This chapter covers the following topics:
Data Field Identifiers (DFI) identify the type of data embedded within a barcode. A DFI consists of one to three characters pre-appended to the data that is encoded in the barcode. For instance, a DFI for Part Number might be P+. If the encoded part number AS54888, then the barcode would encode the value P+AS54888 to indicate that the barcode is for Part Number AS54888.
Oracle Mobile Applications provides DFI support for recognition of barcodes that contain DFIs as well as out-of-order scanning. Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications recognizes a DFI included in a barcode and validates that DFI with the field in which the value is being scanned. Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications also supports Out-of-Order scanning through DFIs. If a field is scanned containing a DFI that corresponds to a field other than the field that the cursor is currently on, the value of that barcode will be entered into the appropriate field.
Related Topics
Data Field Identifiers: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
Oracle DFI Functionality: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
Field Recognition: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
The MWA Server and Oracle Applications ship with default values for DFI support. If no changes are necessary, no additional setup steps are required. In addition, some device manufactures ship their products pre-configured for Oracle Mobile Applications, which eliminates the need for the first setup step. The steps are briefly discussed below.
The first step in configuring DFI support is to configure the mobile device such to pre-append the Data Stream Indicator to every scan. The Data Stream Indicator should be ASCII 28 File Separator. All Oracle Mobile Applications certified devices support this type of configuration. You can configure most scanners by scanning configuration barcodes, navigating to a configuration menu through the device keypad, or by using a remote configuration tool. Refer to the mobile device user's guide for configuration information.
The mobile server uses the ASCII 28 Data Stream Indicator to recognize DFIs. If you use the existing device configuration setting files (default_key.ini) no additional setup is necessary. If you need to change the Data Stream Indicator, see Setup for DI Support: Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications User's Guide.
Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications is pre-seeded with DFI information according to the ANSI Data Application Identifiers Standard (document ANSI MH10.8.2-1995). If you use data identifiers that differ from the ANSI standard, or some fields do not recognize the DFIs properly, see, Setup for DI Support: Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Management User's Guide.
Related Topics
Data Field Identifiers: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
Oracle DFI Functionality: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
Field Recognition: Oracle Warehouse Management Implementation Guide
Using Barcode Identifiers: Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Management User's Guide
You can design barcodes to include two data fields in a single scan. There are two different ways to accomplish this within Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications.
Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications provides the ability to support a delimiter character for combinations of data fields frequently concatenated into a single barcode. There are three Oracle Warehouse Management profile options used to specify the delimiter character:
WMS: Item/Revision Delimiter: This profile specifies the delimiter character that is used to combine the item number and revision into a single barcode. If this profile is set to (-), then AS54888-A is interpreted as Item AS54888, Revision A.
WMS: PO Number/Line Delimiter: This profile specifies the delimiter character that is used to combine a Purchase Order Number and PO Line Number into a single barcode. If this profile is set to (:) then 12736:01 is interpreted as Purchase Order 12736, PO Line Number 01.
WMS: Subinventory/Locator Delimiter: This profile specifies the delimiter character that is used to combine the subinventory and locator into a single barcode. If this profile is set to (-) then EACH-E1.1.1 is interpreted as subinventory EACH, locator E1.1.1.
These profiles can be set to the same value or different values depending on the configuration of the warehouse labels. If these are the only fields to be concatenated, then this method is the preferred method of barcode concatenation.
Related Topics
Warehouse Management Profile Options: Oracle Warehouse Management User's Guide
You can separate the values in a barcode to concatenate any two or more barcodes into a single barcode. To do this use the ASCII characters for Carriage Return Line Feed. They are ASCII characters 15 and 12.
After embedding the characters into a barcode, the mobile server interprets a single scan as two different scans: the first value, a carriage return, and the second value. For instance, to concatenate the subinventory EACH and locator E1.1.1 using this method, the barcode should read EACH{ASCII 15}{ASCII 12}E1.1.1, where the ASCII characters in the brackets are replaced by the respective ASCII characters. Most full ASCII barcode symbologies, such as Code 128 and Code 39 Extended, provide the capability to embed such ASCII characters in the barcode.
Use this method of barcode concatenation only if it is necessary to concatenate fields other than the ones listed above, which support configurable delimiters.
Note: Barcode concatenation does not work if both the values have a Data Field Identifier prefix. When using DFIs on barcodes it is necessary to scan each DFI enabled value independently.