Siebel Field Service Guide > Barcodes >

About Barcodes


A barcode is a series of vertical bars that is printed or stamped on parts, containers, labels, or other media. These bars represent information that an electronic barcode reader can interpret. A barcode type is a classification that uses a series of varying-width bars and spaces to represent characters. Some barcode types can encode only numbers, while other barcode types can encode numbers, letters, and special computer control characters. For more information about the supported barcode types, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

NOTE:  For Siebel CRM product releases 8.1.1.9 and later and for 8.2.2.2 and later, the system requirements and supported platform certifications are available from the Certification tab on My Oracle Support. For information about the Certification application, see article 1492194.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

Barcode hardware includes a barcode scanner and reader. A barcode scanner is an electronic device that detects the pattern of bars and spaces for a barcode and transmits the pattern to a barcode reader. A barcode reader is an electronic device that decodes into characters the barcode patterns from the barcode scanner and transmits those characters to the Siebel application so that it appears as though the data is typed into the application.

Input from Barcode Readers

Control character sequences before and after the barcode information notify the Siebel application that input is from a barcode reader. These sequences include the following characters:

  • Ctrl - \

    This prefix indicates the start of barcode reader input.

  • Ctrl - /

    This suffix indicates the end of barcode reader input.

When Siebel Field Service receives this input, the following steps are completed to copy the data from the barcode into the correct field in a view:

  1. Determine the current view, applet, and active button on the Barcode toolbar.
  2. Determine whether a record for this combination of view, applet, and button exists in the Barcode Mapping list. For more information, see Setting Up the Barcode Interface.
  3. Using the Barcode mapping record, determine the field in the corresponding record to receive the data.
  4. Enter the barcode data in the target field from the Barcode Mapping list.

With barcode automation functionality in Siebel Field Service, you can use any programmable barcode reader that you can configure to send the prefix and suffix before and after the barcode input. To program the scanning preamble into a barcode reader, see the user manual or product reference guide for the barcode reader.

Data from Barcode Readers

Siebel Field Service accepts data from a barcode reader into individual, active fields. The following data is often available in barcode format:

  • Part numbers
  • Asset numbers
  • Repair numbers
  • Order numbers
  • Service request numbers
  • Pick ticket numbers

NOTE:  The Barcodes module does not accept serial numbers as input. If users want to scan serial numbers, then make sure that the asset numbers are the same as the serial numbers.

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