• Barcode for FileMaker needs only one calculation field to create barcodes in FileMaker. The barcode calculation appears in the FileMaker calculation window on the right hand side with all the other calculations you can do. There is a version for Mac OSX or Windows PC’s.
• Barcode X is a FileMaker Plug-In that enables you to create bar codes in any FileMaker database. Load the Plug-In, define your fields and you have access to all the major bar code types, at any size and with the ability to apply bar width reduction/adjustment (BWR) right there in FileMaker.This demo works exactly like the real Plug-In in all respects except one.

• Filemaker Barcode Scanner
• Filemaker Pro Barcode
• Filemaker Barcode Plugin
• Download Filemaker Pro 11 Windows

I had a discussion recently from someone wanting to know how to setup FileMaker Pro with a barcode scanning system. I have setup a FileMaker Pro system called PassTracker that employs barcodes to keep track of membership activity at gyms. I was able to provide him with an overview of how to do this and thought it might be worth repeating for anyone wanting to get started with barcodes. No demo file this time, but hopefully the overview will get you started and through most of the major hurdles.

To employ Barcodes with a FileMaker Pro system, three or four things are required:

1. A barcode font
2. A barcode scanner
3. A FileMaker Pro database system setup to create and input barcodes
4. Optional – A dedicated computer to scan in the barcodes

CNS Barcode for FileMaker Pro is a plug-in that brings the power of barcodes to your FileMaker Solution. Like its sibling product, CNS Barcode for iOS, this plug-in can both scan and generate barcodes. CNS Barcode can scan JPEG or PNG images containing barcodes or it can use an attached webcam to scan any barcodes held up to the camera.

Outbound – Sending Barcoded Items out into the World from FileMaker Pro
Install the font on the FileMaker Pro computer, (here are a couple of ‘how-to’s’ on installing fonts on Windows and Macintosh) so that it can be selected, in the same way that fonts such as Helvetica or Times, can be applied. In the FileMaker Pro database, create a serial number field. This serial number field will be the basis of your barcode field. Barcodes require a beginning and end character, usually the star character on your keyboard: ‘*’. Create a calculated field that wraps your serial number field with a star at either end of the field and set it to use the barcode font for display purposes.

Place this field on a label field layout and print out a set of bar code labels.

Printing options include:

• outputting to a label printer on sticky labels to apply to equipment
• printing to plastic card printers
• batch printing on business card stock, to issue identity cards etc.

Inbound – Bringing Barcoded items back into FileMaker Pro
One way to visualize a barcode scanner is to imagine it as a very fast typist entering a code into the computer. Imagine that fast typist banging away on the keyboard, if no field is selected, FileMaker Pro will simply beep for each keystroke sent. If the cursor is in the wrong field, gibberish will be entered into the wrong fields, potentially corrupting data. This is where a dedicated computer for the barcode scanner can be useful. If the project can justify it, the best possible solution is the purchase of a dedicated computer to receive the barcodes. That computer can be setup to always be in the right field and in the right mode, ready to execute any scripts setup to react to the barcode.

1) Select a barcode font

Vivaldi wikipédia. There are a number of barcode fonts available to choose from, some quite expensive. Fortunately, there are free versions of the common and useful Code 39 barcode font:

Select a Barcode scanner

Again, there are many options available in barcode scanners. Select a model that will work for the projects requirements. I have had good luck with a relatively inexpensive model from Metrologic called the Voyager MS9520. This USB model is widely available, straightforward to configure and the units I have purchased have been in service for years with no issues. There are wireless models available as well for more portable scanning.

FileMaker Pro database setup for Barcode scanning

The example above is from PassTracker, a FileMaker Pro-based system, developed by me (HomeBase Software), designed to keep track of gym membership activities. Each member is issued a pass card with a barcode printed on it. When gym members show up at the gym, they place their card in front of the barcode scanner and it scans them in. A dedicated computer is setup to receive the scanned code. If the customer’s membership has expired, the system will beep a warning to staff and display an error message to the customer to review their purchase.

Outbound – Set up the label to be printed

Select the field that will display the barcode and set it to use the barcode font. In this case, the field with the barcode font was rotated for space concerns.

Printing out Barcode labels

This is a layout to print out sheets of barcode cards. It is also possible to print single labels to a label printer. The label printer output is on sticky backed paper that can be applied to equipment or cards etc. Printers are also available to print membership cards on plastic cards, such as the Evolis Pebble.

Inbound – Setting up the FileMaker Pro field for scanning

When the bar code is scanned into the field, FileMaker Pro needs to do something with the barcode number. According to my handy-dandy reference, the FileMaker Pro Timeline, since FileMaker Pro 10, developers have had the ability to use Script Triggers to trigger an event when something happens in a FileMaker Pro field. If you are working with a version of FileMaker Pro 10, check out some of these plugins to achieve a similar effect.

Configuring the Barcode Scanner

When setting up the barcode scanner, look for something called a scan Suffix in the Configuration Guide provided with the scanner. Enabling this configuration will add a Tab character to the end of each scan. Back in FileMaker Pro, select the barcode field and make sure that the “Go to next object using” option is set to move out of the field with the Tab character.

Setting up a Script Trigger in FileMaker Pro

Right click on your field and select “Set Script Triggers…” from the contextual menu that pops up.

Select a Script to react to the barcode being entered into the field.

The steps that will occur in the scanning process are:

1. The cursor starts in the barcode field. An ‘On Open’ script can set this up to happen each time the database is opened.
2. The barcode is scanned using the Barcode Scanner.
3. The barcode text or serial number enters into the field, with a TAB character added at the end
4. The TAB character causes the cursor to move out of the field
5. The Script Trigger is triggered by the cursor leaving the field
6. The scan processing script (in this example: “Button Triggered Scan”) is initiated
7. Once the script executes and is completed, the cursor is returned to the barcode field in anticipation of the next scan.

The need for a dedicated computer to handle the barcode scanning

In low volume situations, it is possible to get by with a single computer. Every time a barcode is to be scanned, a human being must make sure that the cursor is in the appropriate field, ready to receive the barcode scan. This can work well if all input is to be done in a batch mode. In higher volume applications or when scanning occurs at random times, it is always better to have a dedicated computer setup with the script always returning the cursor to the scanning field after each scan. This allows for an unmanned computer to receive scans as they occur without any human intervention or risk of data corruption if the cursor is in the wrong field.

Return to barcode field at the end of the processing script

The script in PassTracker uses a global field for the barcode scan. At the end of each processing, the script clears the field and then selects the field, in anticipation of the next scan.

While the script is running, the scanner can send another code to the computer, but it will be ignored until the script returns the cursor to the field. Occasionally the system will beep, but unless the script enters another field during the execution, there should be no impact.

Conclusion: Hopefully this overview will help getting started with using barcodes in FileMaker Pro databases. Good luck.

Update 2013-07-26: I posted a link about this blog post on the ‘FileMaker Pro Users/Developers’ Facebook page. Reader Jason Wood commented that he had had success using Troi’s Serial Plugin with a $26 USB to Serial cable from Cables to Go. He says “With the Troi serial plug-in you configure a script to run if data is received over the serial port, then your script handles what to do with that data.”

Filemaker Barcode Scanner

The only downside of this approach is pricing. Troi, on their web site, state that they view the plugin as a specialized plugin and don’t sell single installation versions. The cost to get started with it is to purchase a full cross platform developer license for $999.

2014-01-18 Update: Skeleton Key has a good article on why you might select one bar code font over another.

Related Posts

Filemaker Pro Barcode

PDF Encoder 19.0.1 is now available. This update provides compatibility with FileMaker Pro 14-19, both 32 and 64 bit versions. There is an upgrade charge from version 18. Please see 'A Note From the Developer' below.

• Provides complete control over barcode dimensions and error correction, or let these parameters be chosen automatically
  
• Barcode image can be generated at any size or orientation, flipped or inverted.
• Micro-PDF barcodes may be produced when space is limited
• Macro-PDF allows large amounts of data to span several barcodes
• Automatic transcoding of FileMaker character set eliminates problems with international characters
• Automatic conversion to Windows line endings eliminates hassles with Windows-centric barcode readers
• Barcodes are generated as actual images (cross-platform TIFFs), and returned by a calculation directly into a container. No special fonts are needed!
• Runs natively on Mac OS X and Windows, with FMP 8 through 18.
  
• Ancient versions for FileMaker 4.2-13 are still available

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PDF417 Encoder, a FileMaker plug-in, provides the ability to print PDF417 bar codes from any FileMaker database. Unlike other bar code plug-ins, PDF417 Encoder does NOT require the installation of any special fonts. Barcodes are generated as images native to the platform. PDF417 Encoder provides full control over the size, shape, orientation, and error correction of the bar codes. Multi-bar codes and micro-PDF can be generated. Automatic transcoding of FileMaker's character set eliminates problems scanning special characters.

The latest PDF417 Encoder is optimized for Windows 10/OS 10.13/FileMaker 18, 32 and 64 bit versions. It will work back to Win 98/OS 10.6/FileMaker 8. Earlier versions are still available for all releases of FileMaker back to v.4.2. The current version is backward compatible with FileMaker scripts written for previous versions.

About PDF417
PDF417 stands for 'Portable Data File 4-17', a public-domain two-dimensional bar code symbology developed by Symbol Technologies. A single PDF417 barcode can carry 1100-2000 characters of machine-readable data in a space no larger than a standard bar code. Unlike traditional one-dimensional bar codes which depend on real-time links to records in a separate database, the PDF417 symbol contains the record itself.

PDF417 answers the need to print, transfer, and re-capture large amounts of data inexpensively. It can exchange complete data files (such as text, numerics or binary) and encode graphics, fingerprints, shipping manifests, electronic data interchange (EDI) messages, equipment calibration instructions, medical information, and much more. It is used to document and label assets, inventory, parts (engineering history), hazardous materials (safety data). It provides a powerful communications capability - without the need to access an external database. And, for virtually no incremental cost, you can add a PDF symbol to the documents and labels you are already printing.

Think of PDF as an independent database with complete freedom of movement, traveling together with a person or on an item, object, package, form, document, badge, card, or label. It does what wired networks can't: allows you to immediately access your data regardless of location. Encryption is available as an option when additional security is required.

Moreover, because PDF417 is a machine-readable method of transporting data, it eliminates time-consuming and error-prone manual data entry. It functions as a paper-based computer memory that can be written once and read over and over again. And, as a universal machine language, it communicates with all host operating systems. PDF417 encodes full ASCII, numeric or binary data and it uses sophisticated error correction algorithms to keep intact 100 percent of the data - even when as much as half the symbol is damaged. It's self-verifying, so data errors can be detected and data integrity maintained. Wineskin para mac.

PDF417 is the de facto standard 2-D symbology. In addition to its performance capabilities and application value in a wide range of industries, PDF417 technology is in the public domain and it conforms to industry and international 'open' standards. For all of these reasons, PDF417 is emerging as the standard 2-D symbology by leading standards-setting organizations.

Equally important, any business, government agency or service organization must be assured of a low-risk, long-term return on its technology investment. Symbol's PDF417 scanning equipment can also read all conventional one-dimensional bar codes, assuring compatibility with your installed bar code systems.

Not only is PDF417 technology hard at work in a wide range of important applications, it has also been proven in independent testing. In reliability testing by the Ohio University Center for Automatic Identification, 32 million PDF417 characters were read without an error. Tests at the University of Pittsburgh proved PDF417 compatibility in high-speed overhead scanning and its readability even when symbols were damaged.

Unlike some new technologies, PDF417 doesn't require users to learn different procedures, abandon existing hardware or software, or commit to costly reinvestment in facilities or systems. A PDF417 solution can often be added with little change to current applications and it can make use of existing printers and other equipment.

Filemaker Barcode Plugin

It's compatible with all the same printers used to print 1-D bar codes, including laser, thermal direct, thermal transfer, ink jet and others - and all are widely available today. You can print on a wide variety of materials-paper, cards, labels, plastics, metals and others. You can even fax PDF417 symbols.

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Because PDF417 can be printed in various shapes, users can create custom layouts for the requirements of specific applications. Symbols may also be printed at various densities depending on printing technology, scanner type, and application requirement.