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I'm considering purchasing a scanner such as the Esky™ Automatic USB (Bi-directional) Barcode Scanner.

I've produced some QR codes (containing valid http URLs) which I'd like students at my school to scan.

I'd like to use the machine as a terminal - students scan the URL and then are unable to do anything else (no keyboard or mouse, for instance).

As such, is it possible to set this barcode scanner (or any others) to automatically open my browser if the QR Code being scanned has a URL format?

In addition, would it then be possible to have non-URL QR content to be entered into the browser's active form field? I.e. if the QR code said 12345, it would just enter it into the active text box on the current webpage (if a webpage was open already)?

harrymc
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turbonerd
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4 Answers4

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Don't buy that particular scanner-- it doesn't support 2D barcodes.

Does the computer you plan to use for this have a webcam? Because that might be a totally acceptable scanner for this purpose. Then you could use software such as http://blog.odoa.eu/post/QR-Code-Scanner-for-Desktop-and-Laptop.aspx to do what you want. (I tested this. It's clearly a weekend project, but contrary to what the blog post says, it does work for me in Windows 7).

Here's another one, which I haven't tested, which looks like it might do exactly what you want (using a webcam): http://www.funcode-tech.com/Download_en.html

One concern I have is how to bring the QR application back to the foreground after viewing the web page if you don't have a keyboard or mouse. If it was me, I'd probably tinker with AutoHotKey as a way of doing this, but there are probably other ways to go.

If a webcam isn't an option, then you need to buy a 2D scanner (usually more expensive than a webcam!) And the issue of how to get to the web page becomes a little bit more complicated. That said, I think it might be possible to build the whole thing in AutoHotKey if you're using a 2D scanner.

davidcl
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You will need someone (or yourself) to develop a software for this purpose.

Basically you will need to capture the barcode input, use ShellExecute API to launch the web browser, and use the SendMessage API to send the text into the browser form field.

For help on programming you may try stackoverflow.com :)

howanghk
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For anyone still looking to do this, it is now possible to scan a QR code from inside a webpage, using the device's camera (browser permission requested): https://github.com/schmich/instascan

That should, incidentally, help with the app switching problem, as now the scanner is a part of the page.

Piskvor left the building
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For the auto-population of a form field, if you control the Web server, you could add a parameter(s) to the URL that will be used to populate the required form-field(s).

Apart from this, why not use a smartphone to read the URL, rather than a computer?

A smartphone will surely have a QR-code reading app that can read an URL and browse it. There will be no security problems then with your PC, but better make sure not to leave any personal data on the smartphone ...

harrymc
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