OK, so I had CueCat installed (this barcode reader + software you can get
at Radio Shack etc.), and the software seemed like it might be acting up,
and I wasn't using it, so I disconnected it.
I am cleaning my office today, and so I just scan something with a text
window open, and I notice that the data is going right to my screen!
So I remember someone wrote a little Perl module to deal with CueCat data,
and I run it, and it works. No software needed at all (except for Perl,
but no special drivers or anything).
Here's the script:
#!perl -w
use Barcode::Cuecat; # need to "hack" module to work with MacPerl
my $continuous = 1;
my $bc = new Barcode::Cuecat;
print "Type 'q' to quit.\n" if $continuous;
while (chomp(my $data = <STDIN>)) {
last if $data eq 'q';
$bc->scan($data);
printf "%s: %s\n", $bc->type, $bc->code;
last unless $continuous;
}
And here is the output:
Type 'q' to quit.
.C3nZC3nZC3n2D3bWDhvZDxnY.fHmc.Dxr1DxfWC3D3END2.
UPA: 676623044945
.C3nZC3nZC3n2D3bWDhvZDxnY.cGen.ENr7CNT1CNnZD3D6EG.
IBN: 9781861004499
.C3nZC3nZC3n2D3bWDhvZDxnY.fHmc.C3b3Dhn0C3bYDNvX.
UPA: 034707031562
q
The lines starting with ".C3" consists of the actual data the scanner reads
in. The first scan is the UPA (UPC?) symbol from a book. The next one is
the ISBN. The third is the UPA symbol from a CD-R case. This is too cool.
If I had realized it just sent data to STDIN like the keyboard, I would
have done this long ago.
The "hack" to get the module to run is to remove the our(), use warnings,
and require 5.005 lines. Replace the "our" line with
"$Barcode::CueCat::VERSION" or whatever, if you like.
--
Chris Nandor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pudge.net/
Open Source Development Network [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://osdn.com/
