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We have a GWT-App, where we can define keyboard shortcuts (0-9, A-Z, with 3 possible modifiers: Shift, Alt and Ctrl Key) which can execute several actions (instead of clicking a button, just press Ctrl+Alt+A).

It is mostly used in warehouses and to simplify the workflow of the end user, we want to generate barcodes, which the user can scan and those scanned barcodes should be treated as if you pressed the defined key combination on the keyboard.

(so the end user doesn't have to switch between mouse / keyboard / scanner).

My question is: Is this even possible? Can I simulate the press of a key combination like Ctrl+Shift+C by scanning a barcode? What kind of scanner is necessary? What barcodes should I use for this? And how do I encode those key combinations?

Ian R. O'Brien
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rookian
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There are different kind of scanners, or they can be run in different modes. The simplest scanners usually functions as keyboards, and just send a string of what they scan.

Some have their own software which allow you to set different actions when scanning specific codes, among other settings.

Others might be accessible through an API, or they allow simple serial communication. With these you could write your own code to send certain key combinations when registering a specific bar code.

It all depends on the brand, type and availability of software.

Remember, Google is your friend.

Melvin
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  • We were trying to create a general solution, that would work with most of the available scanners. I know there are scanners, that are programmable and such things, but we have to deal with the most stupid (end)users you can imagine ;) – rookian Jun 09 '15 at 09:40
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    'Google is your friend' is not a very useful advice when I just came from there. – Hedede Mar 12 '20 at 10:54