Question

I have a barcode scanner and in my java application I have to bring a popup to display all the information associated with the barcode from database when the product is scanned using barcode. I have no textbox on the application I have to handle this part internally. How do I do this ? any suggestion ? I am using swing for UI.

EDIT

Barcode scanner is USB one. If we scan something it will output the result into the textbox which has focus. But I have no textbox working on the page opened. Can i work with some hidden textbox and read the value there ?

Answer 1

Since barcode scanner is just a device which sends keycodes and ENTER after reading of each barcode, I’d use a key listener.

final Frame frame = new Frame();
frame.setVisible(true);

frame.addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {

    @Override
    public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
        if(e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_ENTER) {
            // your code is scanned and you can access it using frame.getBarCode()
            // now clean the bar code so the next one can be read
            frame.setBarCode(new String());
        } else {
            // some character has been read, append it to your "barcode cache"
            frame.setBarCode(frame.getBarCode() + e.getKeyChar());
        }
    }

});