Zebra datawedge barcode symbologies

Zebra-DataWedge - Barcode Symbologies

Introduction

The primary scanning mechanism of the My-Scan 5 apps is using the Zebra DataWedge API. This allows you to scan barcodes on a Zebra device, where we mainly focus on the PS20 and the MC18 devices.

Configuration

When we are using the My-Scan 5 app on a PS20 device, the app will verify if DataWedge is available on the device. If so, the app will proceed and continue to create a DataWedge profile (This is only applicable for the PS20. On MC18 the EMDK is used). Creating a DataWedge profile ensures that the app will receive the scanned barcodes from DataWedge. The automatic profile creation is only available from DataWedge version 6.5.x and up. If you are using an older version of DataWedge, you'll have to create the profile by yourself.

The barcode symbologies can be turned off or on using the SymbologyConfiguration parameter. The following symbologies can be configured:

Disclaimer: If a parameter is not in this list, that means that it is not supported by default.

Symbology	Default Value
code39	true
code128	true
ean8	true
ean13	true
i2of5	true
qrCode	true
upcA	true
upcE	true
dataMatrix	false
dataBar	false
dataBarExpanded	false
aztec	false
gs1_128	false
pdf417	false
aztec	false
codabar	false
D2of5	false
mailmark	false
maxicode	false

Configuration of the symbology parameter is as follows:

Parametername	Example configuration
SymbologyConfiguration	code39

Finally, there are several other parameters that control the behaviour of the barcode scanner, these involve the conversion and identification of the barcodes. They can be found in the table below.

Parameter Name	Type	Description	Default Value
AimIdentifier	enum	values: none, standard, MDC	standard
ConvertUpcAToEan13	bool		false
ConvertUpcEToUpcA	bool		false
IncludeUpcECheckDigit	bool		false
IncludeUpcENumberSystem	bool		false
Gs1GroupSeparator	String		FNC1

PS20 and MC18 Differences

For the PS20 device, Zebra have created a faster method to enable or disable the barcode scanner. This method is known as the Suspend/Resume method, where the old method is known as the Enable/Disable method. From version 6.9.x we will use the Suspend/Resume method. This DataWedge version cannot be used on the MC18, so this only holds for the PS20.