# Bar code scanner **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [September 26, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491 "2024-09-26T13:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/1 "2024-09-26T13:08:56Z")
I have read that I want a scanner that can act as a keyboard wedge. Anyone got some bar code scanner recommendations? I am in the USA. Just want to scan some codes from some material boxes to a focused input box. Heard Zebra scanners are good for this. I haven't tried any of these. ---
**Author:** ![dkhayes117](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/dkhayes117/32/68344_2.png) [@dkhayes117](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/dkhayes117)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/2 "2024-09-26T13:46:27Z")
USB barcode scanners are fairly straight forward. I've used off-brand desktop scanners, honeywell, zebra, etc. As far as keyboard wedge mode, they all mostly work the same. The one thing that might make a difference is if the scanner can add prefix/suffix characters to the scan. ---
**Author:** ![elijah.roberts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@elijah.roberts](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/elijah.roberts)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/3 "2024-09-26T14:31:23Z")
Agree with @dkhayes117 response, just to add a brand to the list of scanners you can look into, I am working on a project currently and we are implementing Keyence scanners. They have been working well for us in your exact scenario. I haven't had any issues thus far with them. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/4 "2024-09-26T17:28:28Z")
I have a kind of silly question maybe. Is there a tablet that can scan the bar codes to a focused input on a Perspective page directly? So far, I have only heard about tablets scanning to applications then manually copy/pasting the text from the app to the page. ---
**Author:** ![pturmel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/pturmel/32/3295_2.png) [@pturmel](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/pturmel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/5 "2024-09-26T17:43:06Z")
That's what it means to be a "keyboard wedge". The barcode scanner behaves just like a keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/6 "2024-09-26T17:48:12Z")
~~I mean to ask is there a tablet with a scanner that can be implemented as keyboard wedge?~~ ~~I saw some Zebra ETXX models, but I can't tell if they are only scanning to an application only or if the tablet scanners can operate as a keyboard wedge.~~ * * * I found Zebra documents at least on ET6x has the keyboard wedge functionality. They called it OCR wedge, not sure why, but they describe the functioning the similar way. ---
**Author:** ![elijah.roberts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@elijah.roberts](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/elijah.roberts)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/7 "2024-09-26T18:06:50Z")
I may be misunderstanding you but, is the tablet going to be running Perspective and you would like to scan the barcode directly into the field? If you are using tablets with a camera to run the application, you may be able to take advantage of using the camera coupled with barcode session events to handle what you are trying to accomplish just to throw out another possible idea. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/8 "2024-09-26T18:08:34Z")
Yes, that is the plan I think. ---
**Author:** ![michael.flagler](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/michael.flagler/32/26272_2.png) [@michael.flagler](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/michael.flagler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/9 "2024-09-27T02:02:44Z")
If you're using an android or iPad tablet and run the perspective app, you can use the barcode scanning functionality built into the perspective workstation app on the devices. If using Windows it doesn't support it unfortunately, but we just ordered some Windows tablets not long ago for a client that have a camera barcode scanner, but it hasn't been the most reliable (or I'm using it wrong). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_de\_Man](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/rick_de_man/32/75670_2.png) [@Rick\_de\_Man](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Rick_de_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/10 "2024-09-27T21:58:33Z")
We are currently using the zebra TC26 which is easy to configure, just make sure it sends each key individually. Great for scanning, but calling quality could be better. We started with the camera but that does not support continues scanning which was a requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/11 "2024-09-30T12:54:21Z")
Is your TC26 equipped with the SE4710 scanner or SE4100? ---
**Author:** ![dkhayes117](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/dkhayes117/32/68344_2.png) [@dkhayes117](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/dkhayes117)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/12 "2024-09-30T15:03:59Z")
We use Cipherlab RS35/RS36 handheld scanners and they have been working very well for us. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/13 "2024-09-30T17:11:40Z")
Do you use the session property for the scanner? Are you able to use it easily without the session property via browser? ---
**Author:** ![dkhayes117](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/dkhayes117/32/68344_2.png) [@dkhayes117](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/dkhayes117)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/14 "2024-09-30T17:20:32Z")
I set the scanning engine to operate in keyboard wedge mode with prefix/suffix characters and the barcode scanner input component in perspective. ---
**Author:** ![ademovicemir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbce88/32.png) [@ademovicemir](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ademovicemir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/15 "2024-09-30T17:55:19Z")
I have used both Zebra TC53 handheld devices along with Zebra ET40 tablets running Perspective applications and scanning without any issues. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_de\_Man](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/rick_de_man/32/75670_2.png) [@Rick\_de\_Man](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Rick_de_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/16 "2024-09-30T21:35:02Z")
It's equiped with the SE4710. We use the custom/parameter in views for communication with the ERP system, on some cases the value goes to tags for automatic time registration in cases the machine has no digital communication. It's very easy to use in a session/view/tag. ---
**Author:** ![Zach\_Larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zach_larson/32/54388_2.png) [@Zach\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Zach_Larson)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/17 "2024-10-02T15:25:35Z")
If the scanner is setup as keyboard wedge, won't text be entered into the focus input upon a scan? I had thought prefix and suffix were for when using the bar code scanner session technique so that text from the scanner would be delineated from general text from the keyboard. Would you please clarify for my understanding? ---
**Author:** ![dkhayes117](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/dkhayes117/32/68344_2.png) [@dkhayes117](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/dkhayes117)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/18 "2024-10-02T15:36:47Z")
If I understand correctly, the barcode session event only works using a device camera, not a built-in scanning engine. Perspective cannot use the scanner's intent, so you use the barcode scanner input component with regex or prefix/suffix framing and keyboard wedge. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_de\_Man](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/rick_de_man/32/75670_2.png) [@Rick\_de\_Man](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Rick_de_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/19 "2024-10-02T15:40:18Z")
I have setup a pre and postfix for the entire project. As far as I know the value will not be entered in the focused element when a barcodescanner element is available. Any input field will not be changed using the barcodescanner, the data is send over using an intent activity. Verified with the demo App. "com.inductiveautomation.perspective.ui.perspective.PerspectiveClientActivity". ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_de\_Man](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/rick_de_man/32/75670_2.png) [@Rick\_de\_Man](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Rick_de_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491/21 "2024-10-02T15:55:47Z")
> [@dkhayes117](#): > > If I understand correctly, the barcode session event only works using a device camera, not a built-in scanning engine. No, any wedge keyboard whether internal or Bluetooth device can be used for the barcode scanner. > [@dkhayes117](#): > > Perspective cannot use the scanner's intent, so you use the barcode scanner input component with regex or prefix/suffix framing and keyboard wedge. No, the prefix/suffix has to be configured in the wedge keyboard or be present on the barcode. You can use the barcode regex to filter the input, downside is that the user hears a "beep" but nothing happens and gets confused. [Next page](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/bar-code-scanner/96491.md?page=2)