It is a USB scanner
And, it is one of the following brands:
- Symbol
- Zebex
- Honeywell or Metrologic
Then ensure that the setting "Auto Detect Barcode Scanners" is enabled and it will simply work without programming.

Configuring for Web Browsers

Configuring for Apple iPads and iPod touch

These Apple devices, and rarely some Android devices, cannot work with the standard configuration used by Fieldpine. So instead they are programmed using different values.

When using iPads, you cannot have both the on screen keyboard AND a barcode scanner active. The barcode scanner is seen as a keyboard to the browser. Typically retailers use the Symbol CS3070 scanner with these devices, and you can turn the scanner online/offline with a single button click. As soon as the iPad detects the scanner is gone, the keyboard will reappear.

Configuring for Android based tablets and phones

Programming a Zebra LS2208 Scanner

Programming a Zebra DS2208 Scanner

These scanners are configured by scanning a series of barcodes, which reprogram the scanner. Scan each of the following barcodes in order, top to bottom. The DS2208 is an imaging scanner so you can scan directly from this web page.
The DS2208 is an exception and uses the prefix/suffix characters "{}" as programming the normal prefix/suffix of STX/ETX is often not possible

DS2208 Enable Programming Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble
DS2208 Reset to Factory Settings Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble, then pause for about 2 seconds, then sound a "123" sequence. You must wait for the second set of beeps before continuing
DS2208 Use Prefix Data Suffix Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble
DS2208 Set Prefix Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble
DS2208 Set Suffix Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep sequence
Scanner will sound a 2 beep warble

By default, scanners simply send the "numbers", however Fieldpine applications sometimes prefer to receive the "symbology" information as well. We prefer you to scan the following code to enable this. But, when enabled it might cause barcodes to not be recognised, especially in other software.

The following code will disable sending of symbology information if you need to turn it off.

Programming a Symbol CS3070 Handheld bluetooth Scanner

These scanners are most easily configured by editing a config.ini stored on the device

Plug the scanner into your computer USB port. (Note, you cannot scan barcodes when connected via USB, it can only scan over bluetooth)
Open Windows explorer, and find the file config.ini on a drive that will have appeared.
Edit this file using Notepad
Locate the lines with Prefix and Suffix
If you are planning on using this scanner on Apple iPads and iPods, and, rarely, some brands of Android devices, set the values to 7B and 7D as shown below
If you are NOT using it on an Apple iPad or iPod, set the prefix and suffix to 02 and 03 as shown below

Programming a Zebra CS6080 Handheld bluetooth Scanner

These scanners are programmed by scanning a range of barcodes.

Scan one of the two codes below. These are setting that the scanner is to operate in "Bluetooth HID mode" (act like a keyboard connected by Bluetooth). These barcodes are taken from the Zebra CS6080 Product Reference Guide

Scanner will beep.

If using the scanner with a web browser scan the following codes to set prefix and suffix

Scanner will beep.

We also recommend scanning this code, which instructs the scanner to include additional details about the type of barcode being scanned. This can be useful for telling the difference between a retail barcode or a delivery parcel. If you use the scanner in other applications though, you might not want to enable this - many applications cannot handle the extra information.

Scanner will beep.

Set the prefix value, scan the following 5 barcodes in order

Scanner will beep.

Scanner will warble

Set the suffix value, scan the following 5 barcodes in order

Scanner will beep.

Scanner will warble

If you are using this scanner with an Apple iOS device, you may like to experiment with the keyboard toggle feature. Which works best for you is a matter of choice and device in use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use more than one scanner?

Yes. For USB scanners you can have a maximum of 16 keyboards, mice and scanners active at one time. A normal computer with one keyboard, one scanner and perhaps using an external USB mouse counts as 4 devices (1: the real keyboard, 2: the barcode scanner, 3: the external USB mouse, 4: the internal mouse touchpad if present), so 16 devices is a large limit for most practical circumstances

If the scanners are serial port scanners, then you may have a scanner in every serial port.

What about Bluetooth Scanners?

You can use bluetooth scanners the same as USB connected scanners. The CS3070 scanner descibed on this page is a bluetooth connected scanner. Where this page says "USB scanner" you can take that to mean "USB or Bluetooth scanner"

My Scanner wasn't Auto Detected, what do I do?

First check that the scanner works at all. Open a text editor (wordpad, notepad etc) and scan a barcode. If you do not see anything then the scanner may be preprogrammed in some different mode or simply broken. Perhaps try resetting the scanner to factory settings. If you cannot see scanned data in a text editor, then Fieldpine applications will not be able to use that scanner.

If your scanner is not one of the models described on this page then it is possible it has manufacturer identification values the Pos does not understand. In this case, configure it with prefix/suffix values and it should work.

For general "scanner not working" problems, please see Scanners support roadmap

Technical Notes

Fieldpine applictions use USB scanners in HID mode. While other modes as SPP are possible, these limit which programs can read the scanner and require additional programming steps.

If the scanner is from a known USB manufacturer and only used within the POS then programming is not required as the POS can determine which device it comes from

When used in browsers and other devices however, the scanned barcode appears as normal typing. To seperate which is normal typing and which is the barcode scanner we require the scanner to send prefix and suffix values around the barcode. While it would be possible to place a "barcode" entry field on every web page we wanted to use the scanner, this would be an unfriendly user experience as they need to click into that field before scanning.

Our preferred prefix is STX (ctrl-B or 0x02) matched with a suffix of ETX (ctrl-C or 0x03)

As not all scanners can send these prefixes, and not all browser/device combinations can accept them either, we also handle a prefix of "{" ( 0x7B ) with a suffix of "}" ( 0x7D )