Hello Everyone!
See in this article how to read and decode barcodes through an Delphi XE4 iOS App. The process consists in capturing an image using the device camera and decoding it through a specialized SDK.
CodeBar Libraries for iOS Apps
There are a lot of SDKs focused in barcode decoding, supporting numerous platforms, some paid, some free, with different levels of features, just go to Google and you’ll receive a huge list of suggestions to explore. Here, we are interested in SDKs for the iOS platform.
In general, these SDKs are created to be used with Objective-C, so we need to translate the SDK’s header to Pascal through one of the available ways. Here you can find more information about the translation process:
To create this sample, I’m using the ZBar SDK (http://zbar.sourceforge.net/), an open source library, which has its header translated to Pascal by Simon Choi, originally published here: http://blog.naver.com/simonsayz/120175561755.
Developing the App
Once you have the SDK (in this case represented by a file called “libzbar.a”) and the header translation in hands, you can create a Delphi class to expose the SDK methods in a easy and friendly way to your iOS app. See below how this class looks:
TZBarCode = class(TObject) private ZBarView: ZBarReaderView; ZBarEvent: TZBarReaderViewDelegate; FActive: Boolean; function GetActive: Boolean; procedure SetActive(value: Boolean); function GetOnBarCode: TOnBarCode; procedure SetOnBarCode(value: TOnBarCode); protected destructor Destroy; override; public constructor Create; virtual; procedure Free; procedure SetFrame(View: UIView; Frame: CGRect); property Active: Boolean Read GetActive Write SetActive; property OnBarCode: TOnBarCode Read GetOnBarCode Write SetOnBarCode; end;
Building the Visual Interface
Considering the visual part of the application, we have:
– An TEdit (edtResult) to receive the barcode data;
– An TMemo (memImage) to define the image display area;
– An TListBox (lstHistory) to store the capture log;
– An TSwitch (swtONOFF) to activate/deactivate the capture process;
– An TButton (btnCopy) to copy the barcode data to the clipboard;
– An TButton (btnClear) to clear the capture log;
You can see the expected form appearance in this image:
Adding Some Code
Start by adding – in the private section of the main application form – one field to instantiate our capture class and a method to be assigned to the capture event:
private
{ Private declarations }
ZBarCode: TZBarCode;
procedure OnFindBarCode(Sender: TObject; BarCode: String);
public
Looking to the OnFindBarCode event, the BarCode variable brings the captured value, so you just need to assign it to the edtResult, as well to the lstHistory to create the log:
procedure TMainForm.OnFindBarCode(Sender: TObject; BarCode: String);
begin
edtResult.Text := BarCode;
lstHistory.Items.Add(FormatDateTime('dd/mm/yyyy hh:nn:ss', Now) + ' - ' + BarCode);
end;
Using the OnSwitch event from TSwitch, we’ll instantiate the capture’s class, assign the capture event, as well as define the image plotting area, and finally start the capture:
procedure TMainForm.swtONOFFSwitch(Sender: TObject); begin if not Assigned(ZBarCode) then begin ZBarCode := TZBarCode.Create; ZBarCode.OnBarCode := OnFindBarCode; ZBarCode.setFrame(WindowHandleToPlatform(Self.Handle).View, CGRectMake(memImage.Position.X, memImage.Position.Y, memImage.Width, memImage.Height)); end; ZBarCode.Active := swtONOFF.IsChecked; end;
To complete the app, here is the code for the two added buttons:
procedure TMainForm.butClearClick(Sender: TObject); begin edtResult.Text := ''; lstHistory.Items.Clear; end;
procedure TMainForm.btnCopyClick(Sender: TObject); begin edtResult.SelectAll; edtResult.CopyToClipboard; end;
Note: This app is intended to run only in a real device. Here you can see the app in action:
You can download the sample with the complete source code here: http://cc.embarcadero.com/item/29485
Hope this can be useful for your projects, have fun!
Very cool!
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Very very cool. Exactly what I need.
Thanks a lot.
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Hi , thanks this is exactly what I have been looking for.
Just a question, I am a newbie , when I try run it on the iOS simulator I get [DCC Error] libzbar.pas(27): E1026 File not found: ‘libiconv.dylib’
I have tried updating my SDK’s etc but cannot get it to work. Is there something I am missing ?
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Sorry about my message above, just with regard to the question, I assume the answer is because it can only run on a real device, so the simulator will fail when compiling.
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Exactly Oliver!
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This library can read QRCode?
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Fernando – would be great to have this functionality as a reusable component 🙂
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How do I get rid of the image that shows in the Memo once the TZBarCode.Active := False??
I’ve tried to Free it
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Thanks a lot!
It would, however, be quite cool to also have the symbology returned as a part of the OnBarCode event?
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Have you ported the barcode scanner app to android?
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I tested the example and could not capture the barcode. The apliocativo activates the camera displays the image but does not convert. What can it be?
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Really thanks a lot!
I have tested your example and all works fine.
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Pingback: The Hacker’s Corner » Blog Archive » Bar code reading in Delphi XE4 for iOS
Que tal um exemplo com o XE5?
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Fernando bom dia.
Você teria algo sobre essa leitura de códigos de barras vinda sendo feita no Delphi XE5 e sendo feita pelo Android?
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Este post sem dúvida nenhuma me ajudou muito no XE4, seguindo a linha dos amigos acima, ter uma rotina dessa rodando no XE5 com Android seria lindo! rss
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Hi,
Just wondering can the code be ported to android? I’m currently trying to design an android bar-code reader but failed. I was able to execute the ZXing through intent call but unable to obtain the result which is in the onActivityResult. Do you have any idea to overcome this? Thank you in advance. 🙂
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Opa, muito bom, mais também não consegui compilar por falta de libiconv.dylib, como compilar?
Obrigado!
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Murilo, compile para o “device”. Esta biblioteca não vai funcionar para o simulador…
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Fernando, muito bom o tutorial…
Mas gostaria de saber se você sabe como capturar e ler o códigos de barras de um boleto do brasil.
Abraços
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Is this only for iOS? DOes this work on Andriod?
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Once Fernando Thank u very much for programming.
I try to this project for android but doesn’t work because i can’t convert it for android.Have same errors “umainform.fmx”.
Exp.:”cannor resolve unit name “uses iOSapi.CoreGraphics;”at line 44(44:6)
“TAndroidWindowHandle’ does not cortain a member named ‘view’ at line 70(70:59) ect.ext.
Anyone can help for this?
Maybe someone convert for Android this ios application.
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This is exactly how our WWS100i Cordless Pocket Barcode Scanner works; it acts as a keyboard into your applications where keyboard entry can be used.
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Pingback: Leggere e produrre Barcode con Delphi XE5 (Android) | Delphi & Dintorni Blog
Hello,
does this works under Android and XE7 ?
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Yes, but using a distinct approach.
I’d like to recommend you to this webinar:
http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/43614
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