[Wylug-help] hand-held device with bar-code reader

[Gary Stainburn]

On Friday 05 December 2008 10:21:29 Martyn Ranyard wrote:
> Hi Gary,
>
>   Don't forget that some development with barcodes has been done on
> Symbian-based devices (non-windows smartphones), generally using the
> camera of modern phones.  This could be a way to get round having the
> intricate web of wifi, as you could use the data connection of the
> phone to transfer to and from the datacentre.
>
>   I haven't done any research into the various options, but the
> variety of open-source Symbian apps makes me think that the majority
> of programming skills are transferable to these devices.
>
>   Check http://www.symbianos.org for examples and other info on
> symbian programming.  There is good news as well, in that the OS
> itself is being opensourced.
>
>   Of course I haven't really answered the call very well, but perhaps
> given you a useful extra direction to look in.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Martyn Ranyard

Thanks for this Martyn.

Smartphones is one of the options I am looking at, along with bluetooth 
enabled base units and SMS options too.

The problems with SMS are:
1) Not real-time
2) limited in size
3) How do I send/receive from the server
4) How to I send/receive from a (presumably JAVA) ap on the phone

The benefits as you say are that it should always be in range and I don't have 
to worry about providing the network.

The problems with Bluetooth are the same as with WIFI.
1) connectivity/Security/Range - dependant on kit
2) automatic connectivity and detection
3) Bi-Directional data sync

The desk based solution is a Javascript/AJAX driven web page with a graphical 
representation of the compound with pseudo real-time updates.

For the hand-held unit, all I need is 
1) VIN number and Bay ID entry with timestamp even when out of range
2) Search by VIN to find Bay ID or vica versa
3)  When in range, send all entries and receive everyone else's

I have developed the data model in Postgresql including playing with trigger, 
and I'm now going to play with the web page.  I'm having fun for a change.

-- 
Gary Stainburn
 
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