ESV@psuvm.psu.edu (ANDREW COLL) (09/28/90)
Greetings All:
I would like to know if anyone out there knows of a good
source of information on barcode decoding. I've checked
with our university library and came up with only one or
two articles in tech magazines. As far as books go, no
luck there. Any kind of information would be helpful,
either up to date or older journals would be fine. I'm
mainly interested in 3 of 9, 2 of 5, and UPC codes. I'm
trying to put together an inventory control system for
a small automotive parts warehouse. Due to a limited
budget, a commercial unit is beyond my range {I had a
hard enough time getting these people to buy a computer
in the first place} Any leads would be greatly appreciated
as I'm not getting too far on my own.
Thanks in advance!
Andrew Coll ESV@PSUVM.BITNET
ESV@PSUVM.PSU.EDUmod@masscomp.ccur.com (2915) (09/28/90)
In article <90270.174349ESV@psuvm.psu.edu> ESV@psuvm.psu.edu (ANDREW COLL) writes: >I would like to know if anyone out there knows of a good >source of information on barcode decoding. I've checked >with our university library and came up with only one or >two articles in tech magazines. As far as books go, no The April 1990 IEEE Computer magazine has an article called "Fundamentals of Bar Code Information Theory" which goes into great detail including mathematical analysis of information densities, noise and distortion errors, etc. This is an article on the underlying theories rather than a tutorial containing coder/decoder algorithms. To be honest, I was looking for "Bar Codes Made Simple" when I first read the article, but it was interesting enough that I waded through it, anyway. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael O'Donnell (508)392-2915 home(508)251-7576 fax(508)692-8307 ___________ / ________/__ ...!{harvard,uunet,petsd}!masscomp!mod /__/_______/ / mod@westford.ccur.com Concurrent /__________/ Computer Corporation 1 Technology Way Westford, MA 01886 DISCLAIMER: My opinions only coincidentally resemble those of my employer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
whit@milton.u.washington.edu (John Whitmore) (09/30/90)
In article <90270.174349ESV@psuvm.psu.edu> ESV@psuvm.psu.edu (ANDREW COLL) writes: >Greetings All: >I would like to know if anyone out there knows of a good >source of information on barcode decoding. Motorola's "M6800 Microprocessor Applications Manual" has a complete worked example of a barcode reader. They refer to _UPC Symbol Specification_ available from Distribution Number Bank 1725 K Street, N.W. Washington, DC (202) 833-1134 I recommend the Motorola book (it's an oldie, probably you'll have to scrounge to find a copy), as it discusses most of the timing and signal conditioning as well as the recognition algorithm. In addition, HP sells prebuilt reader wands and (I hear) some sort of digital chip (chip set?) that makes a complete reader for reasonable cost. Can't afford a commercial unit? Including the $99 things Radio Shack used to sell? I think I saw those discounted a month or two ago, to $35. John Whitmore