Bar Code Scanner System w/ mysql database

[Grissm]

Hello all!

 

Myself and a friend of mine were put in charge of putting together a bar code scanner system that works with a mysql data base but are not sure where to start exactly.

 

Our goal is to create a system that can scan a student ID card that has a unique number that ID's them personally. Then, match it to the serial number bar code on a chrome book, the battery pack for the chrome book, and any other bar code tags that may be involved. (Multiple bar codes to 1 ID)

 

Some things to note that we already have.

 

1. Access/membership to a mysql database, servers, scanners

 

2. Bar codes w/ unique ID's

 

How exactly does one link the bar codes from the chrome books to the student ID?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Brenz]

The best way would be to have 3 tables:

 

• Students
• Items
• Loans

 

The students table should store their unique id, barcode number and some information about them (name, email, etc).

 

The item table should store an items unique id, barcode number and some information about the item (title, description, brand, etc).

 

Finally the Loans table would link a student to an item so would include a unique loan id, the students id, the record id, date and time of loan and maybe date due back.

[Grissm]

The best way would be to have 3 tables:

 

• Students
• Items
• Loans

 

The students table should store their unique id, barcode number and some information about them (name, email, etc).

 

The item table should store an items unique id, barcode number and some information about the item (title, description, brand, etc).

 

Finally the Loans table would link a student to an item so would include a unique loan id, the students id, the record id, date and time of loan and maybe date due back.

 

 

Do you need any kind of software for such a thing? Also, how can I set it up so that the loan table links the student to the item? -- What is the process of doing this/ how would I do this --or is there a good link or video you know of to explain how to do so?

 

Thanks for the reply!

[Brenz]

Yes unless you want someone to enter all the details manually using something like PHPMyAdmin you need to write a front end for the system.

 

For how it works imagine this scenario:

 

Users:

 

ID   |  Name        | Barcode No

1     | John          | 123456

2     | Tom           | 567898

 

Items:

 

ID   |  Title                     | Barcode No

1     | Chromebook        | 987654

2     | Macbook             | 568533

 

 

Now finally you will have your loan table. Here we will take the ID from users and items. This will indicate that the user with that ID has the item with that item ID like so:

 

ID   |  User ID | Item ID  | Date

1    |  2            |   1         |  2015-05-29

2    | 1             |   2         | 2015-05-28

 

In this example, Tom booked out the Chromebook today and John booked out the Macbook yesterday.

[Grissm]

Yes unless you want someone to enter all the details manually using something like PHPMyAdmin you need to write a front end for the system.

 

For how it works imagine this scenario:

 

Users:

 

ID   |  Name        | Barcode No

1     | John          | 123456

2     | Tom           | 567898

 

Items:

 

ID   |  Title                     | Barcode No

1     | Chromebook        | 987654

2     | Macbook             | 568533

 

 

Now finally you will have your loan table. Here we will take the ID from users and items. This will indicate that the user with that ID has the item with that item ID like so:

 

ID   |  User ID | Item ID  | Date

1    |  2            |   1         |  2015-05-29

2    | 1             |   2         | 2015-05-28

 

In this example, Tom booked out the Chromebook today and John booked out the Macbook yesterday.

 

Do you know of any open source software we could take and edit to work with our system or a purchasable software set up that would do what I need it to do?

Thanks again this is a lot of help. 

[Brenz]

Do you know of any open source software we could take and edit to work with our system or a purchasable software set up that would do what I need it to do?

Thanks again this is a lot of help. 

 

If your not willing to build your own system just Google "barcode loan software" and you will find plenty of results. Then you probably won't even need the MySQL database.

[rockking1379]

Do you know of any open source software we could take and edit to work with our system or a purchasable software set up that would do what I need it to do?

Thanks again this is a lot of help. 

whats time frame this needs done? and does it have to be with mysql database? also language preference and how many clients would be needed? this is something i could probably pump out in maybe a couple of days using java and sqlite. mysql for me right now would be a bit tougher as my server is currently offline. i can open source a project to do this kind of thing or will gladly accept payment for the work. i have done a system for tracking packages based on the tracking number barcode already so am pretty comfortable when it comes to reading bardcodes

[Grissm]

We can build the front end to it just was not sure if we needed a third party application between the scanner and data base.

The system will have about 800-900 people on it with up to 4 variable bar codes that would match to each name (unique student id)

[rockking1379]

We can build the front end to it just was not sure if we needed a third party application between the scanner and data base.

The system will have about 800-900 people on it with up to 4 variable bar codes that would match to each name (unique student id)

the thing about most barcode scanners is they act like keyboards. most even by default put a carriage return at the end of a scan. which is very useful. some also are programmable to determine their ending behavior. personally i like the carriage return or a tab. either one are good. and in the text field i will override their key pressed event (this is for java, so...) and if i get an carriage return i do the same as if i had gotten a tab and move focus to the next GUI element. generally another text field for application flow. you know, scan the student id then scan the item barcode and then it sends off the loan info to database. when student returns item, scan the item barcode and find it in database. since it technically should only have one instance at a time where it is loaned out, you can use a field like a check-in date to determine the correct loan to "delete" dont actually delete because then you can do fun things like analytics and look at who loans items the most, what items are loaned the most, etc etc. maybe a specific chromebook is having battery issues but you look and notice its been checked out the most. things like that require data retention. plus its not that much disk space. feel free to PM me for email address, can chat more there. i have hangouts, not big on skype. let me know, be glad to help out

[AllKeggedOut]

whats time frame this needs done? and does it have to be with mysql database? also language preference and how many clients would be needed? this is something i could probably pump out in maybe a couple of days using java and sqlite. mysql for me right now would be a bit tougher as my server is currently offline. i can open source a project to do this kind of thing or will gladly accept payment for the work. i have done a system for tracking packages based on the tracking number barcode already so am pretty comfortable when it comes to reading bardcodes

Hi, I'm "the friend" he was talking about earlier.

 

We would like to have it done fairly quickly - within a week or two. The actual deadline is sometime in July; however we need time for testing etc. Grissm miss-spoke, we need to use Microsoft SQL Server, I program in Java. I haven't worked with SQL yet, so that's where the help would be needed. We would have nearly 1,000 unique ID's and then another 3,000 barcodes that would be scanned into the databases.

 

 If you are willing to work with me, that would be great. Unfortunately, since we are un-paid interns, we cannot offer any payment for the work.

 

My email is AllKeggedOut@yahoo.com, and my skype is attached to that email, why don't you send me an email or add me on Skype? 

[rockking1379]

Hi, I'm "the friend" he was talking about earlier.

 

We would like to have it done fairly quickly - within a week or two. The actual deadline is sometime in July; however we need time for testing etc. Grissm miss-spoke, we need to use Microsoft SQL Server, I program in Java. I haven't worked with SQL yet, so that's where the help would be needed. We would have nearly 1,000 unique ID's and then another 3,000 barcodes that would be scanned into the databases.

 

 If you are willing to work with me, that would be great. Unfortunately, since we are un-paid interns, we cannot offer any payment for the work.

 

My email is AllKeggedOut@yahoo.com, and my skype is attached to that email, why don't you send me an email or add me on Skype? 

lol SQL server for java only requires you to include the SQL Server JDBC driver and load the class at runtime. i can totally help you guys out with this. especially with a rushed time frame. i will send out an email

[AllKeggedOut]

lol SQL server for java only requires you to include the SQL Server JDBC driver and load the class at runtime. i can totally help you guys out with this. especially with a rushed time frame. i will send out an email

A gentlemen, and a scholar. Thanks 

[Grissm]

lol good deal, good deal

Thanks a ton!