Barcode Plugin

Table of Contents

Examples Source Code

The source code of all example use cases of the Barcode plugin can be found in the iOS SDK Bundle

Plugin Description

Simultaneous Barcode Scanning

Starting from SDK 3.8 Anyline supports simultaneous barcode scanning for any plugin. Additional Information on how to implement this on iOS can be found at Simultaneous Barcode Scanning

With the Anyline Barcode-Plugin 23 different formats of Bar- and QR-Codes can be scanned.
Futhermore, the Plugin is able to scan barcodes that are rotated, which makes it easier to scan the codes.

The description of all parameters can be found at Plugins > Barcode

How to implement the Barcode Plugin

This is a step by step guide on how to implement the Barcode Plugin in iOS.

Add the Anyline Barcode Plugins to your UIViewController

The first step is to add the three main components of every Anyline use case: the Scan Plugin (handling the scanning part), the Scan View Plugin (handling the UI) and the Scan View (handling camera, flash and overall communication between Anyline components).

Add the Anyline Barcode Plugins

// The Anyline plugin used to scan barcodes
@property (nonatomic, strong) ALBarcodeScanPlugin *barcodeScanPlugin;
@property (nonatomic, strong) ALBarcodeScanViewPlugin *barcodeScanViewPlugin;
@property (nullable, nonatomic, strong) ALScanView *scanView;

Anyline ScanPlugin

Initialise the Scan Plugin

You have to initialise the plugin with your Anyline License Key Generation, an ID (String) and the delegate inside viewDidLoad.

Initialise the Scan Plugin

    //Add Barcode Scan Plugin (Scan Process)
    NSError *error = nil;

    self.barcodeScanPlugin = [[ALBarcodeScanPlugin alloc] initWithPluginID:@"BARCODE" licenseKey:kBarcodeScanLicenseKey delegate:self error:&error];

Anyline ScanViewPlugin

Initialise the Scan View Plugin

After initialising the scanPlugin, the next step is to create the scanViewPlugin with the scanPlugin you just created. The ScanViewPlugin will handle and display the UI used for scanning.

Initialise the Scan View Plugin

    //Add Barcode Scan View Plugin (Scan UI)
    self.barcodeScanViewPlugin = [[ALBarcodeScanViewPlugin alloc] initWithScanPlugin:self.barcodeScanPlugin];

Set the ScanViewPluginConfig

The View Configuration configurates the look and feel of the scanning process. You can set it the following way:

Set the ScanViewPluginConfig

NSString *confPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"barcode_capture_config" ofType:@"json"];
ALScanViewPluginConfig *scanViewPluginConfig = [ALScanViewPluginConfig configurationFromJsonFilePath:confPath];

self.barcodeScanViewPlugin = [[ALBarcodeScanViewPlugin alloc] initWithScanPlugin:self.licensePlateScanPlugin
                                                        scanViewPluginConfig:scanViewPluginConfig];

Anyline ScanView

Initialise the Scan View

The last Anyline Object you have to create is the so called scanView, it will handle the camera, the flash and manage the previously created ScanViewPlugin and ScanPlugin. You need to instantiate the scanView with the previous created scanViewPlugin and the frame it should occupy. Usually, that’s the bounds of the screen.

Initialise the Scan View

    //Add ScanView (Camera and Flashbutton)
    self.scanView = [[ALScanView alloc] initWithFrame:frame scanViewPlugin:self.barcodeScanViewPlugin];

Adding the Scan View to the View Hierarchy and start the Camera Feed

To add the scanView to your view hierarchy add the following in viewDidLoad:

Adding the view and starting the camera

    [self.view addSubview:self.scanView];
    [self.scanView startCamera];

Final steps to configure and use the Barcode Plugins

The Anyline Barcode Delegate

In the Barcode Plugin of Anyline SDK, you will be provided final and intermediate results via delegate calls. The delegate is set on initialisation with scanPlugin initWithPluginID:licenseKey:delegate:error

In case of the Anyline Barcode Plugin, the delegate protocol is called ALBarcodeScanPluginDelegate. This section describes the ALBarcodeScanPluginDelegate calls in detail.

`anylineBarcodeScanPlugin:didFindScanResult:`

This is the main callback method for the Barcode plugin. It is called once a valid result has been found.

The callback returns the result as ALBarcodeResult, holding a NSString for the actual result, the ALBarcodeFormat, as well as an UIImage of the result.

Getting a result

/*
 The main delegate method Anyline uses to report its scanned codes
 */
- (void)anylineBarcodeScanPlugin:(ALBarcodeScanPlugin *)anylineBarcodeScanPlugin didFindResult:(ALBarcodeResult *)scanResult {
    [self anylineDidFindResult:scanResult.result barcodeResult:@"" image:scanResult.image scanPlugin:anylineBarcodeScanPlugin viewPlugin:self.barcodeScanViewPlugin completion:NULL];
    
    self.resultLabel.text = scanResult.result;
}

ALBarcodeResult scanResult

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
`result`	`NSString`	✗	The actual result of the scanning process
`image`	`UIImage`	✓	The image the result was found on. The image is cropped to the cutout
`fullImage`	`UIImage`	✓	The full image the result was found on.
`confidence`	`NSInteger`	✓	The confidence of the SDK in the detected result.
`barcodeFormat`	Enum	✓	The detected format of the Barcode

Enabling or Disabling the Reporting

The reporting of the (intermediate) results is turned off for this Plugin.

Start Scanning

Hint

Use [scanView startCamera] within viewDidload before starting Anyline.

After everything is initialised, you can start the scanning process, by calling startAndReturnError: on the plugin.

It is advised to place this call in the viewDidAppear: lifecycle method of the UIViewController.

``Starting the plugin ``

    /*
     This is the place where we tell Anyline to start receiving and displaying images from the camera.
     Success/error tells us if everything went fine.
     */
    NSError *error;
    BOOL success = [self.barcodeScanViewPlugin startAndReturnError:&error];
    if( !success ) {
        // Something went wrong. The error object contains the error description
        [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Start Scanning Error"
                                    message:error.debugDescription
                                   delegate:self
                          cancelButtonTitle:@"OK"
                          otherButtonTitles:nil] show];
    }

Stop Scanning

To stop the scanning process, call stopAndReturnError: on the plugin.

To make sure the SDK is properly stopped upon leaving the Activity, make sure to place stopAndReturnError: in the viewWillDisappear: lifecycle method of the UIViewController.

Stopping the plugin

/*
 Cancel scanning to allow the module to clean up
 */
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
    [self.barcodeScanViewPlugin stopAndReturnError:nil];
}

Set your Barcode Format

Optionally, you can set the desired Barcode Format, to limit the scanning process, and speed it up.

Set the Barcode Format

[self.barcodeScanPlugin setBarcodeFormatOptions:ALCodeTypeAll];

Full Example

Full Barcode iOS Example

#import "ALMultiformatBarcodeScanViewController.h"
#import <Anyline/Anyline.h>
#import "NSUserDefaults+ALExamplesAdditions.h"
#import "ALAppDemoLicenses.h"

// This is the license key for the examples project used to set up Aynline below
NSString * const kBarcodeScanLicenseKey = kDemoAppLicenseKey;
// The controller has to conform to <AnylineBarcodeModuleDelegate> to be able to receive results
@interface ALMultiformatBarcodeScanViewController() <ALBarcodeScanPluginDelegate>
// The Anyline plugin used to scan barcodes
@property (nonatomic, strong) ALBarcodeScanPlugin *barcodeScanPlugin;
@property (nonatomic, strong) ALBarcodeScanViewPlugin *barcodeScanViewPlugin;
@property (nullable, nonatomic, strong) ALScanView *scanView;

// A debug label to show scanned results
@property (nonatomic, strong) UILabel *resultLabel;

@end

@implementation ALMultiformatBarcodeScanViewController

/*
 We will do our main setup in viewDidLoad. Its called once the view controller is getting ready to be displayed.
 */
- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    
    // Set the background color to black to have a nicer transition
    self.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
    
    self.title = @"Barcode / QR-Code";
    CGRect frame = [[UIScreen mainScreen] applicationFrame];
    frame = CGRectMake(frame.origin.x, frame.origin.y + self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.height, frame.size.width, frame.size.height - self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.height);
    
    //Add Barcode Scan Plugin (Scan Process)
    NSError *error = nil;

    self.barcodeScanPlugin = [[ALBarcodeScanPlugin alloc] initWithPluginID:@"BARCODE" licenseKey:kBarcodeScanLicenseKey delegate:self error:&error];
    NSAssert(self.barcodeScanPlugin, @"Setup Error: %@", error.debugDescription);
    
    //Set Barcode Formats
    [self.barcodeScanPlugin setBarcodeFormatOptions:ALCodeTypeAll];
    
    //Add Barcode Scan View Plugin (Scan UI)
    self.barcodeScanViewPlugin = [[ALBarcodeScanViewPlugin alloc] initWithScanPlugin:self.barcodeScanPlugin];
    NSAssert(self.barcodeScanViewPlugin, @"Setup Error: %@", error.debugDescription);
    
    //Add ScanView (Camera and Flashbutton)
    self.scanView = [[ALScanView alloc] initWithFrame:frame scanViewPlugin:self.barcodeScanViewPlugin];
    
    [self.view addSubview:self.scanView];
    [self.scanView startCamera];
    
    self.barcodeScanViewPlugin.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = NO;
    
    // After setup is complete we add the module to the view of this view controller
    [[self view] addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"H:|[scanView]|" options:0 metrics:nil views:@{@"scanView" : self.scanView}]];
    id topGuide = self.topLayoutGuide;
    [[self view] addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"V:[topGuide]-0-[scanView]|" options:0 metrics:nil views:@{@"scanView" : self.scanView, @"topGuide" : topGuide}]];
    
    // The resultLabel is used as a debug view to see the scanned results. We set its text
    // in anylineBarcodeModuleView:didFindScanResult:atImage below
    self.resultLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, self.view.frame.size.height - 100, self.view.frame.size.width, 50)];
    self.resultLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentCenter;
    self.resultLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    self.resultLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue-UltraLight" size:35.0];
    self.resultLabel.adjustsFontSizeToFitWidth = YES;
    
    [self.view addSubview:self.resultLabel];

}

/*
 This method will be called once the view controller and its subviews have appeared on screen
 */
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {
    [super viewDidAppear:animated];
    /*
     This is the place where we tell Anyline to start receiving and displaying images from the camera.
     Success/error tells us if everything went fine.
     */
    NSError *error;
    BOOL success = [self.barcodeScanViewPlugin startAndReturnError:&error];
    if( !success ) {
        // Something went wrong. The error object contains the error description
        [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Start Scanning Error"
                                    message:error.debugDescription
                                   delegate:self
                          cancelButtonTitle:@"OK"
                          otherButtonTitles:nil] show];
    }
    
    //Update Position of Warning Indicator
    [self updateWarningPosition:
     self.barcodeScanViewPlugin.cutoutRect.origin.y +
     self.barcodeScanViewPlugin.cutoutRect.size.height +
     self.barcodeScanViewPlugin.frame.origin.y +
     120];
}

/*
 Cancel scanning to allow the module to clean up
 */
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
    [self.barcodeScanViewPlugin stopAndReturnError:nil];
}


#pragma mark -- AnylineBarcodeModuleDelegate
/*
 The main delegate method Anyline uses to report its scanned codes
 */
- (void)anylineBarcodeScanPlugin:(ALBarcodeScanPlugin *)anylineBarcodeScanPlugin didFindResult:(ALBarcodeResult *)scanResult {
    [self anylineDidFindResult:scanResult.result barcodeResult:@"" image:scanResult.image scanPlugin:anylineBarcodeScanPlugin viewPlugin:self.barcodeScanViewPlugin completion:NULL];
    
    self.resultLabel.text = scanResult.result;
}

@end

Anyline SDK

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