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Tech talk: moving beyond the basic barcode reader sdk

Published: April 17, 2015 (Updated: February 21, 2020)

Today, Accusoft proudly released an enhanced version of Barcode Xpress Mobile, a barcode reader software development kit (SDK) for  iOS™ and Android™ devices. This SDK is based on the technology found in Barcode Xpress. I spoke with QA Lead, Sylvia Traxler, and software engineer, John Reynolds about Accusoft’s barcode technology.

How does Barcode Xpress help developers create a standout app in such a crowded market?

Sylvia: Barcode Xpress allows developers to incorporate 1D and 2D barcode recognition and creation capability to their Windows applications. Multiple barcodes can be accurately detected anywhere on a document in any given orientation simultaneously which increases the reading process. In addition, Barcode Xpress is paired with ImagXpress giving developers the ability to perform complex image cleanup and modification that dramatically boosts the accuracy beyond that of our competitors.

Can you explain the technology behind Barcode Xpress that allows multiple barcodes to be detected at once?

John: All barcode symbologies have a sort of signature that we can use to determine where a barcode might be on a page. We use these signatures to specify where we attempt to read the page for barcodes; the accuracy with which we are able to identify the signatures / locator patterns allows us to recognize many barcodes per image.

What types of image cleanup processes are available?

Sylvia: The full version of ImagXpress is shipped with Barcode Xpress including several of the components. Most significant to Barcode Xpress is the document image processing and editing which assists in eliminating noise. The developer can utilize this toolkit to perform image compression, decompression, viewing and processing functionality. The full list of features can be found on our website.

How does the image cleanup affect the accuracy of the barcode reader?

John: Noise adversely affects accuracy. Our industry-best image cleanup routines eliminate noise that can be a barrier to pinpointing information contained in a barcode. This greatly increases the level of accuracy during the recognition process.

How easy is this barcode reader SDK to implement?

Sylvia: It’s the easiest barcode SDK on the market. Once installed and licensed, a developer can add the Dynamically Linked Library (DLL) to their project, create an instance of Barcode Xpress and start working with the API right away. Our comprehensive help documents have tutorials to familiarize developers with features and techniques.

Barcode Xpress Mobile is available for both iOS and Android, and both come with platform specific samples and documentation. For more information or to get the app, click here.