Hand held scanner ????

[pachjo]

Hi, we have an antiquated dr-dos mcl scanning application which I think I will be tasked to replace with something better.

I know zip about mobile device development and would really appreciate any tips anyone can offer on the questions below please...

1. Is writing for PockPC2003 or Windows CE 5.0 the same as writing a windows application?

2. The application will need to be run on a hand held bar code scanner so which target application type above would I choose?

3. Does any one have recommendations of good/compatible hand held bar code scanners?

Thanks in anticipation....

 

[gansitoloco]

So you no zip about mobile device development? We'll neither did I and that didn't stop me.

#1) No - writing for Windows Mobile / Pocket PC / CE is not the same as writing a regular Windows form application. But they can be pretty darn close.

#2) I chose Windows mobile .NET -- not sure if that is the exact name of the target application and I am too lazy to launch Visual Studio right now. However, what I wrote was a complete .NET or "managed code" application. To my delight - the same exe runs on Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 2005, Windows CE 4.2 and Windows CE 5.0 and even Windows XP. I haven't tried it on anything else yet. Given, mine was a very simple app. I intentionally set the .NET version back to 1.1 ( to support an old hand scanner ) and watched the documentation very closely to only use .NET CF 1.1 commands. ALSO - I deliberately did NOT use the vendors SDK. I read the scan data as keyboard input. If I had used the SDK, I would have had to be specific about the hardware and OS version I was using and it would NOT work on the other platforms. This did limit what I could do - but as I said mine was a simple application - Scan, Press a button, format and send a message to the server ( which did the bulk of all the work ) -- listen for an Ack or Nak from the server, display confirmation to the user. Compile, Test, Ship it.

#3) The scanner that was to run my application on was a Teklogix 7530 or 7535 -- something like that. I think what is most important is the environment your scanner needs to run in -- will it be used in a nice clean retail store, or in a dirty manufacturing environment. Most important - what types of barcodes are you going to scan? 1D, 2D, Black printed on white paper, or etched into shiny aluminum engine castings??? I think start with the vendor you have and see what they offer running Windows Mobile.

Good Luck -- I had a lot of fun with my app - hope you have the same.