Welcome to Socket Mobile Developer Documentation¶
This is the place where all the SDK documentation can be found.
Overview¶
As one of the leading barcode scanner makers and one of the earliest manufacturers to support mobile devices, Socket Mobile is unique in providing an SDK with extensive device support. With a unified integration, CaptureSDK covers all Socket Mobile data readers on all major platforms and frameworks. One integration, and your customers can use any Socket Mobile data capture reader.
Data capture reader types¶
CaptureSDK supports three reader types:
Bluetooth barcode scanners¶
Currently, Socket Mobile offers 1D/2D imagers, and laser scanners (1D). These are Bluetooth Classic devices (Bluetooth Low Energy readers are coming soon), including SocketScan S700 series, DuraScan D700 series, and SocketScan S800 series.
NFC reader/writers¶
Socket Mobile offers two NFC reader/writers, S550 and D600. They are all Bluetooth Low Energy data readers.
Camera based barcode scanning solution¶
This is a special type. It’s a software-based barcode scanning solution that uses the built-in camera on mobile devices to read barcodes. This solution appears through the SDK and the Socket Mobile Companion app as SocketCam C820 or SocketCam C860 (coming soon) readers. We treat it as a device for two reasons:
On the end user side, the reader is always connected. And user can access it through the Socket Mobile Companion app and change its settings.
The SDK integration also treats it as a device and follows a similar pattern for device management. The same code for handling a barcode scanner or NFC reader is used to manage the camera-based solution with no additional changes or logical bifurcation.
Data capture readers and SDK common use cases¶
Here are some of the most common use cases for integrating with CaptureSDK.
Streamline user workflow
The most common use case for integrating CaptureSDK is streamlining the user workflow. Most Bluetooth barcode scanners on the market are used in HID mode. In this mode, the app needs an active text field to collect the scanned data. A seemingly trivial requirement in practice has a significant impact on user experience. When performing a lot of scans, the extra steps required to tap on a text field to activate/highlight before scanning, not only interrupts the workflow but also can be error-prone. By controlling the reader through the SDK, the scan can happen at any time. The user doesn’t have to interact with the app on the screen, resulting in a more streamlined process.
Flexible data processing
When data must be collected through a text field in the UI, the ways you can process the data is very limited, and must be done after the data is posted into the text field. With CaptureSDK, data can be read and processed behind the scenes before it’s consumed by other parts of the app. Take reading a driver’s license, for example;, most apps do not need the whole data set. They typically only need a few sections, such as age, ID number, state, expiration date, etc. This is very difficult to achieve in HID mode without using the SDK. But with CaptureSDK, the data can be segmented and parsed easily, without being tied to any UI elements, and before being consumed by the app.
Tap-and-go with NFC reader
Tap-and-go has become widely popular in recent years, with the emergence of NFC readers. Using CaptureSDK, the tap-and-go behavior can be incorporated right into your app, just like scanning a barcode. You don’t need a specific UI to receive the data (although providing some visual cues is always a good practice so users know where and when to tap). The tap-and-go functionality can be applied to many situations, such as checking in and out, cashless payment, etc.