Barcode Scanners and Sun Ray's
As I have had many people ask me lately about barcode scanners and if they work and what brands and other questions, so all the better topic to talk about today.
Basically with 1D and 2D Barcode scanners there are two types.
There are the simple devices that just act like a keyboard (the most general types) and I have found that most of these devices work fine (out of 20 different types we have encountered only 1 type didn't work properly and was more likely to be a fault with the scanner not being calibrated rather than it not working.), but out of the 10 different brands we have seen in proof of concepts I have only had one not work. The Symbol brand seems to be the major player in this space and we have never had a problems with those, so I would always recommend these. Because these types of barcode scanners act like a keyboard you dont need any drivers for Windows when you connect Sun Ray's to VDI or Terminal Services, it's just like another keyboard, it just works.
There are also simple barcode scanners that are PS2, and also these work fine with a PS2 to USB adapter. I have found though that a majority of PS2 to USB adapters work fine, but a couple that didn't work properly dropping characters, but that was related to the adapter.
The other type of barcode scanners are those expensive ones that have memory and that usually synchronise with a base unit which is either connected to a PC via serial, USB, Wired network or even wireless ones. Usually these devices require Windows drivers. The serial devices you can get to work with the Windows Connector using the -r comport command,
uttsc -A 16 -m -b -r comport:COM1=$DTDEVROOT/dev/term/a
Refer to ThinGuys blog entry for detailed instructions on serial port forwarding
Sun Ray Serial Port Mapping
The USB devices that need Windows drivers won't work on a Sun Ray unless you use a third-party solution like a USB Server from Keyspan like this one which you install an agent on your Windows session (whether it be XP with a VDI solution or the Windows Terminal Server), and you plug in your USB device and you claim it using the agent software. We have used this successfully with devices such as USB floppy drives and DVD drives, image scanners, and other USB devices that require Windows drivers.
The wireless ones and networked ones work fine as they have nothing to do with the Sun Ray environment. There are even 1D and 2D barcode scanners that are built into mobile devices such as the Motorola MC57 that will change the way things happen in warehouses moving forward.
Mind you with RFID tags Barcodes may eventually become a thing of the past. but the same rules would apply to those types of devices.
Signing off...
M
Posted at 11:42AM Sep 04, 2008 by sunraybruce in General |