Barcode Completion

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Barcode Completion

The Barcode Completion feature gives users the ability to only enter the unique part of patron and item barcodes. This can significantly reduce the amount of typing required for manual barcode input. This feature was also known as Lazy Circ at one point.

This feature can also be used if there is a difference between what the barcode scanner outputs and what is stored in the database, as long as the barcode that is stored has more characters then what the scanner is outputing. Barcode Completion is additive only, you cannot use it match a stored barcode that has less characters than what is entered. For example, if your barcode scanners used to output a123123b and now exclude the prefix and suffix, you could match both formats using Barcode Completion rules.

Because this feature adds an extra database search for each enabled rule to the process of looking up a barcode, it can add extra delays to the check-out process. Please test in your environment before using in production.

Released: 2.2 - June 2012

Scoping and Permissions

Local Administrator permission needed to access the admin interface of the Barcode Completion feature.

Access Points

The admin interface for Barcode Completion is located under Admin → Local Administration → Barcode Completion.

The barcode completion functionality is available at the following interfaces.

For Actors (Users) Barcodes

• Lookup Patron by Barcode/Checkout.

• Optionally during checkout if library setting "Load patron from Checkout" is set. (Automatically detects if an actor/user barcode is scanned during checkout, and starts a new checkout session using that user.)

• OPAC’s Staff Client Place Hold.

For Assets (Copy) Barcodes

• Checkout.

• Checkin.

• Item Status.

• Lookup item by Barcode.

It is also notable that Barcode Completion does not work in the search for patron interface.

Multiple Matches

If multiple barcodes are matched, say if you have both "123" and "00000123" as valid barcodes, you will receive a list of all the barcodes that match all the rules that you have configured. It doesn’t stop after the first rule that matches, or after the first valid barcode is found.

Barcode Completion Data Fields

Table 1. Barcode Completion Fields

Active	Check to indicate entry is active.
Owner	Setting applies to this Org Unit and to all children.
Prefix	Sequence that appears at the beginning of barcode.
Suffix	Sequence that appears at the end of barcode.
Length	Total length of barcode.
Padding	Character that pads out non-unique characters in the barcode.
Padding At End	Check if the padding starts at the end of the barcode.
Applies to Items	Check if entry applies to item barcodes.
Applies to Users	Check if entry applies to user barcodes.

Examples

In all these examples, the unique part of the barcode is 123. So that is all that users will need to type to match the full barcode.

Barcode With Prefix and Padding

Barcode: 4545000123

To match this 10 character barcode by only typing in 123 we need the following settings.

• Active - Checked

• Owner - Set to your org unit.

• Prefix - 4545 - This is the prefix that the barcode starts with.

• Length - 10 - Total length of the barcode.

• Padding - 0 - Zeros will be used to pad out non significant parts of the barcode.

• Applies to Items and/or Applies to Users - Checked

The system takes the 123 that you entered, Adds the prefix to the beginning of it. Then adds zeros between the prefix and your number to pad it out to 10 characters. Then it searches the database for that barcode.

Barcode With Suffix

Barcode: 123000book

To match this 10 character barcode by only typing in 123 we need the following settings.

• Active - Checked

• Owner - Set to your org unit.

• Suffix - book - This is the suffix that the barcode ends with.

• Length - 10 - Total length of the barcode.

• Padding - 0 - Zeros will be used to pad out non significant parts of the barcode.

• Applies to Items and/or Applies to Users - Checked

The system takes the 123 that you entered, Adds the suffix to the end of it. Then adds zeros between the your number and the suffix to pad it out to 10 characters. Then it searches the database for that barcode.

Barcode With Left Padding

Barcode: 0000000123

To match this 10 character barcode by only typing in 123 we need the following settings.

• Active - Checked

• Owner - Set to your org unit.

• Length - 10 - Total length of the barcode.

• Padding - 0 - Zeros will be used to pad out non significant parts of the barcode.

• Applies to Items and/or Applies to Users - Checked

The system takes the 123 that you entered, then adds zeros between the your number and the left to pad it out to 10 characters. Then it searches the database for that barcode.

Barcode With Right Padding

Barcode: 1230000000

To match this 10 character barcode by only typing in 123 we need the following settings.

• Active - Checked

• Owner - Set to your org unit.

• Length - 10 - Total length of the barcode.

• Padding - 0 - Zeros will be used to pad out non significant parts of the barcode.

• Padding at End - Checked

• Applies to Items and/or Applies to Users - Checked

The system takes the 123 that you entered, then adds zeros between the your number and the right to pad it out to 10 characters. Then it searches the database for that barcode.

Barcode with Prefix & Suffix

Barcode: a123b

To match this 5 character barcode by only typing in 123 we need the following settings. This use of Barcode Completion doesn’t save many keystrokes, but it does allow you to handle the case where your barcode scanners at one point were set to output a prefix and suffix which was stored in the database, which is no longer used now. These settings will simply add the prefix and suffix to any barcode entered and search for that.

• Active - Checked

• Owner - Set to your org unit.

• length/padding - 0/null - Set the length to 0 and/or leave the padding blank.

• Prefix - a - This is the prefix that the barcode starts with.

• Suffix - b - This is the suffix that the barcode starts with.

• Applies to Items and/or Applies to Users - Checked

The system takes the 123 that you entered, then adds the prefix and suffix specified. Then it searches the database for that barcode. Because no length or padding was entered, this rule will add the prefix and suffix to any barcode that is entered.

Testing

To test this feature, setup the rules that you want, then setup items/users with barcodes that should match. Then try scanning the short version of those barcodes in the various supported access points.