--- id: AS-6 title: Scanning barcodes and QR codes group: Working with the assistant summary: The scan button, what a scan sends, scanning many codes at once, and barcode scanners on iPad and Mac keywords: [scan, scanner, barcode, qr code, tag, carton, ean, upc, gs1, laser, continuous, sweep, bulk, many codes, several codes, bluetooth scanner, usb scanner, type a code] --- Some streamlines, such as a register or receiving, have a **scan button** beside the paperclip in the message field. It is there only where your organization turned scanning on for that job. ## Scanning a code Tap **Scan** (on the Mac, **Chat → Scan Code**, ⇧⌘B). The camera opens at once, with a rounded square in the middle: hold the code inside it. A small label at the bottom says what this chat accepts, such as *Barcode · QR*. - For a **barcode**, put the red line across it. When the code is read, the line flashes, the code is outlined for a moment and your phone gives a short tap. - For a **QR code**, the line turns into four corner brackets as soon as a QR code comes into view; they snap onto the code and change color just before it is read. **Several codes in view?** Only the code under the red line is read: codes above or below it are ignored, so on a sheet or a shelf of labels you get the one you aimed at. Move the line onto the next one to read it. What happens next depends on the streamline: - **Straight to the job.** A register may add the scanned tag to the ticket at once, like a button would. The scan shows in the chat as a small tag, followed by the result, for example the item's card. The assistant is not involved, so it is instant. A step that needs your confirmation still shows its card and waits for your tap. - **A tag in your message.** Otherwise the code waits in the message field as a tag that names its kind, such as *EAN-13 · 4006381333931*, *Code 128 · R-20417* or *QR · R-20417*. Add words if you like, or remove it with ×, then send. The assistant receives the kind of code and its value, never a picture. A QR code that holds a web address is never opened. It is a value like any other, shown by its site name. ## Scanning many codes A streamline may offer up to three ways to scan. When it offers more than one, the bottom of the scanner shows a small switch (**One**, **Continuous**, **Sweep**); change it at any time without closing the scanner. To start straight in one, touch and hold Scan and choose it (on the Mac, the **Chat** menu lists each). - **One** closes the scanner after the code under the line. - **Continuous** stays open and takes one code at a time, each under the line. The bottom of the screen shows how many you have scanned and what became of the last one, such as *Received 1 of line 2* or *not on PO-7781*. A code held in view counts once; scan it again after a few seconds to count it again. - **Sweep** takes every code in the square at once. Move slowly across a page, a shelf or a roll of labels: each new code is outlined as it is taken and counted once, however long it stays in view. Choose **Done** to see the list, remove any you didn't mean with ×, then **Add**. They go together: as tags in your next message, so the assistant handles the batch in one reply, or, where the streamline adds scans straight to the job, one after another with a short summary such as *Swept 12 codes: 11 added, 1 failed*. Choose **Done** when you are finished. ## No camera, or no picture - **Type a code.** Touch and hold the scan button, or choose **Type** in the scanner, to enter a code by hand. It is treated like a scan. - **No camera here.** Most Macs and some iPads have no camera, so the scan button opens the typing sheet instead. A Mac with a built-in camera, a webcam or an iPhone as a Continuity Camera opens the scanner. - **Camera access is off.** The sheet says so and offers **Open Settings**. ## Barcode scanners (iPad, Mac, iPhone) A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner that types like a keyboard works without setup. Scan into a chat whose streamline has scanning: Streamliner recognizes the scanner by how fast it types and turns the code into the same tag. Anything you had already typed stays in the field. On the Mac this works in the window in front, even when the message field is not selected. If letters come out wrong, set the scanner to the same keyboard layout as your device. ## What is never scanned into a chat - **Driver's licenses.** Their barcode is refused with *Driver's licenses are read only inside a secure form.* See *Secure forms and secure views*. - **Card numbers and ID numbers.** A code that looks like one is refused, and there is no way to send it anyway. Product codes are not affected. - **Codes this chat doesn't use.** A streamline may accept only its own kind of code, for example tags like *R-20417*. Others are skipped with *Not a code this chat uses*, and the scanner keeps going. Your organization's system still checks every scanned value; the scanner only makes it quicker to enter.