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Preparing the Barcoding System

Before you can use JustWare's barcoding system, there are a number of things that must be considered.

JustWare is designed to work with any ASCII Extended Code 3 of 9 enabled barcode scanner. Scanners must be able to read a start character of [$A] as an Insert key and an end character of [$Z] as an F12 key. Agencies wishing to implement the barcode scanning functionality in JustWare are responsible for the setup of scanners.

Note: Barcode scanning must be enabled in JustWare before attempting to use this functionality. If barcode scanning is not enabled, scanned barcodes will be interpreted as a string of numbers and text, and one of the following will take place:

  • If focus is on an editable region, the string of numbers and text will be inserted wherever the cursor is located.
  • If focus is on a dropdown menu, JustWare will attempt to match the string of numbers and text to one of the menu options.

Caution: If text is selected and barcoding is not enabled, scanning a barcode will overwrite the text with a string of numbers and text.

  1. In the Tools landing page, navigate to Basic Setup > Barcode. The Barcode Scanner Settings dialog box appears.
  2. Check Enable Barcode Scanning.

  3. Optional: Complete the Validation Expression field.

    Note: To determine the necessity for completing this field and the proper expression to use, contact your JustWare Administrator. An example of this field's use is to read the *C2-1* JustWare 4.6 barcode format and have it recognized in JustWare 6. The expression to use is the following: [(C[0-9]+-[0-9]+)|(N[0-9]+)]. This field requires a regular expression to be used for getting a Boolean result as to whether or not data received is in the correct format to be accepted. Non-compliant messages will be ignored.

  4. Optional: Complete the Transform Expression field.

    Note: To determine the necessity for completing this field and the proper expression to use, contact your JustWare Administrator. An example of this field\'s use is to read the *C2-1* JustWare 4.6 barcode format and have it recognized in JustWare 6. The expression to use is the following: [([NC])|([0-9]\$)]{.tt}. This field requires a regular expression to be used for transforming accepted messages before they are processed.

  5. In the Scanner Setting tab, select the type of scanner interface you are using:

    • HID (USB): This is a Human Interface Device.
    • Keyboard Wedge (USB): This is a keyboard emulation interface.
    • RS232 (Serial Port)

  6. Depending on which scanner interface type you selected, you will have different fields to complete.  

    HID

    Select the row corresponding to the correct device. Only devices plugged into your computer will be listed. The manufacturer and product name may be displayed.

    Tip: You may find it helpful to locate the barcode scanner in the Device Manager, which is accessible from your computer\'s Control Panel.

    Keyboard Wedge

    A keyboard wedge scanner interface emulates typing very quickly. For this reason, it is important to use the slider to select the correct scan speed. The scan speed should be faster than the speed at which you can type a string of characters. For example, if you set a scan speed of 200 milliseconds, you would have to type the string of characters at a speed slower than 200 milliseconds so that the typing would not be mistaken for barcode scanning. If, for example, you set the scan speed to 1000 milliseconds (equal to 1 second) and type quickly, then your typing might be mistaken for barcode scanning.

    RS232

    Complete the following fields:

    • COM Port: Select a communications device port for the scanner to use from the drop-down menu.
    • Baud Rate: Select a speed, measured in symbols per second, at which signalling events are made to the transmission medium.
    • Parity: Make a selection to set the optional parity bit to follow the data bits. The parity bit can be added to the data packet for the purpose of error detection.
    • Data Bits: Select the number of bits used to represent one character of data in the data packet.
    • Stop Bits: Select the number of bits used to bring the receiving mechanism to rest in preparation for the reception of the next data packet.

  7. Click on the View Scanner Data tab. Use your scanner on a barcode. If the settings are correct, you should see the original data from the barcode (including the [\$A] and [\$Z] characters) in the Raw Barcode Data field and the data without the special characters in the Transformed Barcode Data field. If these fields do not populate correctly, return to the Scanner Settings tab and change your settings.

  8. Click the OK button.

  9. Install the barcode font.

    CAUTION: Barcodes will not appear on name and case reports unless the barcode font is installed.

    1. Open the JustWare Maintenance Console.
    2. Navigate to the SmartClients | Extra JustWare Settings tab.
    3. Select the Deploy Barcode Font box. Click [File | Save] or click the Save icon in the toolbar.

  10. If necessary, create new barcodes for documents created in JustWare 4.6. Barcodes created in JustWare 4.6 do not contain the special encoded characters required to be scanned into JustWare 6.0. You will have to create new barcodes for all JustWare 4.6 documents if you want to scan them into JustWare 6.0.