come with a DLL and only a C++ library, it seems options are pretty limited. You could use a third party C++ development environment and create a DLL out of the C++ source code. This DLL could then be called within your C code.

Unfortunately, since this is regarding communication with a third party device, National Instruments does not support the actual communication with the device. We can assist with calling DLLs and supported drivers. I would suggest contacting the maker of the barcode scanner to see if they have any DLLs or C source code to be used with their devices.