subject: Code Scanners [print this page] When people shop at the grocery store, running items across the scanner at the checkout and having a price flash on the checkout register seems like a technology that is hard to understand. Actually, the premise behind the technology is quite easy to understand. In order to understand how a bar code scanner functions, one must understand how the bar code system actually operates.
Every such system has a particular set of symbols in which everything is set. If you look at a bar code on the side of a product, you will notice that each bar inside of the box is different. Some may be taller than others while other bars may be skinnier than others. The spacing between the bars also plays a vital role in reading the such system. Each bar inside of the box represents a series of numbers, characters or letters. These bars are assigned to specific representations within the system.
Normally, there is a "start" bar-to begin the reading program-an "ending" bar to let the system know to stop reading the bar. Oftentimes there is a bar in the middle called a "checksum" that sends a verification response to the scanner for it to verify that the calculations that the scanner had taken thus far is accurate. This ensures that there is not a misrepresentation of the item being scanned.
The scanner's photo sensors are scanned over the bar code. As the scanner reads it, software that is installed into the scanner converts these bars into readable images according to the meaning of the it. As referenced above, the bars in a bar code symbolize individual characters, numbers or letters according to the software program. Within milliseconds, the scanner converts all of these characters in order to generate useable information for the person that is scanning or the machine, such as a cash register, to utilize. The converting program for reference is pre-installed into the scanner that is being operated. Without this software program, the system would be useless.
The bar code system can be found in almost any industry where inventory or purchasing is required. You can locate them at supermarkets, post offices, warehouses and shipping departments, just to name a few. Scanning a bar code quickly speeds the process of anything and prevents normal human errors to occur.
