maemo.org - Talk - mbarcode

maemo.org - Talk (https://talk.maemo.org/index.php)

- Applications (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=41)

- - mbarcode (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=34996)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lardman (Post 876953)

I would prefer to be presented with a window that summaries the contents of these websites. So it says what the item is, gives links to reviews and then gives a list of prices derived from various websites. I think that would be more useful and usable than needing to start multiple browser windows and scroll around in them. Just my opinion though :)

Not bad!

However, I think this could quickly become quite complex. If Amazon changes the format of the page, thing they do from time to time, then the plugin will be unable to locate the information to show the summary; and an update will be necessary.

What I was proposing was not to open all the browser windows, but just let the user choose which one to open. Something similar to the "Informed individual".

Quote:

Originally Posted by systemcrash (Post 877236)

Well as long as only a single data source fails, the plugin would still be useful, and then the relevant fixes could be made.

Quote:

Originally Posted by systemcrash (Post 877236)

What I was proposing was not to open all the browser windows, but just let the user choose which one to open. Something similar to the "Informed individual".

Well this is afair already provided by the websearch plugin (though it will need some minor modification to accept changes and extra URLs)

Lol, shows how much I use the web request plugin (or more likely that it already provides the URLs I need ;) ) - you can actually already edit and add new items to the list chaps...

Scan a barcode, then click the "Search the Web" plugin, you are presented with a list of providers. Now tap the menu bar and you can "Add Custom Provider" or "Edit Providers"

HTH

Quote:

Originally Posted by lardman (Post 877776)

hehe nice but when in settings i go to plugins and to webrequest it tells me it ain'T got a settings window .. which is prolly why i didn'T notice that ;)

Apologies, my fault for re-enabling the settings window and not providing messages for those plugins which do something else. I'll add it to the list ;)

Can't seem to parse this barcode: http://i53.tinypic.com/igmdsp.jpg

Found on cover of Website Magazine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fry-kun (Post 888876)

Can't seem to parse this barcode: http://i53.tinypic.com/igmdsp.jpg

Found on cover of Website Magazine

That one looks new to me. I think it is an EZCode. It seems like the standard is proprietary, but the specs are open. I read that the codes only contain a small ID that will let you look up the full data on Scanbuy's servers. I.e. not a good option if you don't want to lock yourself down to Scanbuy's systems forever. This is somewhat similar to the Microsoft Tag.

In a couple of threads over at ZBar's forums on SourceForge (the engine mbarcode uses for some 2D barcodes) it seems like the developers didn't really like the idea of the codes and won't spend time implementing them. There is (as with the MS Tag) also a possibility that they will start charging for the service in the future, as well as locking out content they don't approve (the latter is already stated in the Terms Of Service of the MS Tag).

I suspect there won't be any implementation for this in zbar, and thus mBarcode, unless they get really, really popular or open up even more.

Hey chaps,

I'm just back from India, time to start finishing off the settings window and then push to Extras me-thinks. Any other thoughts Dragly (and indeed anyone else)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragly (Post 889060)

...
I suspect there won't be any implementation for this in zbar, and thus mBarcode, unless they get really, really popular or open up even more.

This is similar to scanning a shortened URL (e.g. barcode of a TinyURL.com/etc. link). I think it should be made decodable -- user can make an intelligent decision on whether she wants to "click through". Otherwise, I have to install/use a proprietary application to be able to scan these.. which I would say is a lot worse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragly (Post 889060)

As the encoding looks reasonably simply, it's a shame the ZBar devs are not interested in implementing it simply for the sake of completeness. It looks like some companies are already using this and there will be a scanner in Samsung phones, it looks like there's one in the iPhone, etc., so we'll have to wait and see whether it becomes popular enough to be added to ZBar.

Alternatively it ought to be possible to create a patch and add it in using the QRcode decoder (in ZBar) as a basis if anyone's feeling daring ;)