This guide is split in three parts:

1. The first part describes how to get the Barcode Scanner SDK and build the demo project that comes with it.
2. The second part shows how you can integrate the SDK in your own app in 4 easy steps.
3. The last part contains some troubleshooting tips.

1. Get SDK and build demo project

 
To download and build the barcode scanner demo project, perform the following four steps:
 

1.1 Download

Choose a plan (e.g., free “Community” plan) and download the Barcode Scanner SDK.
 

1.2 Open demo project in Eclipse

Unpack the downloaded ZIP file. In Eclipse, select “File” → “New” → “Android project”. Choose “Create project from existing source” and specify the path to the extracted ZIP file. Press “Finish”.
 

1.3 Set app key

In the ScanditSDKDemo.java and ScanditSDKSampleBarcodeActivity.java files, locate the sScanditSdkAppKey constant and paste your personal app key between the quotation marks. Sign in to your account at http://account.scandit.com to look up your app key (see “App key” link).

private static final String sScanditSdkAppKey = "";

1.4 Build and run

You can now build and run the demo project. If you are experiencing any problems, please see section on troubleshooting below.
 
 
 
 

2. Integrating the SDK in your own app

 

2.1 Get your SDK

Choose a plan and download the Barcode Scanner SDK.

 

2.2 Add the SDK to your project

1. The ZIP file you downloaded contains a folder named libs. Copy this folder into your Eclipse project at the root level.
2. Add the scanditsdk-barcodepicker-android-x.x.x.jar, which is contained in the libs folder, to your build path (right click → “Build Path” → “Add to Build Path”).
3. Copy the raw folder located inside the res folder to the res folder of your Eclipse project.
4. The Scandit SDK requires Android 2.1. If the minimum SDK level in your manifest is below 7, change it to 7.

 

2.3 Prepare class to receive scanning events

To receive events from the Scandit SDK you have to implement the ScanditSDKListener interface. To do this, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Specify that your class implements the ScanditSDKListener interface. If your class is an activity called DemoActivity, this looks something like this:

   public class DemoActivity extends Activity
                             implements ScanditSDKListener {
   }

2. Import the necessary interface by pressing Ctrl-Shift-O.
    
3. Add the following callback methods to the class (as defined by the interface):

   @Override
   public void didScanBarcode(String barcode, String symbology) {}
   
   @Override
   public void didManualSearch(String entry) {}
   
   @Override
   public void didCancel() {}
   

4. Process the barcode and symbology values received by the didScanBarcode method. The barcode argument contains the data read from the barcode / 2d code, while the the symbology argument contains one of the following strings: "EAN8", "EAN13", "UPC12", "UPCE", "EAN128", "CODE39", "ITF", "QR", "DATAMATRIX"

 

2.4 Add code to start the scanning process

Scandit SDK for Android offers two different scanners (“pickers”): A standard picker, which is available on Android 2.2 and higher, as well as a legacy picker, which was specifically developed for Android 2.1, where it allows for scanning in portait mode (Android 2.1 does not provide a video feed in portrait mode natively). We recommend the use of the standard picker for all devices that run Android 2.2+ and the legacy picker for Android 2.1 devices. The Scandit SDK provides a dedicated method that allows you to determine which picker to use.

1. Check whether the device supports the standard picker (if you are only targeting devices with Android 2.2 and higher, you can leave this out):

   if (ScanditSDKBarcodePicker.canRunPortraitPicker()) {
     // the standard picker can be used
   } else {
     // the legacy picker must be used
   }

2. Instantiate the appropriate picker. Do not forget to replace ##AppKey## with your personal app key in the following code snippet. You can look up the app key by signing in to your account at http://account.scandit.com (see “App key” link).
   
   

   For the standard picker:

   ScanditSDKAutoAdjustingBarcodePicker picker = new 
   ScanditSDKAutoAdjustingBarcodePicker(this, R.raw.class, "##AppKey##") ;

   For the legacy picker:

   ScanditSDK picker = new LegacyPortraitScanditSDKBarcodePicker(
       this, "##AppKey##");


The demo application that is provided with the Scandit SDK provides a full working example.

3. Import the necessary interface by pressing Ctrl-Shift-O.
    
4. Specify the object that will receive the callback events. In this example, we assume that the receiver is the same class that also instantiated the picker:

   Picker.getOverlayView().addListener(this);

5. Start the scanning process. Starting and stopping should normally happen in the onPause() and onResume() methods of the same activity that contains the picker. It does not matter whether the picker is the root view of the activity or just a subview in the hierarchy. The camera resource needs to be freed before the activity ends or goes into the background, so stopping the picker in onPause() is a necessity. On the other hand, whether you start it in onResume() is not as important. Your code should look something like this, assuming that mPicker references the picker you created earlier:

   private ScanditSDK mPicker;
   
   @Override
   protected void onResume() {
       mPicker.startScanning();
       super.onResume();
   }
   
   @Override
   protected void onPause() {
       mPicker.stopScanning();
       super.onPause();
   }
   

6. Show the scanner to the user. The easiest way to do so is by setting it as the content view of your activity:

   setContentView(picker);

 

3. Customizing the SDK

The Scandit SDK offers a number of customization features. Among others, the Scandit SDK offers options to:

• Customize the scan view within your app
• Disable barcode symbologies your app will not support
• Add additional locales
• Change the scan beep

For a detailed list of available API methods, see the Javadoc of the ScanditSDKBarcodePicker, LegacyPortraitScanditSDKBarcodePicker and ScanditSDKOverlay classes.

 

4. Problems, crashes?

Please check the LogCat output in Eclipse. The Scandit SDK writes log messages to LogCat that can help you identify problems.

If you have problems with the demo project: Did you change the project settings as described above?

If your app crashes and you are using the Enterprise Trial SDK: Does your phone have access to the internet? Your app will terminate otherwise. Note that our other versions (Community, Enterprise Basic, Enterprise Premium) do not have this requirement and work without network access.