Member Avatar for dudegio

Hello guys!

Anyone who has an idea of integarting a bar code reader to a inventory system.
The function is to read the bar code and this will serve as an input to the system.
Any suggestion are very much welcome.
thank you!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by phpdeveloper123

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You do not integrate a barcode reader into PHP directly. Most handheld USB scanners act as a keyboard (HID): they type the decoded value into the focused field and usually append Enter. That means your web page just needs a focused input and a submit handler; PHP simply receives the posted string. This aligns with ’s database-first advice and modernizes ’s PS/2 note for today’s USB readers. For , this also means PrestaShop forms will accept scans anywhere a text box is focused.

Minimal front end:

<form method="post" action="/scan.php">
  <input id="barcode" name="barcode" autofocus autocomplete="off" />
</form>
<script>
  const el = document.getElementById('barcode');
  el.addEventListener('keydown', e => {
    if (e.key === 'Enter') e.target.form.submit();
  });
  el.focus();
</script>

Simple PHP handler:

<?php
$code = isset($_POST['barcode']) ? trim($_POST['barcode']) : '';
if ($code !== '') {
    // Keep barcodes as VARCHAR to preserve leading zeros
    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $pass, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
    $stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id, name, stock FROM products WHERE barcode = ?');
    $stmt->execute([$code]);
    if ($row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)) {
        // Update or display item here
    } else {
        // Handle unknown barcode
    }
}

Alternatives if you cannot use a hardware scanner: a browser-based camera scanner (e.g., ZXing/Quagga2) can decode and then POST the result to PHP. For RS-232 or USB virtual COM scanners, use a small desktop bridge app or a browser’s serial API to forward scans to your API. Practical tips: configure your scanner suffix to send Enter (CR/LF), validate and length-check input server-side, trim whitespace, and log scans to help troubleshoot misreads.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for blufab

What are you asking exactly? Do you want to control device from php? Your best route would probably be to use a desktop application take gets the barcode reader data, then connects to a db to retrieve or store necessary information. Then on the web site of the inventory system any data you would need will be in the db.

Member Avatar for dudegio

I see. By the way, anyone knows a desktop application to use in getting information using a barcode reader?

I am using Php and MySQL for my inventory system.

Thanks.

Member Avatar for mohan7690

hi if it is a reader connected to the keyboard port(PS/2) then
without any drivers, you can use it directly, just place the curson on the text box of the web page and read the code using barcode reader, at last it will sent Enter(13) key also...

Member Avatar for lishsewew

Through old thread. But recently I am doing barcode reading work. I also would like to share what I know here. I am using this barcode reader sdk in my work. It supports to more than 20 linear and 2D barcode types. Exellent one. Share it with you.

Member Avatar for phpdeveloper123

I am using barcode in prestashop php method. plz help me.

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