Reading ISO/IEC 15434 barcodes into SAP ME

[Former Member]

Product: SAP ME 15

Hi,

I am trying to implement reading DataMatrix 2D barcodes into SAP ME.  We have our barcodes setup using the ISO/IEC 15434 standard, and the SAP ME parser is setup to accept them.  We are running the ME client on Win7 machines with IE 9.  This may seem like a simple process, but the wall I am running into is actually getting the control characters from the scanner into the ME client.

I can scan the barcode into a text editor, then copy/paste into the ME Barcode field.  This works fine, and the ME parser has no problems with it. So I know the issue is not the barcode format or data.

The scanner is just a Motorola USB 2D barcode scanner, and can be setup to output in several different ways.  Keyboard emulation is done by either sending Control-x for for ASCII characters below 33, or sending all characters as ALT-0xxx.  There is of course a COM port emulation as well.  When using keyboard emulation, the special characters in the barcode(<RS>, <GS>, <EOT>) cannot be "typed" directly into IE, and are therefor not entered into the ME Barcode field.  And I can find no information on how to read into this field from the COM port.

I must be missing something, but cannot find what it is.  This is a new implementation, and my current knowledge of SAP ME is very limited.  Thanks.

[Former Member]

Hi Timo,

I forgot about this post until I started seeing emails.  The short answer is no, that was our only solution.  Actually, after months of feasibility testing, our company cancelled our SAP ME project, so we no longer face this issue.

Jon,

Thanks, but that was not the problem.  ISO/IEC 1534 barcodes have <GS> and <RS> characters embedded in the data, not just at the beginning or the end.  These separaters tell the application what part of the data is coming next, like serial number, part number, date, etc.  This entire string of data is to be entered into a single field, not tabbed into separate fields.  Beleive me when I say we looked over every inch of that manual and tried nearly every different setup option for the scanner to no avail.

[Former Member]

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed response.  Yes, those control codes are what allows the system to determine how to process the scanned barcode.  For Assembly, it uses those control codes to determine the type of barcode parsing to be performed and then extracts the individual data values for each type of barcode and populates the associated fields accordingly. 

In your implementation, where was the scan actually taking place and where were you wanting to save the full scan of the barcode?

Best Regards,

Jon

[former_member196557]

Hi Dale,

Just to summarize:

• 2D barcode contains control characters as delimiters to the barcode data files ( <GS>, <RS>, <EOT>, etc.)
• Scanning the 2D barcode into some document, cutting, and pasting the input into an Input field in ME works correctly and the 2D barcode is correctly parsed according to the barcode configuration
• Scanning the SAME 2D barcode directly  into the input field in ME does not work, and interprets the control codes (i.e., EOT translates into IE storing the link in Favorites

Do you have a sample of what was scanned into the document?  Specifically, how were the control characters represented in the document?

Regards, Steve

[Former Member]

Hi Steve,

You're right. cutting and pasting works fine but not scanning because of interpreting the control codes by the browser.

This is an example for an ISO15434 Barcode:

[)>RS06GSP123456789GSS1123456789RSEOT

Regards,

Matthias

[former_member196557]

Hi Matthias,

Can you confirm that this string: 

[)>RS06GSP123456789GSS1123456789RSEOT

Is the exact string you pasted into the ME POD input field?

Regards, Steve

[Former Member]

Hi Steve,

No. The correct string is following:

[)> 06 P123456789 S1123456789 

I marked the control keys (e.g. RS) in my last reply that you can see them. Now they are there but you can not see them. When I paste this string into the ME (Floor Stock Receipt) it works fine.

The data matrix code in my last reply implements also the correct string also with the control keys.

Regards,

Matthias

[Former Member]

Hi again,

It seems that the scn replaces the control keys with blanks.

You can get the right string with control keys by scanning the data matrix code.

For example with the following software:

Free Barcode Scanner ASCII String Decoder

This will show you the control keys.

Regards,

Matthias

[Former Member]

Hello,

I hope this is helpful.  Most barcode scanner vendors have a means of adding a suffix (or post-amble) to the scanned barcode built-in to their devices.  If the scanner does not have a display (wedge between the keyboard/USB/COM Port), it typically means you'll scan a barcode to enter the setup mode, then a suffix entry scan, then add the characters for the suffix (tab/ENTER) and then a save barcode setup.  Upon any scan, it would then emulate the associated character being typed.  This is usually in the manual for the barcode scanner, but I've honestly not worked with stand-alone/wedge barcode scanners/RS-232 scanners in several years.  But should still work like this.

For devices such as the Janam XT series (Android tablet), you would go to "BCR Settings", "Suffix", and enter "\t" (for a tab character).  This way, when the scan is completed, the tab character would initiate the parse hook in ME which would then translate the received text to their associated fields.  This is how it works for mobile assembly.

If you can provide the exact model of barcode scanner you are using, I'll see if I can find the manual on-line and see if I can provide more detailed recommendations.

Best Regards,

Jon

[Former Member]

Hi Matthias,

The only thing we have come up with so far is to write our own application to handle the data in a very special way.  We put the scanner into COM port emulation, and then have our application read the input from the COM port.  It then takes the raw text from the barcode and puts it in the clipboard.  Then it just sends a ctrl-v + <enter>.  It works, but doesn't feel right.  We have some time yet before we go to production, so I am hoping to find something better, if it exists.

Konstantin, I have read through all the documents I could find, and many other eyes have as well.  But there still seems to be a step missing.  The documents say 1. Connect the scanner, 2. Install the scanner software, and that is it. But what then?  It seems as though we are looking for 3. And then a miracle occurs.

We have some people that are biased towards the software and some that are biased towards the hardware.  One coworker spent an entire afternoon with Motorola with no results.  We know the software is setup correctly as far as parsing the data because copy/paste the data works.  And barcode scanners all function the same; they will either emulate a keyboard or send data via a COM port.

The root of the problem is that you can't "type" <GS>, <RS>, <EOT> into an IE window.  But somebody out there must use this feature, so I am reaching out in the hope of finding out how.  Thanks for your help!

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are facing the same issue with non-printable characters and IE11. Did you found better solution than separate application described above?

[former_member182330]

Hi,

Check ME Barcode Scanning How-To Guide if you haven't done so before.

If ME is configured correctly, I believe it comes to figuring out how your Motorolla scanner works or maybe try another one.

Regards,

Konstantin Chernega

[Former Member]

Hi Konstantin,

I think, that the ME is configured correctly.

When I copy and paste the data from a ISO15434-Data Matric code into the Barcodefield from the Floor Stock Receipt it works fine. But when I uses the scanner, the InternetExplorer uses the code like a shortcut.

For example:

EOT -> crtl. D which stores IE-favorites.

Regards,

Matthias

[Former Member]

Hi Dale,

were you able to solve your problem for your own? Because I have the same problem like you.

Regards,

Matthias