Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows

Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit 7.4.2.1 includes the following improvements:

• Improved error handling and reporting
• Demo program can now export and import xml settings
• Dialog boxes are suppressed when running in a windows service
• Will now read 2-D barcodes from coarse resolution faxes
• Error with partial PDF-417 decoding fixed

Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit 7.4.1.5 includes improvements to the demo program

Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit 7.4.1.4 includes an important fix for loading BMP files and some minor improvements to reading 2-D barcodes.

What's new in Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows 7.4.1?

• New and comprehensive documentation
• New, faster .net component
• High speed pdf file processing (3X the old version) - available with PDF Extension option
• Complete support for x64 systems - sample projects work on either type of system
• Redistributable packages included for x86 and x64 systems

What's new in Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows 7.3.1?

Color Images
Previous versions of the toolkit used a single threshold value to determine whether a pixel was considered black or white. Although the toolkit tried to calculate this value, it was often necessary to try a number of different color thresholds until the barcode could be read. Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows Version 7.3.1 takes a different approach and calculates new threshold values for each scan line it samples. To take advantage of the new feature, developers will need to ensure that the ColorThreshold property is set to 0 (the default value). They can then control the amount of time spent processing a color image by setting the ColorProcessingLevel property to a value between 1 and 5 (default of 2).

GS1 Databar Support
GS-1 Databar support has been added to toolkit. This includes RSS-14, RSS-14 Stacked, RSS Truncated, RSS Limited, RSS Expanded and RSS Expanded Stacked. There is also support for supplemental information encoded in micro-PDF-417 barcodes.

Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows Overview

Softek Barcode Reader Toolkit for Windows enables application programmers to read barcodes from image files and bitmaps held in memory. The image files can be from any source, but will typically come from a scanner or computer fax modem. The barcode recognition engine is contained in a single library file, which makes product upgrades a simple matter. The application programmer has the choice of 4 different interfaces to choose from.

The choice of interface will depend on the type of language being used and the type of application to be developed. A few lines of code are all that is needed to read a barcode from an image. As can be seen from this example using the Active X control:  

nBarStrings = SoftekBarcode1.ScanBarCode(ImageFile)   

If (nBarStrings > 0) Then    For n = 1 To nBarStrings   

BarString = SoftekBarcode1.GetBarString(n)   

MsgBox (BarString)   

Next n   

End If   

As the above code shows, it’s a simple two-step process to read a barcode. Softek Barcode reader Toolkit for Windows has the following Toolkit interfaces:   

DLL Interface - The DLL allows programmers to access the properties and methods of the toolkit via functions prefixed with 'st'. For example, the ScanBarcode method is called stScanBarcode and the LineJump property can is set and retrieved using the functions SetLineJump and GetLineJump   

ActiveX Control or OCX - The Active X Control can be embedded in a form or dialog and the methods and properties of the toolkit accessed through the associated object   

Visual Basic Wrapper Class - The wrapper class provides access to the DLL via a simple Visual Basic class. Most of the properties and methods of the toolkit are supported through this interface   

COM Object - The COM object allows access to most of the properties and methods in the toolkit, although some of the methods differ slightly in operation from the other interfaces.   

100% Managed .Net Component - The managed component allows programmers working within the .Net framework to access most of the methods and properties of the toolkit. This interface is also thread safe.

Image Formats Supported:   

• TIF
• JPG
• BMP   

The following types of barcode are currently supported: 

• PDF-417   
• CODE-39   
• CODE-128   
• CODE-2-of-5 Interleaved   
• Codabar   
• EAN-8   
• EAN-13   
• Patch Codes   
• UPC-A   
• UPC-E   

Barcode Widths:    The main requirement is for each black or white bar in a barcode to be clearly visible on the image. All barcodes have at least 2 sizes of bar and the image needs to be of high enough quality to show this. For example, a Code 39 barcode consists of 9 bars per character, of which 3 must be wide and 6 must be narrow. The wide bars should be around 2.5 times the size of the narrow bars - but for simplicity we will say 2 times the size. This means that each character needs at least 12 pixels in an image. This assumes that each pixel in the image lies either entirely in a black bar or entirely in a white bar. In practise, this isn't possible and so the resolution should allow around 36 pixels per character.    So, to encode a string of 10 characters (including the start and stop *) you will need at around 360 pixels. If the barcode is 1 inch wide on the paper then you will need to scan at a resolution of around 400 DPI. If the barcode is 2 inches wide then you will need to scan at a resolution of at least 200 DPI.    Some types of barcode have more than 2 widths of bar and a higher resolution still will be needed to ensure that the different widths can be distinguished on the image.    As for barcode height - if you have a very wide barcode then you need to ensure that it is high enough to cope with any skewing that takes place when the image is scanned.    In summary - the success of a project can depend on specifying the correct barcode size and image resolution:

Code39 Number of Characters 10, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 340   

Code 2 of 5 (interleaved) Number of Characters 10, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 190   

Code128 (code set A) Number of Characters 10, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 280   

Code128 (code set B) Number of Characters 10, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 280   

Code128 (code set C) Number of Characters 10, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 170   

EAN13 Number of Characters 13, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 190   

EAN8 Number of Characters 8, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 140   

UPC-A Number of Characters 12, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 190   

UPC-E Number of Characters 8, Minimum Number of Pixels (approx) 120   

PDF-417 requires around 50 pixels per column, although some success can be achieved with column sizes as low as 30. 

All licenses include 12 months Support and Upgrade Cover including:

• Free upgrades to the toolkit
• Advice and help on using the toolkit api
• Analysis of problem barcodes
• Support is available during UK office hours with a response in no more than 3 working days