Barcode converter - Regular Expressions

Description

The Mobile app can convert custom barcodes into the recommended Encoded Barcode (GS1)

Use case

You should use always use or print GS1 barcodes See Best Practice: Labeling Items.

However, some times this is not possible and other types like simple barcodes, must be scanned.

Use converters to capture, identity and convert barcodes to GS1 AI's.

Global usage (Most commonly used)

When you want custom barcodes to be handled in the entire app.

Configured using "start.cfg" Scanner Configuration

Searching order lines

When you want to search Order Lines page by barcode.

Configured using "Application.cfg" Mobile Configuration Files

Converter Examples

Converter expressions are wriiten as Regular Expressions.

Tip: To make sure no partial matces are made, use capture groups "()" and also "$" to end the expression.

Convert from	Convert to	Expression	Description	Value examples
Simple Code39	Quantity AI 37	^(\d{1,4})$	Only from 1 to 4 digits	1,11, 111 or 1111
EAN13 numbers	Item AI 91	^(\d{13})$	Only exactly 13-digits	1234567890123
Any string	SN AI 21	^(\w{1})+$	Any alfa-numering string	abc123..

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Example 1: A very custom barcode converted into four AI's

Different positions of a barcode, is broken into diffent AI's.

expression: The regular expression
expressionAis: The order in which the different capture groups into AI's

Change in Start.cfg

...
<scanner>
  <type>internal</type>
    <converter enabled="true" type="custom2gs1">
      <customConfiguration expression="^64(\w{1,8})(\d{1,4})(\d{1,3})(\w{1,10})$" expressionAis="10,37,92,91"/>
    </converter>
...

Mapping table

AI	Position	Length	Description
	1	2	A fixed value that is always "64"
AI 10	3	8	External Order No.
AI 37	11	4	Quantity
AI 92	15	3	Quantity per Unit of Measure
AI 91	18	10	SupplyID (Internal item)

Example 2: GS1 barcode converted to GS1

convertGS1Input: Should be set to true if one wishes to convert from a GS1 barcode to GS1.

This could be in cases when the barcode scanned contains AIs that are not supported and when printing a new label is not an option.

Change in Start.cfg

... 
 <scanner>
    <type>internal</type>
    <converter enabled="true" type="custom2gs1" >
      <customConfiguration expression="^01(\d{14})11(\d{6})21(.{1,})$" expressionAis="91,10,21" convertGS1Input="true"/>
 </converter>
...

Example 3: Long item numbers as Code39 - converted to GS1 Item on Receive Lines

Since AI91 is already regarded as "Item No." but without the length constraint of AI01,

This can be used for many 1D (linear) barcodes like Code39 or Code128.

In this example the data is 20 char, but can be arbritary length since AI91 allows for this.

Change in Application.cfg

<page id="ReceiveLines" type="OrderLines" icon="mainmenureceive">
  <title defaultValue="@{PageReceiveOrderLinesTitle}"/>
  <orderLinesConfiguration suggestQuantity="true" verifySingleScanRegistrations="false" actionOnEmptyList="ClosePage">
    <service id="Receive"/>
    <list listId="OrderLines"/>
    <...>
    <scanToSelectBehaviour gs1SearchTerm="Item" behaviour="Auto">
      <converter expression="^(\d{1,20})$" expressionAis="91"/>
    </scanToSelectBehaviour>
  </orderLinesConfiguration>

Error message

Invalid barcode format Barcode format error 'Invalid length'. The scanned value was 'xyz'

This can be the result of using AI01 which defines a fixed length of 14 char.

Use AI91 instead.

Online Editor

Use an online editor to test your regular expressions.

Example

https://regex101.com/

Regular expression: ^(\d{1,6})(\d{1,5})$
Test string: 11111122222

Entity	Application Identifiers
Item	01, 02 and 91
Bin	00
Lot	10
Serial	21
Expiration Date	12, 15 and 17
Quantity	30, 37 and 310
Package No.	92
License Plate	98
Tote (Legacy)	98

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