cordova-plugin-google-code-scanner

The Google code scanner API provides a complete solution for scanning codes without requiring your app to request camera permission, while preserving user privacy. This is accomplished by delegating the task of scanning the code to Google Play services and returning only the scan results to your app.

Platforms

• Android 5+ (minSDK 21)
• Browser (filler platform)

Installation

Install the plugin from NPM:

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-google-code-scanner

By default plugin is installed with play-services-code-scanner version 16.1.0. To install with a newer version in the future use the PLAY_SERVICES_GCS_VERSION variable as follows:

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-google-code-scanner --variable PLAY_SERVICES_GCS_VERSION="16.1.0"

Methods

startScan

Opens the code scanner view to scan barcode.

cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.startScan(successCallback, errorCallback, [options])

options
barcodeFormats	int: An optional bit field representing the accepted barcode formats as defined in Barcode.BarcodeFormat.

If you know which barcode formats you expect to read, you can improve the speed of the barcode detector by configuring it to only detect those formats. For example, to detect only Aztec code and QR codes, set barcodeFormats to 4352 (256 + 4096).

Success callback return values

JSON object as follows:

jsonBarcode
rawValue	String: the barcode's raw, unmodified, and uninterpreted content.
formatName	String: the barcode type name. E.g: FORMAT_EAN_13.
formatValue	int: the barcode format type (i.e. its encoding) constant value.
valueType	int: the format type of the barcode value.

Error callback return values

• String: The error description.
  • On initial use: Waiting for the Barcode UI module to be downloaded.
  • On old Play Services version: Code scanner module is not supported on current Google Play Services version, please upgrade.

The first time startScan is invoked, the error callback will notify you that the barcode UI module is being downloaded in the background, if it has not already been installed for another use case. It's up to you to detect and handle this first-time use error. To handle this, it would be wise to show a loading spinner, wait a few seconds, and retry the scan after the module was downloaded.

Example 1

Scan code in any format and catch the error whenever the UI module was not yet downloaded:

var onSuccess = function (jsonBarcode) {
	var rawValue = jsonBarcode.rawValue;
	var formatName = jsonBarcode.formatName;
	var formatValue = jsonBarcode.formatValue;
	var valueType = jsonBarcode.valueType;
	// Do things with the code.
};
var onError = function (strError) {
	if(strError == 'Waiting for the Barcode UI module to be downloaded.'){
		// Downloading barcode UI: consider showing a full-screen spinner, and auto-retry scan in a few seconds.
	}
	console.error(strError);
};
cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.startScan(onSuccess, onError);

Example 2

Scan only QR codes:

var onSuccess = function (jsonBarcode) {
	var rawValue = jsonBarcode.rawValue;
	// Do things with the code.
};
var onError = function (strError) {
	console.error(strError);
};
var options = {};
options.barcodeFormats = cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.BarcodeFormat.FORMAT_QR_CODE;
cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.startScan(onSuccess, onError, options);

Example 3

Scan either EAN8 or EAN13 barcodes:

var onSuccess = function (jsonBarcode) {
	var rawValue = jsonBarcode.rawValue;
	// Do things with the code.
};
var onError = function (strError) {
	console.error(strError);
};
var options = {};
options.barcodeFormats = cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.BarcodeFormat.FORMAT_EAN_8 + cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.BarcodeFormat.FORMAT_EAN_13 ;
cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.startScan(onSuccess, onError, options);

Browser quirks

The browser platform method will show a prompt to enter the code string manually, no scanning is performed.

getBarcodeConstant

Retrieve the Barcode format constant value by its String name. Useful to scan new barcode formats added in the future.

cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.getBarcodeConstant(onSuccess, onError, options);

options
barcodeFormat	String: The Barcode format constant name to query. Eg: FORMAT_AZTEC

Success callback return values

JSON object as follows:

jsonConstant
formatName	String: the barcode format name. E.g: FORMAT_EAN_13.
formatValue	int: the barcode format constant value.

Example

var onSuccess = function (jsonBarcode) {
	var formatName = jsonBarcode.formatName;
	var formatValue = jsonBarcode.formatValue;
};
var onError = function (strError) {
	console.error(strError);
};
var options = {};
options.barcodeFormat = "FORMAT_DATA_MATRIX";
cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.getBarcodeConstant(onSuccess, onError, options);

Browser quirks

The browser platform does not implement this method.

Predefined barcode formats

Because the startScan method accepts an integer, all formats from the ML Kit Barcode class are supported.

The following barcode constants are pre-defined by the plugin for your convenience:

cordova.plugins.GoogleCodeScanner.BarcodeFormat {
	FORMAT_ALL_FORMATS: 0,
	FORMAT_CODE_128: 1,
	FORMAT_CODE_39: 2,
	FORMAT_CODE_93: 4,
	FORMAT_CODABAR: 8,
	FORMAT_DATA_MATRIX: 16,
	FORMAT_EAN_13: 32,
	FORMAT_EAN_8: 64,
	FORMAT_ITF: 128,
	FORMAT_QR_CODE: 256,
	FORMAT_UPC_A: 512,
	FORMAT_UPC_E: 1024,
	FORMAT_PDF417: 2048,
	FORMAT_AZTEC: 4096
}

Remarks

• Camera usage permission not required.
• Reads all barcodes blazingly faster than any other barcode plugin thanks to the Google Play Services API.
• Plugin uses Google Code Scanner 16.0.0-beta2 by default.
• To use a newer version in the future, the install accepts the PLAY_SERVICES_GCS_VERSION parameter.
• Whenever Play Store app is disabled, the UI module cannot be downloaded.
• If you are viewing this README in NPM, there is probably a more up-to-date version in GitHub.

Plugin demo app

• Compiled debug APK and reference
• Source code for www folder

Contributing

Please report any issue with this plugin in GitHub by providing detailed context and sample code. PRs to improve and add new features or platforms are always welcome.