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Bar codes graphically encode the numbers that you see printed under the bar code. The specific arrangements and thicknes of the bars and spaces vary by the code “symbology” being used. For example, codes on delivery labels are usually printed using symbology Code-39, while books have codes printed using symbology EAN-13, or as they are commonly called, “978” bar codes.
Please visit http://www.scoutpal.com/db/howtoscan/ to learn how to identify and scan book bar codes.
When you press a scan button, the scan engine (the device inside the scanner) turns on its beam, which examines the bars and spaces of the code to figure out the symbology, and the numbers represented by the code. The scanner then sends all of the numbers to the scanner driver software that is running on a PDA, and then the driver software sends those numbers directly into whatever program is running on the PDA, just exactly as if you had typed them in yourself, followed an Enter (carriage-return) key.
ScoutPalDB indexes books by 10-digit ISBN. When it sees a sequence of EAN-13 numbers , it automatically extracts the ISBN from the last 10 digits of the scan, recomputing the final “checksum” digit as required.
Symbol scan engines (as inside Socket –M and –P model scanners) can be optimized by reducing some of the overhead tasks that they perform. For example, you can tell the scanner to ignore symbologies that you don’t need to scan, you can tell the scanner to not take the time to sound a beep, and you can change how the scan beam gets turned on.
To get to the Socket scanner driver settings so that you can disable or enable the scanner’s beep: Tap on the scan driver icon on the home screen, or tap Start > System > Scanner Settings > Sound tab. If you have a Socket 7 Bluetooth scanner, you must tap the CS HW tab, then change the “Good Read Indicator” to OFF, or to a sound of your choice.
The following document contains command bar codes that can be scanned to disable or enable bar code symbologies: http://www.scannerpal.com/share/demo/chapter8_symbologies.pdf
Disabling symbologies that you don't need can improve scan performance, but be sure to have symbologies enabled for books (EAN-13) and other media (UPC-A). The factory default symbologies are marked with an asterisk(*).
If you have a Socket 7 Bluetooth scanner, you can optionally change it to continuously scan using a solid or blinking beam, or back to scanning only when you press the button: http://www.scannerpal.com/share/demo/chapter8_trigger_modes.pdf