Scanning RM4SCC barcodes

[John Gale]

I'm trying to find a barcode reader that can decode RM4SCC barcodes on
an android device.

Correct me if i'm wrong but I can't seem to do this with the current
version of ZXing so my question is; will this be added at any point?

If not or if I wanted to add it myself how would I start going about
that? I've downloaded the source but am not sure which project/folder
I should be looking at, has anyone got any pointers for me?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RM4SCC

[Sean Owen]

This is not supported, no. It looks similar to the code used by the US postal service.

You would want to look at implementing Reader in core/. It has a framework for handing you rows of image data and reading off black-white-black pixel counts. A lot of that can be reused. Look at the other 1D implementations to get a sense of it.

The tricky bit is that the format is "slightly" two-dimensional. One row doesn't contain enough info to decode. You would have to find, perhaps, the middle of the barcode using the standard framework and then look above and below it for the rest of the data. That's a little different than how the other 1D scanners work, but not terribly different.

Given how wide the barcode is, this won't work if the barcode is rotated much.

You could look at adapting a 2D reader instead, which are better at finding rectangular regions that may be a barcode. It's a longer road to get that to work; it may or may not be better. It would be harder to write but handle rotation better

Good luck, please share your progress if you pursue it.

[John Gale]

Thanks for the pointers. I'll certainly look into it some more and
keep you up to date.