How to use the Spotfire Analytics iOS App to read barcodes or other machine readable codes

With the Spotfire Analytics IOS app it is possible to read machine readable codes such as barcodes using the phone/tablet's camera.

This may be useful in order to let a user scan a barcode and automatically filter down and provide information related to the code. One example could be that a user in a store scans a barcode on a shelf and gets information about the inventory status and future deliveries of the goods at the shelf.

How to:

The interface between Spotfire and the device's camera is through a reserved document property:

"AppMachineReadableCode" of type String

If this document property is present in a DXP file that is opened through the Spotfire IOS App (The App is called "Spotfire Analytics" on the Apple AppStore), the app will show a barcode symbol in its toolbar: 

Pressing the barcode button activates the device's camera and if you point it towards a barcode (or other machine-readable code) and let it focus, it will return the value of the code in the above mentioned string document property. This document property can then  be used in the analysis as any other document property for example in scripts or to limit data of a visualization.

Trying it out

In order to use this capability you must have installed the Spotfire Analytics App (click on link)

The DXP file used in this example is also attached to this post so you can inspect how it is built and deploy it to a server of your choice.

Once in the App click the barcode symbol in the toolbar, when the camera view shows up in the app point it towards a barcode or other machine readable code, and wait until it reads the code and the view returns to the Spotfire app. The Text area in the analysis should now be updated with the Barcode you just scanned.

barcode_reader_example.zip