yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mrnerdhair:
Hey, I just wanted to warn everyone that I've got some code to contribute in the next day or two. I'm PMing hypest with more details, like the specifics of the development environment I'm using to make sure he can read the code I'm submitting. If anyone else in the thread is working on the source and wants to contribute, please PM me so we can sync up our work.

I've got the save previous images option someone was looking for implemented, and the option to activate shoot automatically when the application is launched, and I've updated the zxing library to version 1.1, which adds better support for image rotation, has a DataMatrix decoder, and hopefully has better all-around recognition speed and accuracy. Haven't tested it in the field yet, though.

So anyhow, before anyone goes and implements all that over again, don't, because it's already done :p
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] rpmccormick:
Anyone working on this code should look at ShopSavy and CompareEveywhere for ideas (both Android apps). To take this app to the next level it needs to find local-store prices as well as online-store prices and then display them in a finger scrollable list with links to buy-online or map/call the location.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mrnerdhair:
There are two main obstacles to making Barcorama a ShopSavvy clone. Number one, the whole decode-using-video-stream thing is problematic, because the cameras on HTC phones can't take high-res video. Number two, I can't find a database that returns local store prices as well as online-store prices and does it reliably. I've tried frucall.com, but it hasn't given accurate barcode lookups, accurate prices, or any local prices on items I've tried so far.

As I don't have a G1, maybe someone could help out here? If we could figure out what web service the ShopSavvy client is using, it would help a lot.

Also, I'm looking at the Google Base API right now, and that might be a good thing to use here: it would enable not just sophisticated database search, like a consumer wants to find products near him in a store, but other database interactions as well. I can see potential, for example, in allowing a small business owner to scan barcodes and use the data to populate dump them into a product or inventory database, or for a larger company in requiring employees to scan items to check them in and out of an database.

With all this cool stuff you can do with the data, however, care will have to be taken to make sure the Barcorama codebase doesn't become monolithic and unmaintainable for the variety of phones and devices it needs to support. The program is fast approaching a point where it has to either become much bigger or much smaller: either it will have to handle all the possible data manipulations anyone can think to suggest, or it will have to rely on background apps to do most of that processing and get very minimal in terms of UI and coding in order to support a modular framework like that. The problem is that very few people can code for Windows Mobile, so there will likely be very few data handling apps to step up and do the database interactions or product lookups or whatever.

Anyhow, I'm looking at the code right now, and it needs some simplification and object-orientation to become a true UNIX-style "no I don't do anything but barcode processing thank you very much" application. I'm hoping that I can sleep on it, get some inspiration, and the pieces will fall into place in a glorious symphony of OOP code and user interface design.

Maybe things will be clearer in the morning.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
fellow posters,

There seems to be an increased interest in Barcorama these days and most users seem to miss a "ShopShavvy"-like functionality. I'm personally more focused on a cataloging and purchase logging usage but not wanting to limit the app's purpose, I have right from the beggining left the barcode "manipulation" to an external prog, just as mrnerdhair describes it in the "true UNIX-style "no I don't do anything but barcode processing thank you very much" application" quote.

I think it's high time for the project to be forked. Several users have expressed interest (via PM'ing me) in contributing to the freely available code. I strongly encourage anybody to code and release a Barcorama fork. My only condition/desire is: please use a different name for the fork :).

Mind though, forking at this point doesn't mean that no "unification" will happen in the future! Instead, forking will enable us the users, to explore different ways on handling the barcodes. Time will tell which usage scenarios are the most useful and thus mergeable under a single application.

Perhaps an easy alternative for any developer out here, is to come up with a companion application that will accept the code from Barcorama (through the existing command line interface!), do the internet lookup and present the results... Think about it ;)

have fun,

hypest

ps. Thanks for the donations guys :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hotmail:
I'd like to see Barcorama continue to get better at decoding barcodes before having a fancy touch interface. Ultimately here's what I'd pay for (in order of preference).

1. Decoding accuracy and speed.

2. Configuration flexibility to search using some standard sites, like Google Products and others that allow entering a UPC code, and including the ability to enter custom sites.

3. Handling of images and decoded barcodes - link them together to store either one or both.

4. Transition between Barcorama and Camera (transparent if possible).

Personally I don't want to see a dumbed-down list that I think ShopSavvy offers. It looks clean and purdy, but I want to see all the comparative results. I'd rather do the filtering myself. And I couldn't care less about doing everything by sliding my thumb around. I have a stylus and I'm not afraid to use it if necessary.

Since I don't know a lick about development I have no idea what's involved in any of this. But these are just the things I'd be willing to pay for in a barcode decoding application.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mrnerdhair:
1) Accuracy and speed: you'll have to complain to the zxing developers about that one, at least after we get the latest version of the library integrated into the app. Hypest may be encouraging me to start a separate fork, but the zxing 1.1 port I just did is still easy enough to integrate, and something Barcorama and any fork of it should have in common. I'm sending it off to him now, in hopes that it'll be a painless integration process.

2) Actively working on it.

3) Working on it. My fork already handles the barcodes that way internally.

4) Not working on it yet. Well, not on a Quickmark-style use of whatever device drivers are nesseccary to grab a straight image stream from the camera. I have made it a lot less painful by eliminating all button presses except one to launch the app and one to shoot the photo.

So anyhow, take courage! There will be new, better free stuff soon.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
hey mrnerdhair,

integrating the up-to-date version of ZXing with Barcorama is certainly not difficult. I was doing that process up until v0.9 of ZXing even though I didn't release it as a newer Barcorama. I can't say I noticed significant improvement on the speed and especially on the accuracy :(. So, I'd decided not to release a newer Barcorama with probably new bugs!

Since you already ported the v1.1 of ZXing, I'm certainly interested in testing it when you release it :). I do look forward to your upgraded fork! By the help of this great community we can assess v1.1's performance too!

Forgive me for being so conservative but I've seen a lot in my dev career so far ;)

hypest
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] klmsu19:
i think right now the app works well, sure its not as simplified as the Android app but it functions.

Personally i think the best first move from here is to:

1. get a nice interface to display the results pulled from the web like Compare Everywhere instead of having to open the browser

2. Local stores is a must, its probably the most useful feature of such an app for the majority of people who want to find prices around their location. right now pricegrabber, google search, and fastpricecheck just arent all that useful of sites for data. i wonder where the android app is pulling the lists from...

3. after thos 2 then id say integrate with google maps

I think an app just like compare everywhere would be great, the developer did a nice job with it. If someone could get a hold of the app and pull it apart we may know where to direct the links to pull the best data and local stores from. the interface shoudnt be too hard to throw together once the data is all there.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] alt236:
Regarding the speed/accuracy issue, perhaps an (probably optional) image croping step after the acquisition could help things a bit?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mrnerdhair:
What's in the lack of a name?

Well, so do I. But I'm going to need some help from the community on this one.

I need a name for my application. I want to go ahead and set up a sourceforge page (and SVN so I can keep proper backups), and I'll need a name. I'm hoping that in the spirit of open-source, I can get around the fact that I'm terrible at thinking up names by asking someone else to do it.

I've put a lot more work into this in the last few days, rewriting the whole thing on a plugin-based architechture designed to simplify the task of adding support for new methods of processing the barcode data. A consumer will be able to use one plugin to do a integrated product search, a warehouse employee can use another to perform inventory database lookups. My application will provide all the back-end support a plugin will need, providing an automatically-generated UI for changing plugin settings if the plugin doesn't want to roll its own interface, and automatically saving settings to a file and loading them the next time the plugin is started.

I hope that, by providing most of the back-end code a plugin author would otherwise need to code and debug himself, I'll third-party development. If a company wants to look up entries in their inventory database, they can write a plugin for my application, and only have to deal with coding the actual database lookup and information display. If they were to write an application that takes a barcode on the command line and looks it up, half the code they'd write would go into saving settings and a configuration dialog.

Furthermore, the less back-end stuff you have to code, the less experience you need to write a plugin. Once I publish the plugin interfaces, you could sit down and write a plugin to add ISBNs to a personal list of all the books in your library in just an hour or two with only intermediate knowledge of C#. (Heck, if you don't have Visual Studio to compile your code for WM6, you can send it to me and I'll do it for you.)

Anyhow, my point is that if you help me out by giving me a name for this project, I'll be able to give you some pretty awesome code. So, please, I need suggestions! I can't publish anything at all anywhere online until I have a name for it!
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Lostwarriorram:
How about one of these "BarScanner", "BarDecoder" or "MobiScanner"?

P.S: I didnt do a search for these names in internet. May be these are common names.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] omnicron:
I haven't downloaded and tried your application yet, but I'm hoping it functions similarly to the Android application. That one is really sweet. Does your application go out to the web to retrieve any information when it is used? In other words, do users need a data plan to use your app?

Is the download on the first page of this thread the latest version? Is the same true for the source? Is it written in C#?

As for a name, how about "WUNDERBAR"?

Thanks for taking the time to make this app.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] jasonjpn:
Custom Barcode Search

Just wanted to say that this is a great program! If you guys are interested i have made a custom page that directs me to some of my favorite barcode checking websites.

Sites currently used are:

Froogle - Lowest Price First.

Amazon

PriceGrabber

Google

UPC Database

SNX

View a demo at http://barcode.weblocalhost.com/mobile.php

To use it with Barcorama edit the following line in your settings.txt

RUNARGS=http://barcode.weblocalhost.com/mobile.php?q=!###!

I'm also attaching a settings.txt that you can just drop in your Barcorama directory.

Let me know what you guys think.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mario23:
Very cool, Jasonjpn.

I'm trying it out now...thanks.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] del4:
Excellent idea! Definitely will help with the usability of Barcorama.

Last site I was using isn't listed, so I was hoping you could add it in: http://www.fastpricecheck.com/GetData/HTML/!###!

Thanks!
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] jasonjpn:
Added.... Thanks
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] nero1234:
its not working http://barcode.weblocalhost.com/mobile.php
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] adoute:
I was going to write a PHP page that did the same thing... Would you mind posting your source code? It would be nice to be able to use it on my own server - and I'm sure a lot of people in the community would appreciate it, too.

Thanks -
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] gheyward:
HTC Touch Pro error message, pleaseee help!

To the developer of this program,

First off thanks for all the innovative adjusments you've made, I feel like im right on the brink of getting this program to work and im so excited about it cause I've been dying for a program like this.

1. My first question though is an error message im receiving, Im able to take a clear picture, it recognizes the barcode and even retrieves the upc code, cause it appears at the top in green. But the problem is it cannot access the google address that is defaulted in the settings menu, after pushing yes on the external program question popup a popup comes up saying:

"oops the following exception occured trying to run and extrnal program: win32exception"

I have all the default values:

\windows\iexplore.exe!###! and,

http://www.google.com/search?q=!###!

are these values correct? What is causing this issue? Is there an alternate online upc database that I can use one similar to the G1(tmobile) phone upc database? Is there a way that I can use the opera broswer instead since its the default browser for the touch pro? I tried changing the access file to opera9.exe but it wouldnt open opera for me, any help you can provide I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for your constant laboring over this application.

Greg

...

all the
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
gheyward, the default value in the first field should be \windows\iexplore.exe without the !###!

The second field looks OK.

several users have posted very useful settings utilizing alternate sites for the barcode lookup. I haven't collected them in a single post, so please, review the previous posts to find those :)

have fun, hypest
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] philf:
barcorama

Hi, I have a Bell CDMA touch, I've got the app running, I shoot barcodes but have not once (different items) had a successful result. always says no barcode..I've tried different angles, resolutions, close up, can't seem to get a decent focus unless it's quite far away and that doesn't work either...'

I love the idea of this and would be greatful if it worked, any ideas? I've installed the v0.7a cab file to the storage card. maybe it should be on the device??

cheers

Phil
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] mrnerdhair:
Try holding it far enough away to get a decent focus, and then using the digital zoom feature to zoom in on the barcode. that's how I got mine to work. The most important thing I've found in getting barcodes to scan is focus.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] gheyward:
Ok, i realize that your not trying to make this shop savvy or compare everywhere, but is there a database that has some type of function to bring up prices nearby that you know of? Or is there a way to use the same database as one of the two G1 applications to provide this functionality?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hopper13:
Have you tried this? It gives you your choice of sites when the browser launches.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] explisiv:
I have treo 800w with no camera auto focus how can i work around this?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
If this Treo has zoom in, try zooming in as much as possible while at the same time move away the phone (or the object) itself. Cameraphones without auto-focus, have a very distant focal point, so the further you hold the object, the clearer it is captured. The problem ofcourse is that when too far away, the barcode becomes too small to be recognized, thus the zoom function.

you'll have to experiment...

good luck,

hypest
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] auto_exec:
feature suggestion

Hey,

Good stuff, like the utility... probably will come in handy. Just using it a few times to test, and had a suggestion (sorry, didn't read through all 26 pages to see if someone else beat me to the punch on this)...

Could you add logic so that, if the program can't read the barcode (i.e. "No barcode"), it'll prompt you to manually enter it? This way, if someone takes a pic and it doesn't read, they can easily just enter it themselves and launch the site of their choice. I think this'd be easier than sitting and having to keep trying to get the camera to focus, etc. when trying to price something.

Any thoughts?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] del4:
You can kind of do that now. Re this post, go to the specified webpage in Opera and just manually enter the UPC code and look it up on any of the listed sites...
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] auto_exec:
Right, I understand that you can manually search via a webpage... I'm just saying I think it'd make sense to have a prompt if the picture barcode recognition fails... since, at that point, the user already opened an application to do the barcode search and could just input the barcode (and then the app would auto-load Opera and take him to the results).
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] dubeysaurabh:
Worked Partially

Hi,

To the guy who created this... THANKS...

I got this to work initially... it detected a couple of books for me.... but it's still trying to work on the others...

I'll keep the stress testing.. and keep you posted..

Thanks

Dubey
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] NeedAPhone:
SVN ?

Is the latest version going to be committed to SVN? I wanted to do some layout enhancements for HTC Touch HD.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] yornotelppa:
jasonjpn

Thanks for putting this together. Great way to do a through search!
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hopper13:
Yep, using it here too. Nice work!
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] jasonjpn:
Thanks guys!
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] polkadots:
ditto.......
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] chizzy58:
When will this do autocapture?

where you simply point and the PROGRAM recognizes a barcode for you?

i understand it activates your camera...but is it a way?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Litt:
1st off, mad props to all the programers working on this. You guys make these phones worth owning!!!

okay, here is my odd twist on this. what if you could use this program to make a shopping list? I could see my wife scanning items in the kitchen as we finish them or before we go to the market. Granted this would be a way different "fork" but it could be interesting.

Oh, and I 2nd the Apptodate request
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Magicdead:
i'm working on a shoppinglist app at the moment.

The way it works now is by barcorama sending the upc-code of an item to my app, which fetchs info from the net (from the upcdatabase) and adds it to the shoppinglist. So it's not a fork but an external program, but that shouldn't be that big a problem ;)

Fetching the data and adding to the shoppinglist (an xml file) works great so far, but i'm still working on the gui and additional features (for example a book/cd/dvd library) and it might take some more time until it's useable. And progress is a little slow as i'm new to C# on windows mobile development.

But i'll keep you posted.

Have you got any page that you prefer over upcdatabase.com? I might just include it as well.

And thanks to the developer of barcorama, great app :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] steb0ne:
That sounds great!! Sure sounds like it's gonna be nice. Keep up the good work.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Magicdead:
ok been working at it a little more and here goes :D

UPCReader 0.1

Description:

It checks upcdatabase for the item info, if it doesn't find any theres the option to add it to the online database. When it finds the item (or after you've entered it), you can select a quantity to add to the shoppinglist.

In the shoppinglist (Main->Shoppinglist), you see all your items with quantity and size/weight info. You can change the quantity of an item by double-clicking the entry (or hit enter/ok/whatever, my phone only has a touchscreen...) and selecting the quantity you want. Or you can check items in the list and select Main->Remove to delete them from the list.

Requirements:

-Windows Mobile 5 or higher (haven't tested this, should work on 5, but definitely works on 6 ;) )

-.net Compact Framework 3.5

-Barcorama (obviously)

Instructions:

Just add the UPCReader.exe as "Program to run" in Barcorama (default path is "\Program Files\UPCReader\UPCReader.exe") and put !###! in the arguments textfield

it's not that much until now and i'll definitely work on it and add new features, but at least it works and you can make a simple shopping list.

I've only tested it on my Touch HD so any feedback is appreciated ;)
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] theyankees:
Please Help

I tried installing barcorama on my windows mobile 6.1 motorola q9c. The .cab file installed successfully on my phone but when I try to open the .exe file on my phone I get an error that says "not supported exception".
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
Hey Magicdead! Thanx for sharing your app with us! Glad to see someone developed a companion app for Barcorama. I didn't have the chance to try it out yet, but 'll sure do! Keep it coming ;)

hypest
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] hypest:
Sorry to here that it's not working for you :(. Please, can you give more details on the situation? When exactly does the exception occur? On program start? on Shooting start? Maybe other motorola users can give some help on this?

hypest
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] theyankees:
Barcorama Install

Thanks for helping.

The exception occurs on program start.

The error says:

Barcorama.exe

notsupportedexception

at Microsoft.AGL.Common.MISC.HandleAr()

at System.Windows.Forms.Control._InitInstance()

at System.Windows.Forms.Control..ctor()

at System.Windows.Forms.Button..ctor()

at TestNS.TestCL.InitializeComponent()

at TestNS.TestCL..ctor()

at TestNS.TestCL.Main()
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] theyankees:
Barcorama

I also have Microsoft .NET Compact Framework version 2.0.7045.0. Is the one needed for Barcorama?
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Magicdead:
have you tried installing .NET CF 3.5 ? that would probably fix your error ;)
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] Protonus:
I just wanted to state for those working on possible code branches, that I'm more interested in getting it to work with this program: Invelos DVD Profiler, for DVD cataloging, then I am a "shopper" program (though that is cool/neat). I'll have to try this new build again and see how it fares on my non-autofocus Titan.