How to modify the Zxing Android Embedded project to use a Barcode Reader( the hardware) and not the camera?

Question

I downloaded the project from https://github.com/journeyapps/zxing-android-embedded and it works perfectly, but it scans the barcode from the camera, and I have an android device that has barcode reader hardware implemented in it. Is there any way to transform this project so that it reads from the barcode reader and not from the camera?

Answer 1

Most of the Android devices that include an hardware barcode scanner make available an SDK to read data from it.
Depending on the brand/model of your device you can get access to the right SDK and modify ZXing or use directly the SDK to read barcodes.
Usually these libraries are much more performant and they include support for a lot more barcode types that what is supported in ZXing.

The most used Android devices with an included barcode scanner are:

• Zebra Technologies (they acquired Motorola Solution enterprise business in 2014) have EMDK - Enterprise Mobility Development Kit available for native Java and Xamarin, plus other ways to integrate the HW scanner through intents.
• Honeywell ADC and Scanning (they acquired Intermec in 2012) have different SDK for the different devices that support Android
• Bluebird Pidion have a support website with development support
• Panasonic have a support website with available SDKs

Disclaimer: I work for Zebra Technologies, on our Development Tools