Here you can find a number of tips on how to troubleshoot issues with scanners and barcodes when using COBI.wms.

If you're using a Zebra scanner, you have to do some additional configuration in the DataWedge app to make scanning work properly with COBI.wms. See the page DataWedge Settings for details.

Without the proper configuration, the Zebra scanner will only work when a text field is focused, and will only fill in text contents for the focused text field. This means you won't be able to use the scanning functionality in screens that don't use text input fields, and also you won't be able to scan GS1 Barcodes at all.

If you're creating your own GS1 barcodes and they're not being handled as expected, you may be generating barcodes that contain invalid GS1 barcode data. See the section “Common Mistakes” under GS1 Barcodes for possible causes.

You can verify the correctness of a GS1 barcode by using the method specified in the next section.

You can perform a test-scan and have the app show you the data it was able to read by visiting the Info screen:

Main Menu → three dots Menu on the top right → Info

While the Info screen is open, simply perform a barcode scan. For example, by using the physical scan button on the sides of a Honeywell or Zebra device. (If you're using a smartphone's camera for scanning, you can click the “QR Code” icon on the top right to initiate camera scanning.)

There are a number of possible outcomes:

If you're using a Zebra device and the physical scan button does nothing at all (scanning laser is not even activated), make sure the DataWedge Settings are set up correctly. If you're using another type of barcode scanner, try restarting COBI.wms, or restarting the entire Android device.

If the scanner activates but the barcode is simply not recognized at all (no beeping sound), it probably means that the barcode is physically invalid and cannot be recognized by the scanner hardware.

There is also the possibility that certain barcode types are disabled in your physical scanner's settings. For example, in the DataWedge Settings you can enable/disable different types of barcodes, and likewise for the scanner settings of Honeywell devices (usually found in the Settings app of Android).

If the barcode is detected by the scanner hardware (beeping sound, and/or scanning laser disappears), but you see no text appear on the Info screen of COBI.wms, once again make sure your DataWedge Settings are correct if you're using a Zebra device. Otherwise, try restarting COBI.wms, or restarting the entire Android device.

If the scan was successful and the scan event correctly delivered to COBI.wms, you will see some text appear on the screen, below all the other content of the Info screen.

The text will tell you which scanner system delivered the scan event (e.g. “DataWedge barcode”, “Honeywell barcode”, or “Camera barcode”) and list some information dependent on the system. For example, DataWedge scan events deliver a “Source” and a “Type”, whereas Honeywell scan events deliver a timestamp, an “AIM ID”, a “Code ID”, and a Charset.

After the system-dependent fields, COBI.wms will list the actual data contents of the barcode. This can have two forms:

Raw text: This means that the barcode was not recognized as a GS1 barcode. It's considered a simple piece of text data. If the barcode is supposed to be a GS1 barcode, it may be invalid; see GS1 Barcodes for some common mistakes during barcode generation. If the barcode is not generated by you (e.g. it comes from your supplier) then you should contact the responsible party and notify them that the GS1 barcodes they generate are not valid.

GS1 fields: If the barcode was detected as a GS1 barcode, the Info screen will list the fields that were detected. For example, it will tell you what Item Code, Batch Number, Serial Number, etc. were found within the GS1 data of the barcode. If a field does not contain the expected data, the GS1 barcode maybe partially invalid, so that it's recognized as a GS1 barcode, but some of the fields can't be correctly identified. Once again, refer to the page GS1 Barcodes for common errors, and if the barcode isn't generated by you, notify the responsible party.

If you scan a raw text barcode anywhere other than the Info screen, COBI.wms will try to intelligently determine what the text is supposed to represent. For example, if you're in a screen where you're supposed to add items, it will assume that you've scanned an item code. If you've already scanned or selected an item, and are now in the “Add quantity” screen, and the only text field is “Batch Number”, then the app will assume that the text is the batch number and fill that field. If there are multiple text fields, you may have to focus one to tell the app which field should be filled with the scanned text.

If you scan a GS1 barcode, COBI.wms doesn't have to guess what the intention is, because the GS1 data fields each identify what their purpose is. So you don't need to focus a text field even if there are multiple. And of course, multiple data fields will be handled at once by COBI.wms, so you only need to scan once.