ZBAR BAR CODE READER

ZBar Bar Code Reader is an open source software suite for reading bar codes from various sources, such as video streams, image files and raw intensity sensors. It supports EAN-13/UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8, Code 128, Code 39, Codabar, Interleaved 2 of 5 and QR Code. Included with the library are basic applications for decoding captured bar code images and using a video device (eg, webcam) as a bar code scanner. For application developers, language bindings are included for C, C++, Python and Perl as well as GUI widgets for Qt, GTK and PyGTK.

Check the ZBar home page for the latest release, mailing lists, etc. http://zbar.sourceforge.net/

License information can be found in 'COPYING'.

BUILDING

See 'INSTALL' for generic configuration and build instructions.

The scanner/decoder library itself only requires a few standard library functions which should be avilable almost anywhere.

The zbarcam program uses the video4linux API (v4l1 or v4l2) to access the video device. This interface is part of the linux kernel, a 2.6 kernel is recommended for full support. More information is available at http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/

pkg-config is used to locate installed libraries. You should have installed pkg-config if you need any of the remaining components. pkg-config may be obtained from http://pkg-config.freedesktop.org/

The zbarimg program uses ImageMagick to read image files in many different formats. You will need at least ImageMagick version 6.2.6 if you want to scan image files. ImageMagick may be obtained from http://www.imagemagick.org/

The Qt widget requires Qt4. You will need Qt4 if you would like to use or develop a Qt GUI application with an integrated bar code scanning widget. Qt4 may be obtained from http://qt.nokia.com/products

The GTK+ widget requires GTK+-2.x. You will need GTK+ if you would like to use or develop a GTK+ GUI application with an integrated bar code scanning widget. GTK+ may be obtained from http://www.gtk.org/

The PyGTK wrapper for the GTK+ widget requires Python and PyGTK. You will need both if you would like to use or develop a PyGTK GUI application with an integrated bar code scanning widget. PyGTK may be obtained from http://www.pygtk.org/

The Python bindings require Python (version?). You will need Python if you would like to scan images or video directly using Python. Python is available from http://python.org/

The Perl bindings require Perl (version?). You will need Perl if you would like to scan images or video directly using Perl. Perl is available from http://www.perl.org/

If required libraries are not available you may disable building for the corresponding component using configure (see configure --help).

The Perl bindings must be built separately after installing the library. see perl/README

RUNNING

'make install' will install the library and application programs. Run 'zbarcam' to start the video scanner. use 'zbarimg barcode.jpg' to decode a saved image file. Check the manual to find specific options for each program.

REPORTING BUGS

Bugs can be reported on the sourceforge project page http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/zbar/

Please include the ZBar version number and a detailed description of the problem. You'll probably have better luck if you're also familiar with the concepts from: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html