Replacement of a 32bit barcode reader dll for a 64bit

We have the same issue. We develop a POS application and use OPOS drivers to drive the POS peripherals (scanner, MSR, PinPad, etc.). The OPOS drivers only exist in 32-bit which is why we are still in 32-bit environment.

If you really need 64 bit on the client (doubtful) and the vendor doesn't supply a 64 bit dll... Then you should probably look into writing your own COM controls using .NET and then calling them from Progress. That will be the easiest to integrate imo.

In the past we have developed a DLL to interact a com port device listener.

In the registry we set the configuration.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ABS\QSeed\Barcoding]

"Port"="COM1"

"PortSetting"="baud=19200 parity=n data=8 stop=2 xon=off octs=on rts=hs"

Then the active Progress program activate a listener on the com port to catch the barcode reading.

This was developed by some old colleges but I could never find the basic source how this DLL was build.

Only have the DLL but it does not work in the OE 11.4 64bit client.

I think the vendor of the barcode reader device does not help.

As long as it works to interact on a com port as event driven device it should work.

Do I still need a DLL or can I build a device listener directly within the ABL?

Hope someone has some experience with com port interactions in ABL.

Kind regards,

Peter  

In the past I developed a .net assembly for a Metrologic/Honeywell scanner.

Before I tried Opos (com), OPOS for .Net (seems to be dead).

Both are not working perfect and I wrote a small assembly myself in C#

In ABL(.net) you have listener on the event of the .net assembly.

Writing the assembly is easy, but you should be careful not to forget to delegate the serial events to the main thread.

The logic was:

barcodes read

assembly gots an event on serial port

assembly sends disable command to scanner

assembly posts event with barcode

ABL(.net) got the event and do some things

ABL(.net) call enable method of the assembly

It's working with old serial scanners and USB scanners which have a serial emulation including a scanner auto-detection to handle multiple scanners.

We have been using OPOS and POS for .NET successfully for years but they are 32-bit. I thought POS for .NET was dead as well but MS just released a new version. Using either of these allows my app to use just about any POS peripheral as long as the hardware manufacturer provides a proper OPOS service object...no need to reinvent the wheel. As TheMadDBA commented on the 64 bit client (do you really need on the client) we agree and have stayed the course using a 32-bit client.

Peter,

If you are just looking for a control to allow the ABL to receive serial input you can use a product such as COMM64 (http://www.comm64.com/). We have been using this for years and it works well.

While our application works with an AppServer and OE 11.4 does not require separate compile for 32bit and 64bit we have chosen to forward our application to 64bit client. So I have to solve the 32bit DLL problems. Working with both 32 and 64 is than to complicated.

OPOS is mainly based on 32bit DLL and client. Not much of an option.

COMM64 looks like a better chose. Building your own COM tools for different kind of devices like barcode scanner and other optical devices.

Question on this does it work well on Windows 8 too. MS is trying to interfere more and more on direct communication to devices on the Workstations.

Who has experience on COMM64 and Windows 8?

Kind regards,

Peter

We use COMM64 and have not seen any issues on WIN8. I should say we have not had any issues reported to us in WIN8. As I said above we primarily use OPOS/POS for .NET since it allows us access to thousands of different peripherals. However, there have been a few cases where there did not exist OPOS for a device. A customer of ours wanted us to integrate to a 500lb floor scale so we used COMM64. We also use COMM64 to send out POS transaction level detail on a serial port.

Those are really the only two cases where we use it.

R. Blanchard,

You have mentioned that your app development is still based on a 32 bit client.

That you have not moved to 64 bit client so you can use OPOS.

Is it correct that OPOS is not developed for 32bit clients?

For 32 bit client our app is still available on OE 10.2B.

For the app on 11.4 we have chosen to supply only 64bit Client.

We are not in a retail branch so POS is not that much. Only had some warehouse interfacing with scales and paternosters in the past. Barcode scanner is now the issue I have to deal with. On internet there are many SDK for barcoding. Have to select some I can be sure it will do that what we need.

Printing them we have covered with List&Label from Combit.

Now it is only the reading from a scanner as COM event. Keyboard input scanners do not work. You never know what screen has focus.

Kind regards,

Peter Wokke