In the era of digitization, barcode scanning has become an integral part of many businesses. Implementing barcode scanning with a camera can save cost, as it eliminates the need the dedicated scanner machines. Android Studio, provides a great platform for building such functionalities into your app. This blog will cover detailed steps to integrate handheld barcode scanner using camera into your Android studio project.

Initiating the Project

To begin with, launch Android Studio and start with a new project. Name your application and choose your language as `Java` or `Kotlin` based on your preference. Make sure to choose the minimum API level 21 which is Android 5.0 (Lollipop).

Adding Necessary Permissions

For operating camera and the scanner process we would require to add certain permissions in the `AndroidManifest.xml` file.\

Add the following code to your AndroidManifest.xml:

Integrating Camera Functionality

To integrate camera functionality, you can use either the camera1 or camera2 APIs available in Android. Now, to use camera2 APIs, it's a bit more complex but it gives you more flexibility and control over the camera settings. Choose the one based on your project's requirement.

Adding Barcode Scanner

There are several libraries available for barcode scanning. One of the popular ones is Google's ML Kit. Let's go ahead and integrate it in your project.

In your app's build.gradle file, add the following code:

dependencies { implementation 'com.google.mlkit:barcode-scanning:16.0.3'}

Now, in your CameraX configuration or your custom camera configuration, set the image analysis use case. The barcode scanning process will occur in this stage of image processing. ML Kit provides a BarcodeScanner class that you can use for the barcode decoding.

Thereafter, you would have to display the scanning result to the user, which can be done by attaching a listener to your BarcodeScanner object that gets triggered when a barcode is detected.

Making It Usable

Adding UX considerations can make your barcode scanner app more intuitive. For instance, a viewFinder can help the user aim the camera at the barcode properly. Also, provide relevant feedback when a scan is successful or unsuccessful.

Testing Your Application

Finally, run your application on a device or an emulator to test the barcode scanning. If everything is carried out as described above, your barcode scanner should be working as expected.

That's it! You have successfully implemented a handheld barcode scanner with a camera in Android Studio. It may sound a bit complicated at first, but as you start coding, things will naturally fall into place.

Wrapping Up!

You have now equipped with the understanding to create a handheld barcode scanner application using a camera in Android Studio. With this tutorial, you are not only saving cost on dedicated barcode scanners, but also making your application more mobile and versatile. Happy coding!