![Scanning QR codes on business cards](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Scanning_QR_codes_on_business_cards.jpg)
The application Barcode Scanner is an
Android app, from the
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
project ZXing (short for Zebra Crossing), that allows an Android device with
imaging
Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image).
Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images.
...
hardware (a built-in camera) to scan
barcodes
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...
or
2D barcodes and retrieve the data encoded. Information encoded often includes web addresses, geographical coordinates, and small pieces of text, in addition to
commercial product codes. This Android-based system has similar functionality to a hardware
barcode reader
A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into e ...
.
This application supports many different types of barcodes, including those used to identify
products in commerce. The Barcode Scanner can automatically search
the Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
to identify a product with a barcode and use, for example, price-comparison information between vendors.
The application can decode several
2D barcodes including the widely used
QR Code
A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...
and
Data Matrix
A Data Matrix is a two-dimensional code consisting of black and white "cells" or dots arranged in either a square or rectangular pattern, also known as a matrix. The information to be encoded can be text or numeric data. Usual data size is fro ...
. QR codes are often embedded in websites; Barcode Scanner can open a browser at the encoded site, for example, facilitating the download of an application.
, this is
one of the most downloaded Android applications as listed by
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
, with over 600,000 ratings and over 126 million user installs.
Detection performance of ZXing was assessed on close to 2 million synthetic images for three types of barcodes:
QR Code
A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...
,
MaxiCode
MaxiCode is a public domain, machine-readable symbol system originally created and used by United Parcel Service. Suitable for tracking and managing the shipment of packages, it resembles an Aztec Code or QR code, but uses dots arranged in a he ...
, and
EAN-13
The International Article Number (also known as European Article Number or EAN) is a standard describing a barcode symbology and numbering system used in global trade to identify a specific retail product type, in a specific packaging configurati ...
1D barcode. Problematic angles where decoding often fails were found, for example 45, 135, 225 and 315 degrees for QR Codes.
[Scheuermann, C., Werner, M., Kessel, M., Linnhoff-Popien, C., & Verclas, S. A. W. (2012). Evaluation of Barcode Decoding Performance using ZXING Library. In ''Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Smart Mobile Applications (SmartApps’12)'']
See also
*
Automated identification and data capture
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered ...
(AIDC)
*
Barcode printer
A barcode printer is a computer peripheral for printing barcode labels or tags that can be attached to, or printed directly on, physical objects. Barcode printers are commonly used to label cartons before shipment, or to label retail items with ...
*
Code (disambiguation)
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another object or action, not necessarily of the same sort.
Code may also refer to:
Computing
* Code (metadata), data elements whose allowable values can be represented as enumerate ...
*
European Article Numbering-Uniform Code Council
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...
*
Global Trade Item Number
The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is an identifier for trade items, developed by the international organization GS1. Such identifiers are used to look up product information in a database (often by entering the number through a barcode scanne ...
*
Identifier
An identifier is a name that identifies (that is, labels the identity of) either a unique object or a unique ''class'' of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, physical countable object (or class thereof), or physical noncountable ...
*
Inventory control system
Inventory control or stock control can be broadly defined as "the activity of checking a shop's stock". It is the process of ensuring that the right amount of supply is available within a business. However, a more focused definition takes into acco ...
*
List of most downloaded Android applications
This list of most-downloaded Google Play applications includes most of the free apps that have been downloaded more than 500 million times, and most of the paid apps that have been downloaded more than one million times on unique Android devices ...
*
Object hyperlinking Object hyperlinking is a term that refers to extending the Internet to objects and locations in the real world. Object hyperlinking aims to extend the Internet to the physical world by attaching tags with URLs to tangible objects or locations. Thes ...
*
Semacode
Semacode is a software company based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is also this company's trade name for their machine-readable ISO/IEC 16022 Data Matrix barcodes, which are used to encode Internet URLs.
Semacodes are primarily aimed at being ...
*
SMS barcode
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
*
SPARQCode
A SPARQCode is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) encoding standard that is based on the physical QR Code definition created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave.
Overview
The QR Code standard as defined by Denso-Wave in ISO/IEC 180 ...
References
External links
Development Site*
* {{F-Droid, com.google.zxing.client.android, Barcode Scanner
Automatic identification and data capture
Barcodes
Free and open-source Android software