jQuery Scanner Detection

jQuery Scanner Detection is a small plugin to detect when user use a scanner (barcode, QR Code...) instead of a keyboard, and call specific callbacks.

How use it

To initialize the detection, 2 ways:

$(selector).scannerDetection(); // Initialize with default options
$(selector).scannerDetection({...}); // Initialize with an object that contains options
$(selector).scannerDetection(function(){...}); // Initialize with a function that is onComplete callback

To simulate a scanning after initialisation:

$(selector).scannerDetection('scanned string');

To disable the detection (deinitialize):

$(selector).scannerDetection(false);

See a detailed tutorial with presets for different scanner models and first steps to take when starting here.

Options

onComplete

Default: false
Callback after detection of a successful scanning

onError

Default: false
Callback after detection of a unsuccessful scanning (scanned string in parameter)

onReceive

Default: false
Callback after receiving and processing a char (scanned char in parameter)

onKeyDetect

Default: false
Callback after detecting a keyDown (key char in parameter) - in contrast to onReceive, this fires for non-character keys like tab, arrows, etc. too!

onScanButtonLongPressed

Default: false
Callback after detection of a successfull scan while the scan button was pressed and held down. This can only be used if the scan button behaves as a key itself (see scanButtonKeyCode). This long press event can be used to add a secondary action. For example, if the primary action is to count some items with barcodes (e.g. products at goods-in), it is comes very handy if a number pad pops up on the screen when the scan button is held. Large number can then be easily typed it instead of scanning fifty times in a row. Note: this option requires scanButtonKeyCode to be set to a valid key code!

timeBeforeScanTest

Default: 100
Wait duration (ms) after keypress event to check if scanning is finished

avgTimeByChar

Default: 30
Average time (ms) between 2 chars. Used to do difference between keyboard typing and scanning

minLength

Default: 6
Minimum length for a scanning

endChar

Default: [9,13]
Chars to remove and means end of scanning

startChar

Default: []
Chars to remove and means start of scanning

ignoreIfFocusOn

Default: false
Ignore scans if the currently focused element matches this selector. Per example, if you set this option to 'input', scanner detection will be disable if an input is focused, when the scan occurs.

scanButtonKeyCode

Default: false
Key code of the scanner hardware button (if the scanner button a acts as a key itself). Knowing this key code is important, because it is not part of the scanned code and must be ignored. On the other hand, knowing it can be usefull: pressing the button multiple times fast normally results just in one scan, but you still could count the number of times pressed, allowing the user to input quantities this way (typical use case would be counting product at goods-in).

scanButtonLongPressThreshold

Default: 3
You can let the user perform some special action by pressing and holding the scan button. In this case the button will issue multiple keydown events. This parameter sets, how many sequential events should be interpreted as holding the button down.

stopPropagation

Default: false
Stop immediate propagation on keypress event

preventDefault

Default: false
Prevent default action on keypress event

Events

All callbacks are of type function and can also be bound as event listeners.
Like this, you can add multiple callbacks for each event.
Of course, events exist only if plugin is initialized on selector.

$(selector)
    .bind('scannerDetectionComplete',function(e,data){...})
    .bind('scannerDetectionError',function(e,data){...})
    .bind('scannerDetectionReceive',function(e,data){...})

scannerDetectionComplete

Callback after detection of a successful scanning
Event data: {string: "scanned string"}

scannerDetectionError

Callback after detection of a unsuccessful scanning
Event data: {string: "scanned string"}

scannerDetectionReceive

Callback after receive and process a char
Event data: {evt: {original keypress event}}

scannerDetectionKeyDetect

Callback after detecting a keyDown - in contrast to onReceive, this fires for non-character keys like tab, arrows, etc. too! Event data: {evt: {original keypress event}}

Requirements

jQuery > 1.4.4. Note, that some odd side effects may occur before version 1.6, if your event handlers rely on using the event object (for example calling e.which from within the onKeyDetect handler).

Browser compatibility

On old IE browser (IE<9), Date.now() and Array.indexOf() are not implemented.
If you plan to use this plugin on these browsers, please add jquery.scannerdetection.compatibility.js file before the plugin.