Reference Manual
Chapter
4
IVC-2D
©
SICK AG • Advanced Industrial Sensors • www.sick.com • All rights reserved
205
Reader
4.13
Reader
Read Barcode
The Read barcode tool is used for reading linear barcodes in images. The tool can read the
following barcode formats:
Pharmacode Code
32
EAN-8 Code
39
EAN-13 Code
128
UPC-A Interleaved
2of5
UPC-E
Code 2/5 industrial
PDF417
This tool has an interactive setup in which you can set the input parameters and immedia-
tely see how the result is affected by the changes. The interactive setup is opened by
double-clicking the
Setup
button.
This tool has a number of options for improving the reliability of the reading, but which also
may affect the execution speed:
With the
Interpolation method
parameter you can choose which interpolation method
to use for analyzing the thickness of the bars.
Setting the
Variable bar length
parameter can compensate for differences in thickness
of the bars, for example if the barcodes are viewed from an angle, or if they are
wrapped around a bottle.
By setting the
Normalization
parameter, the images will be normalized before reading
the barcode to reduce variations in exposure, which may make the reading more accu-
rate.
If the barcode type supports checksums, the tool will verify the read barcode if the
Use
checksum
parameter is set.
The tool returns the code that was read as a string in
Read string
. In addition
Edge has
defects
indicates whether there was any dark areas found in the edge of the barcode.
When reading Pharmacode barcodes, the tool returns a quality factor for the reading in
Reading reliability
. This quality factor is the percentage of the readings that were success-
ful, based on the number of reading set by the
Max number of readings
parameter.
The reading of PDF417 barcodes requires stable lighting conditions and at least 3.5 pixels
per “cell” in the barcode to perform reliably.
Input Parameters
01=Source bank
Image bank containing the image with the barcode
to be read.
02=ROI definition step
The program step where the ROI was defined.
03=Code type
The type of barcode to read.
04=Max number of readings
The maximum number of times the tool should try
to read the barcode before reporting an error.
05=Reading direction
The direction in which to read the barcode.
Horizontal
reads the barcode from both from
left to right and from right to left. Similarly,
Verti-
cal
reads the barcode in both directions: up and
down.