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Anyone used QR barcodes with VFP?
- Thread starter GriffMG
- Start date
Olaf Doschke
Programmer
DB (Deutsche Bahn = German Railways) really is using QR codes, this I can tell for sure.
Last time I was flying (2008 with KLM) the online ticket just had a 1D EAN13 code. The use of QR would be a logical step forward, but perhaps Deutsche Bahn is a bit more "paranoid" about misuse of tickets, and they stuff about any information into a code they can to reidentify you as the correct passenger. Eg you have to hand out the credit card or bank card use for purchase or your ID additional to the QR code.
Bye, Olaf.
Last time I was flying (2008 with KLM) the online ticket just had a 1D EAN13 code. The use of QR would be a logical step forward, but perhaps Deutsche Bahn is a bit more "paranoid" about misuse of tickets, and they stuff about any information into a code they can to reidentify you as the correct passenger. Eg you have to hand out the credit card or bank card use for purchase or your ID additional to the QR code.
Bye, Olaf.
Mike Lewis
Programmer
For what it's worth, for all the flights I've taken in the last couple of years, the boarding passes (which are the type you print at home) have had traditional bar codes (EAN13).
In Scotland and the rest of Britain, train tickets don't have a bar code, but they have a magnetic strip which is read by the ticket gates. On-board ticket inspectors read the tickets visually.
In France, the tickets appear not to have any electronic information, as far as I can see. I recently bought a ticket for the TGV. When I ordered it on-line, I was given a 6-character alphanumeric code. I had to type that code into a terminal at the station, and that printed the ticket. However, the ticket was never checked, either electronically or visually, on the whole of the 600 km. journey, nor at the stations at either end.
Sorry if this is off-topic. It adds nothing to the original question, but it might be of interest anyway.
Mike
__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy
In Scotland and the rest of Britain, train tickets don't have a bar code, but they have a magnetic strip which is read by the ticket gates. On-board ticket inspectors read the tickets visually.
In France, the tickets appear not to have any electronic information, as far as I can see. I recently bought a ticket for the TGV. When I ordered it on-line, I was given a 6-character alphanumeric code. I had to type that code into a terminal at the station, and that printed the ticket. However, the ticket was never checked, either electronically or visually, on the whole of the 600 km. journey, nor at the stations at either end.
Sorry if this is off-topic. It adds nothing to the original question, but it might be of interest anyway.
Mike
__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy
- Thread starter
- #23
Olaf Doschke
Programmer
Mike,
that contributes and confirms the unpopularity of qr codes, so it does contribute. So if I take that for granted and we say usage of QR code merely is for product info in advertising, and also only mainly leads to more advertising, there is no reason to not use QR codes for the case Griff wants to solve. The meaning of these qr codes have to be explained, but one thing for sure is an advantage to 1D barcodes: You can decode them with a smartphone. Indeed 1D barcodes need a laser scanner which can better resolve the fine differences between the slim and more slim lines and gaps. You can't do that with a camera image and OCR, unless you have a very steady hand and a very high and clear resolution image. Otherwise 12 digits would be good enough to store one or even two integer ids to further info, that's granted.
And if nobody ever starts using QR codes for something more beneficial. The internet started as a scientific network and the home user as an advertising brochure, still it changed to something now everybody wants. I doubt QR has a big chance in having a similar success, as, well, there is the internet and when you start online in the first place, you don't need QR codes. Besides RFIDs may be a better way to mark physical objects and let them point to further info online. If they get cheaper QR code is dead. But I doubt there will be no QR decoding apps just because of that. So no reason to not go for QR codes as a solution to the document version watermarking. Even if that also just needs a short alphanumeric code, you don't need to type in QR codes.
Bye, Olaf.
that contributes and confirms the unpopularity of qr codes, so it does contribute. So if I take that for granted and we say usage of QR code merely is for product info in advertising, and also only mainly leads to more advertising, there is no reason to not use QR codes for the case Griff wants to solve. The meaning of these qr codes have to be explained, but one thing for sure is an advantage to 1D barcodes: You can decode them with a smartphone. Indeed 1D barcodes need a laser scanner which can better resolve the fine differences between the slim and more slim lines and gaps. You can't do that with a camera image and OCR, unless you have a very steady hand and a very high and clear resolution image. Otherwise 12 digits would be good enough to store one or even two integer ids to further info, that's granted.
And if nobody ever starts using QR codes for something more beneficial. The internet started as a scientific network and the home user as an advertising brochure, still it changed to something now everybody wants. I doubt QR has a big chance in having a similar success, as, well, there is the internet and when you start online in the first place, you don't need QR codes. Besides RFIDs may be a better way to mark physical objects and let them point to further info online. If they get cheaper QR code is dead. But I doubt there will be no QR decoding apps just because of that. So no reason to not go for QR codes as a solution to the document version watermarking. Even if that also just needs a short alphanumeric code, you don't need to type in QR codes.
Bye, Olaf.
- Thread starter
- #25
Thank you all for your help.
I'm going to try and cook up a solution over the festive season - only thing is, I don't have a smartphone.
Maybe my wife's BB can read a QR?
Thanks all again
Regards
Griff
Keep [Smile]ing
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I'm going to try and cook up a solution over the festive season - only thing is, I don't have a smartphone.
Maybe my wife's BB can read a QR?
Thanks all again
Regards
Griff
Keep [Smile]ing
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Olaf Doschke
Programmer
For a test you can also use websites to decode an image. Eg this one also can decode it from a webcam, if you allow access to it:
Bye, Olaf.
Bye, Olaf.
- Thread starter
- #27
- Thread starter
- #28
This foray into QR Codes has taken me a little while to get to grips with... but I found a free source of
getting the codes as a jpeg file - and it works very well.
I then used the ImageViewerPro (that I use to make thumbnails of pdf files) to plant the jpeg
in the top left corner.
I then had to find a way to set the file Date / Time stamp back to what it was before... and bingo!
Seems to work well.
I'll do a new thread on the Date / Time stamp... that was interesting
Thank you all for your help
Regards
Griff
Keep [Smile]ing
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
getting the codes as a jpeg file - and it works very well.
I then used the ImageViewerPro (that I use to make thumbnails of pdf files) to plant the jpeg
in the top left corner.
I then had to find a way to set the file Date / Time stamp back to what it was before... and bingo!
Seems to work well.
I'll do a new thread on the Date / Time stamp... that was interesting
Thank you all for your help
Regards
Griff
Keep [Smile]ing
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Mike Gagnon
Programmer
Just for the sake of argument in the popularity of QR code, our provincial government is now using QR barcode on our tax form, that contain 67 pieces of information found in the given document. For them it helps then scan these codes quickly to better classify the documents, rather than having a human read them. As a software developer of a payroll software I had to use this technology with the tax form our system produces in order to remain compliant. A little tricky but quite feasible. They requested us to purchase a QR font that can hold up to 8000 characters. So it is interesting to stuff 8000 characters in a little box that is no bigger than a stamp.
Although it could be a fad, and maybe be dropped next year, so far it is being used in a large scale in Quebec.
Mike Gagnon
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.
ReFox XI (www.mcrgsoftware.com)
Although it could be a fad, and maybe be dropped next year, so far it is being used in a large scale in Quebec.
Mike Gagnon
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.
ReFox XI (www.mcrgsoftware.com)
- Thread starter
- #30
This ActiveX barcode control for VFP tutorial may be useful!
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