I’m about to go googling, but thought I’d ask here if anyone’s using a barcode scanner with CentOS, and if so, a) what scanner are you using, and b) what, if any, software are you using to record what it scans?
mark
2 thoughts on - OT: A USB Barcode Scanner?
Hi,
Most USB barcode scanners can operate in so called keyboard wedge mode
(either implicitly or explicitly via some physical switch). In that case, you’ll just see the scanned codes as keyboard input.
I did not yet dig into how I can isolate this scanner input, so that it is only read by one specific process (e.g. after identifying the USB device). I think this is a pure Linux-related question, it is unrelated to the scanners (just as if you would attach 2 keyboards). If you have a recipe for that, just let me know ;-).
One of the scanners I tried is this cheap scanner from dx.com:
2 thoughts on - OT: A USB Barcode Scanner?
Hi,
Most USB barcode scanners can operate in so called keyboard wedge mode
(either implicitly or explicitly via some physical switch). In that case, you’ll just see the scanned codes as keyboard input.
I did not yet dig into how I can isolate this scanner input, so that it is only read by one specific process (e.g. after identifying the USB device). I think this is a pure Linux-related question, it is unrelated to the scanners (just as if you would attach 2 keyboards). If you have a recipe for that, just let me know ;-).
One of the scanners I tried is this cheap scanner from dx.com:
http://www.dx.com/p/xyl-901-handheld-usb-wired-laser-barcode-scanner-black-yellow-286474#.WEvbKnUrI_M
It just works out-of-the-box when connected to a Linux-system. Start “cat” and you’ll see the scanned codes.
The USB barcode scanners I’ve used were detected as simple HID devices (on Debian and Fedora). Nothing but plug-and-play.
And yes, it acts just like keyboard input.
I don’t have the model numbers handy, but I do believe one was a Symbol-brand scanner (colors in photos look about right).