find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode (Operator)

Name

find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode — Detect and read bar code symbols in an image.

Signature

Description

The operator find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode finds and reads bar code symbols in a given image (ImageImageImageImageImageimage) and returns the decoded data. In one image an arbitrary number of bar codes of a single type can be read. The type of the desired bar code symbology is given by CodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypecodeType. The decoded strings are returned in DecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsdecodedDataStrings and the corresponding bar code regions in SymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionssymbolRegions. For a total of n successfully read bar codes, the indices from 0 to (n-1) can be used as candidate handle in the operators get_bar_code_objectget_bar_code_objectGetBarCodeObjectget_bar_code_objectGetBarCodeObjectGetBarCodeObject and get_bar_code_resultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultGetBarCodeResult in order to retrieve the desired data of one specific bar code result.

Bar codes are expected to appear dark on a light background. To read light bar codes on a dark background, invert the input image using the operator invert_imageinvert_imageInvertImageinvert_imageInvertImageInvertImage beforehand.

Before calling find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode a bar code model must be created by calling create_bar_code_modelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelCreateBarCodeModel. This operator returns a bar code model BarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandlebarCodeHandle, which is input to find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode.

The output value DecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsdecodedDataStrings contains the decoded string of the symbol for each bar code result. The contents of the strings are conform to the appropriate standard of the symbology. Typically, DecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsdecodedDataStrings contains only data characters. For bar codes with a mandatory check character the check character is not included in the string. For bar codes with an optional check character, like for example Code 39, Codabar, 2/5 Industrial or 2/5 Interleaved, the result depends on the value of the 'check_char'"check_char""check_char""check_char""check_char""check_char" parameter, which can be set in create_bar_code_modelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelCreateBarCodeModel, set_bar_code_paramset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamSetBarCodeParam or set_bar_code_param_specificset_bar_code_param_specificSetBarCodeParamSpecificset_bar_code_param_specificSetBarCodeParamSpecificSetBarCodeParamSpecific: The default setting of 'absent'"absent""absent""absent""absent""absent" assumes that no check character is present. In this case, no check is performed and all characters are returned as data. When set to 'present'"present""present""present""present""present", a check character is expected and used to verify the correctness of the bar code. The bar code is graded as unreadable if the check sum does not match. Accordingly, the symbol region and the decoded string do not appear in the list of resulting strings (DecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsdecodedDataStrings) and in the list of resulting regions (SymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionsSymbolRegionssymbolRegions). The check character itself is stripped from the data. If this stripping is undesired, the mode 'preserved'"preserved""preserved""preserved""preserved""preserved" allows to verify the bar code while still keeping the check character in the data.

The underlying decoded reference data, including start/stop and check characters, can be queried by using the get_bar_code_resultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultGetBarCodeResult operator with the option 'decoded_reference'"decoded_reference""decoded_reference""decoded_reference""decoded_reference""decoded_reference".

Following bar code symbologies are supported:

    2/5 Industrial       EAN-8                GS1-128
    2/5 Interleaved      EAN-8 Add-On 2       GS1 DataBar Omnidir
    Codabar              EAN-8 Add-On 5       GS1 DataBar Truncated
    Code 39              EAN-13               GS1 DataBar Stacked
    Code 93              EAN-13 Add-On 2      GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidir
    Code 128             EAN-13 Add-On 5      GS1 DataBar Limited
    MSI                  UPC-A                GS1 DataBar Expanded
    PharmaCode           UPC-A Add-On 2       GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked
                         UPC-A Add-On 5
                         UPC-E
                         UPC-E Add-On 2
                         UPC-E Add-On 5

Note that the PharmaCode can be read in forward and backward direction, both yielding a valid result. Therefore, both strings are returned and concatenated into a single string in DecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsDecodedDataStringsdecodedDataStrings by a separating comma.

Note that the GS1 DataBar bar codes may contain an additional composite code component. To find and decode this component, set the parameter 'composite_code'"composite_code""composite_code""composite_code""composite_code""composite_code" to 'CC-A/B'"CC-A/B""CC-A/B""CC-A/B""CC-A/B""CC-A/B" using the operator set_bar_code_paramset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamSetBarCodeParam.

Autodiscrimination

Autodiscrimination describes the simultaneous decoding of multiple bar code types in one call of find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode. For this purpose a tuple of bar code types is specified for the parameter CodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypeCodeTypecodeType. Using the generic value 'auto'"auto""auto""auto""auto""auto" all known bar code types are decoded - except 'PharmaCode'"PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode" and 'MSI'"MSI""MSI""MSI""MSI""MSI" because these codes don't have enough features to be reliably separated from other bar code types. The tuple can also contain bar code types with the tilde prefix (~) which won't be decoded. For example

['auto'"auto""auto""auto""auto""auto", '~EAN-8'"~EAN-8""~EAN-8""~EAN-8""~EAN-8""~EAN-8", '~EAN-8 Add-On 2'"~EAN-8 Add-On 2""~EAN-8 Add-On 2""~EAN-8 Add-On 2""~EAN-8 Add-On 2""~EAN-8 Add-On 2", '~EAN-8 Add-On 5'"~EAN-8 Add-On 5""~EAN-8 Add-On 5""~EAN-8 Add-On 5""~EAN-8 Add-On 5""~EAN-8 Add-On 5"]

describes all bar code types without 'PharmaCode'"PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode""PharmaCode", 'MSI'"MSI""MSI""MSI""MSI""MSI" and all kinds of 'EAN-8'"EAN-8""EAN-8""EAN-8""EAN-8""EAN-8". Please note that each additionally allowed bar code type increases the run-time of the operator. Using too many bar code types the reliability of the decoding could decrease because not all bar code types can be discriminated reliably. To improve autodiscrimination compatibility bar codes with a check character or check sum should be used.

The bar code reader tries to decode the bar code types in the following order:

GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional, GS1 DataBar Truncated, GS1 DataBar Stacked, GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional, GS1 DataBar Limited, GS1 DataBar Expanded, GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked, GS1-128, Code 128, EAN-13 Add-On 5, EAN-13 Add-On 2, EAN-13, UPC-A Add-On 5, UPC-A Add-On 2, UPC-A, EAN-8 Add-On 5, EAN-8 Add-On 2, EAN-8, UPC-E Add-On 5, UPC-E Add-On 2, UPC-E, Code 93, Code 39, Codabar, 2/5 Interleaved, 2/5 Industrial.

Therefore you should exclude at least all definitely not occuring bar code types that are scanned before the first of the bar code types you expect to find or, better, just scan for the explicit list of bar code types you expect.

Especially for the autodiscrimination there is the operator set_bar_code_param_specificset_bar_code_param_specificSetBarCodeParamSpecificset_bar_code_param_specificSetBarCodeParamSpecificSetBarCodeParamSpecific. With it some parameters of the bar code model can be set specifically for certain bar code types.

Training

If the bar code reader is in training mode, the operator find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode executes a training cycle. The training mode is described with the operator set_bar_code_paramset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamSetBarCodeParam.

Timeout

With the operator set_bar_code_paramset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamSetBarCodeParam you can specify a timeout for find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode. If find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode reaches this timeout, it returns all codes decoded so far. Whether a timeout occurred or not can be queried by calling get_bar_code_resultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultGetBarCodeResult with the parameter 'timeout_occurred'"timeout_occurred""timeout_occurred""timeout_occurred""timeout_occurred""timeout_occurred".

Attention

A bar code model BarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandleBarCodeHandlebarCodeHandle cannot be shared between two or more user's threads. Different bar code models can be used independently and safely in different threads.

Parallelization

• Multithreading type: reentrant (runs in parallel with non-exclusive operators).
• Multithreading scope: global (may be called from any thread).
• Automatically parallelized on internal data level.

Parameters

Result

The operator find_bar_codefind_bar_codeFindBarCodefind_bar_codeFindBarCodeFindBarCode returns the value 2 (H_MSG_TRUE) if the given parameters are correct. Otherwise, an exception will be raised.

Possible Predecessors

create_bar_code_modelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelcreate_bar_code_modelCreateBarCodeModelCreateBarCodeModel, set_bar_code_paramset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamset_bar_code_paramSetBarCodeParamSetBarCodeParam

Possible Successors

get_bar_code_resultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultget_bar_code_resultGetBarCodeResultGetBarCodeResult, get_bar_code_objectget_bar_code_objectGetBarCodeObjectget_bar_code_objectGetBarCodeObjectGetBarCodeObject, clear_bar_code_modelclear_bar_code_modelClearBarCodeModelclear_bar_code_modelClearBarCodeModelClearBarCodeModel

Alternatives

decode_bar_code_rectangle2decode_bar_code_rectangle2DecodeBarCodeRectangle2decode_bar_code_rectangle2DecodeBarCodeRectangle2DecodeBarCodeRectangle2

Module

Bar Code