Bar Code Scanning with ITSMobile

[Former Member]

Dear all,

I am looking for detailled information regarding the mobile data entry for bar code scanning and the ITSMobile infrastructure.

With ITSMobile it is possible to access the transactions for mobile data entry on mobile devices using HTTP protocoll. Ist there a list, what kind of transactions exist in this area?

Do I have to define in IMG additionally the screen management?

Or is this just for the text based scanning of barcodes? What are the basic steps in customizing/developing in SAP to create a standard barcode solution using the ITSMobile infrastructure.

I have found a lot of documentation regarding "mobile data entry" and ITSMobile in general, however I need to bring this together.

I would appreciate any hints and links

Best regards

Florian

[primoz_gricar]

Dear Florian,

SAP ITSmobile was first released in July 2007. Until now we finished two projects using ITSmobile and we had surprisingly good experience.

First, its ability to publish transactions in java and run them on modern mobile terminals using Explorer and Windows CE, makes it very interesting for our clients.

Regarding the transactions, the basis are LM** transactions, which are already build in SAP itself. To get a list, run SE93, search for LM* transactions and you get a list of about 30-40 transactions which are OK, but only as a basis for further development. Most of our clients would not be happy with these basic transactions, because real-life WM processes require these transactions to be further developed to include all the necessary details.

Generally, the transactions are developed in ABAP, so we use ABAP programmers with great success for this development. Once developed in ABAP, the code is published for Web - Java code is generated automatically, and this code is run in Explorer on mobile terminal (either handheld or bigger forklift model).

There is not much to be done in IMG, except defining the menus and some settings for RF users (from which screen the user starts, for which warehouse number is defined etc.) - generally no extensive setting here.

It is very open for scanning options. We developed transactions for handling unit managed warehouse, where we mostly scan SSCC numbers, then we developed procedure to recognize EAN128 code according to GS1 standards.

To cut a long story short - you might here rumors that the old SAP standard console was clumsy and unattractive. Not with the ITSmobile. Very professional tool for very professional mobile applications.

If you will need some more info, please be back with me.

Regards,

Primoz

[Former Member]

Hi Primoz,

When developing mobile applications using Java Web Dynpro, standard barcode scanning and rfId reader controls are supplied, that will iteract with a mobile scanner's barcode reader. when running of a browser. Using ITSMobile, how did you guys interface into the mobile device's barcode readers?

Thanks

[primoz_gricar]

Dear Andre,

Lets consider for example a reading of standard EAN128 bar code composed of four GS1 identifiers ("02"-EAN13, "37"-quantity, "15" -exp.date and "10"-batch).

The visible string below the bar code on the label looks like this:

(02)03830001598308(37)12(15)170713(10)1000612

but the bar code itself of equal contents is:

02038300015983083712<FNC>15170713101000612

and this string is supplied by the scanner to the field within the ITSmobile application screen.

The <FNC> code is a special non-visible code supplied by the scanner. It indicates the end of the variable which doesn't have a fixed length. It might be tricky to get this FNC code out of different types of scanners (terminals) and recognize it in a proper way.

The FNC code is usually replaced by a certain sign, like $, % or any other. This is a part of the scanner/terminal setup. Some are easy (LXE), the others might be tough (like older Motorolas).

The actual reading that we get from the scanner is like this:

02038300015983083712$15170713101000612

Than we built a custom function which takes this reading and breaks the string into the parts and returns EAN13/quantity/exp.date/batch data back to SAP.

Hope this answers your dilemma.

Thanks and regards,

Primoz

[Former Member]

Hi Primoz,

Thanks for your reply. The dilemma we have is that we are using Symbol mobile devices running Windows Mobile 5. We would really like to use ITSMobile, but when running the LM* screens on the browser through ITSMobile, there is no way to get the bar code from the devices built-in bar code reader. With Web Dynpro you have the option to develop a browser screen on which you can put a control that will interface into a deviceu2019s bar code reader. This control caters for Symbol (Motorola) and Intermec mobile devices with built-in bar code readers. To summarize my question, as an example how did you guys manage to display the input from a bar code reader into a text box?

Thanks and regards

André

[primoz_gricar]

Dear Andre,

We published the screens for web browser in a standard way. Either in standard LM* transactions (screens) or custom build screens, you always have data-entry fields, where ITSmobile expects that you will enter data either manually or with the scanner (like material number, handling unit number, bin number. etc.).

To check the scanner in a most simple way, do the following: open the notepad or Word on your terminal, and than just scan a sample bar-code. Do you get the reading in this Word screen? If yes, you should also get the scanner reading in any other ITSmobile data entry field in your browser. This way you can also see if the scanner is setup for automatic carriage return after the scan.

Back to ITSmobile. You get a scanned information to ITSmobile data entry field. From this point on, it is all about the right interpretation of the reading (bin number, material number, EAN128 cut to the the pieces according to identifiers etc.).

Again, I would like to remind you about the FNC code. We had quite some hustle to setup devices in a way to send $ sign for every FNC in a bar-code.

I noticed one difference - you said you are using Windows Mobile 5. We are using MS Windows CE 5.0 on all our mobile terminals throughout different projects.

I hope this will help you. Otherwise, be back with me.

Regards,

Primoz

[Former Member]

Hi Primoz,

Thanks for all your responses. I stumbled across a browser that works on Windows Mobile and CE that activates the scanner's bar code reader or RF id reader. Therefor acting as a keyboard-wedge that will populate any input box with the contents of the bar code. This browser is called Naurtech ECTerm, and works with SAP Console and ITSMobile screens. It is also compatible with just about all mobile devices that can read bar codes and RF ID's. I think that this browser might be our answer as our organization world-wide uses mobile devices from different vendors such as Symbol, Intermec etc. This browser also allows for the adding of a suffix and prefix character to any scanned bar code.

Again thanks for your input.

Best regards

André