Cannot send unicode value from scanner to browser window

Question

I am using a scanner (Zebra DS2208 to be specific) to scan GS1 barcodes into a browser window. In the Zebra app, it shows the <GS> separators as well as in Notepad++. If I scan into the browser window, the <GS> tags are not transferred at all, it completely skips over them. If I copy the output from Notepad++, I am able to copy the <GS> separator, which is a unicode value of \u001d and it copies it into the browser entry field just fine. Why can't I scan a unicode directly into the browser? Alternatively, is there a way to set up a hotkey of some sort to convert a string to the unicode value?

Notepad++ output

Value copied into browser field and accepted.

Answer 1

Hello Sandy,

Thank you for your question and for reaching out with your question today.

The behavior you're experiencing with the scanner skipping the <GS> separators when scanning directly into a browser window is likely because the browser's input field doesn't recognize or handle special control characters such as the <GS> character (\u001d).

To work around this limitation, you can try using a keyboard emulation mode on your scanner. This mode allows the scanner to emulate keyboard input, essentially typing the scanned data as if it were manually entered through the keyboard. By doing this, the scanner will send the Unicode characters directly to the browser as keyboard input, and the browser should handle them correctly.

To set up keyboard emulation mode on your Zebra DS2208 scanner, refer to the scanner's user manual or contact the manufacturer's support for specific instructions on enabling this mode.

Alternatively, if you need to convert a string to its Unicode value, you can use JavaScript or other programming languages to accomplish this. Here's an example of a JavaScript function that converts a string to its Unicode representation:

function convertToUnicode(str) {

  let unicodeStr = '';

  for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++) {

    const charCode = str.charCodeAt(i).toString(16).padStart(4, '0');

    unicodeStr += '\\u' + charCode;

  }

  return unicodeStr;

}

// Usage example

const inputString = 'C101TG20208GS10000001GS17251231';

const unicodeString = convertToUnicode(inputString);

console.log(unicodeString);

You can run this JavaScript code in the browser's developer console or incorporate it into your web application. It takes an input string and converts it to its Unicode representation, allowing you to copy and paste the Unicode characters into the browser's input field.

Note that the browser's behavior regarding special characters can vary, so the effectiveness of these workarounds may depend on the specific browser and its settings.

I used AI provided by ChatGPT to formulate part of this response. I have verified that the information is accurate before sharing it with you.

If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer.