如何将条形码扫描器与Web应用程序连接？

Question

I have in hands the creation of a Warehouse management system. It's going to be a web application, it's supposed to run on desktops and 10' tablets.

I have never worked with barcode scanners, so my question is how do I interface a barcode scanner with my application?

It's going to be a Java EE 6 application, the web framework to use is still open.

Any experience with similar setups would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Like Alex K. says, most scanners act like keyboards. So handling the input shouldn't be difficult.

I have seen this type of system implemented with an ActiveX control (Ewwww), but I'm assuming you would want this app to be cross-browser.

Java in the browser is as good as dead now, so an applet would most likely be out of the question.

If the scanner sends a key first you could easily bind an event listener using JavaScript to wait for that key and then take the input.