MAUI User Guide for Barcode Reader Integration

Table of Contents

• MAUI User Guide for Barcode Reader Integration
  • Table of Contents
  • System Requirements
    • .Net
    • Android
    • iOS
  • Installation
    • Visual Studio for Mac
    • Visual Studio for Windows
  • Build Your Barcode Scanner App
    • Set up Development Environment
    • Initialize the Project
      • Visual Studio
      • Visual Studio for Mac
    • Include the Library
    • Initialize MauiProgram
    • License Activation
    • Initialize the Capture Vision SDK
    • Add the CameraView in the Main Page
    • Open the Camera and Start Barcode Decoding
    • Obtaining Barcode Results
    • Run the Project
  • Customizing the Barcode Reader
    • Switching Preset Templates
    • Configuring the SimplifiedBarcodeReaderSettings
    • Customizing the Scan Region
  • Licensing

System Requirements

.Net

• .NET 7.0 and above.

Android

• Supported OS: Android 5.0 (API Level 21) or higher.
• Supported ABI: armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a, x86 and x86_64.
• Development Environment: Visual Studio 2022 recommended.
• JDK: 1.8+

iOS

• Supported OS: iOS 11.0 or higher.
• Supported ABI: arm64 and x86_64.
• Development Environment: Visual Studio 2022 for Mac and Xcode 14.3+ recommended.

Installation

Visual Studio for Mac

In the NuGet Package Manager>Manage Packages for Solution of your project, search for Dynamsoft.BarcodeReaderBundle.Maui. Select Version 10.4.2000 and click install.

Visual Studio for Windows

You have to Add the library via the project file and do some additional steps to complete the installation.

1. Add the library in the project file:

    <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
        ...
        <ItemGroup>
            ...
            <PackageReference Include="Dynamsoft.BarcodeReaderBundle.Maui" Version="10.4.2002" />
        </ItemGroup>
    </Project>
   

2. Open the Package Manager Console and run the following commands:

    dotnet build
   

Note:

• Windows system have a limitation of 260 characters in the path. If you don’t use console to install the package, you will receive error “Could not find a part of the path ‘C:\Users\admin.nuget\packages\dynamsoft.imageprocessing.ios\2.4.200\lib\net7.0-ios16.1\Dynamsoft.ImageProcessing.iOS.resources\DynamsoftImageProcessing.xcframework\ios-arm64\dSYMs\DynamsoftImageProcessing.framework.dSYM\Contents\Resources\DWARF\DynamsoftImageProcessing’”
• The library only support Android & iOS platform. Be sure that you remove the other platforms like Windows, maccatalyst, etc.

Build Your Barcode Scanner App

Now you will learn how to create a simple barcode scanner using Dynamsoft Barcode Reader MAUI SDK.

Set up Development Environment

If you are a beginner with MAUI, please follow the guide on the .Net MAUI official website to set up the development environment.

Initialize the Project

Visual Studio

1. Open the Visual Studio and select Create a new project.
2. Select .Net MAUI App and click Next.
3. Name the project SimpleBarcodeScanner. Select a location for the project and click Next.
4. Select .Net 7.0 and click Create.

Visual Studio for Mac

1. Open Visual Studio and select New.
2. Select Multiplatform > App > .Net MAUI App > C# and click Continue.
3. Select .Net 7.0 and click Continue.
4. Name the project SimpleBarcodeScanner and select a location, click Create.

Include the Library

View the installation section on how to add the library.

Initialize MauiProgram

In MauiProgram.cs, add a custom handler for the CameraView control. Specifically, it maps the CameraView type to the CameraViewHandler type.

using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using Dynamsoft.CameraEnhancer.Maui;
using Dynamsoft.CameraEnhancer.Maui.Handlers;

namespace SimpleBarcodeScanner;

public static class MauiProgram
{
    public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
    {
        var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
        builder
            .UseMauiApp<App>()
            .ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
            {
                fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Regular.ttf", "OpenSansRegular");
                fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Semibold.ttf", "OpenSansSemibold");
            })
            .ConfigureMauiHandlers(handlers =>
            {
                handlers.AddHandler(typeof(CameraView), typeof(CameraViewHandler));
            });

#if DEBUG
        builder.Logging.AddDebug();
#endif

        return builder.Build();
    }
}

License Activation

The Dynamsoft Barcode Reader SDK needs a valid license to work. Please refer to the Licensing section for more info on how to obtain a license.

Go to MainPage.xaml.cs. Add the following code to activate the license:

using Dynamsoft.License.Maui;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace SimpleBarcodeScanner;

public partial class MainPage : ContentPage, ILicenseVerificationListener
{
    public MainPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        LicenseManager.InitLicense("DLS2eyJvcmdhbml6YXRpb25JRCI6IjIwMDAwMSJ9", this);
    }
    public void OnLicenseVerified(bool isSuccess, string message)
    {
        if (!isSuccess)
        {
            Debug.WriteLine(message);
        }
    }
}

Initialize the Capture Vision SDK

In the MainPage.xaml.cs, add the following code to initialize the Capture Vision SDK:

......
using Dynamsoft.CaptureVisionRouter.Maui;
using Dynamsoft.CameraEnhancer.Maui;
using Dynamsoft.Core.Maui;
using Dynamsoft.Utility.Maui;

public partial class MainPage : ContentPage, ILicenseVerificationListener, ICapturedResultReceiver
{
    CameraEnhancer enhancer;
    CaptureVisionRouter router;

    public MainPage()
    {
        ......

        // Create an instance of CameraEnhancer
        enhancer = new CameraEnhancer();
        // Create an instance of CaptureVisionRouter
        router = new CaptureVisionRouter();
        // Bind the router with the created CameraEnhancer
        router.SetInput(enhancer);
        // Add the result receiver to receive the decoded barcodes 
        router.AddResultReceiver(this);
    }
}

Add the CameraView in the Main Page

In the MainPage.xaml, add the CameraView and Label controls:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:Dynamsoft.CameraEnhancer.Maui;assembly=Dynamsoft.CaptureVisionRouter.Maui"
             x:Class="SimpleBarcodeScanner.MainPage"
             Title="MainPage">
    <AbsoluteLayout>
        <controls:CameraView x:Name="cameraView"
                             AbsoluteLayout.LayoutBounds="0,0,1,1"
                             AbsoluteLayout.LayoutFlags="All"/>
        <Label x:Name="label" Text = ''
                   AbsoluteLayout.LayoutBounds="0.5,0.1,300,25"
                   AbsoluteLayout.LayoutFlags="PositionProportional"/>
    </AbsoluteLayout>
</ContentPage>

Open the Camera and Start Barcode Decoding

In this section, we are going to add code to start barcode decoding in the MainPage.xaml.cs.

......

public partial class MainPage : ContentPage, ILicenseVerificationListener, ICapturedResultReceiver, ICompletionListener
{
    ......

    protected override void OnHandlerChanged()
    {
        base.OnHandlerChanged();

        if (this.Handler != null)
        {
            enhancer.SetCameraView(cameraView);
        }

        base.OnHandlerChanged();
    }

    protected override async void OnAppearing()
    {
        base.OnAppearing();
        // Request camera permission
        await Permissions.RequestAsync<Permissions.Camera>();
        // Open camera
        enhancer?.Open();
        // Start barcode decoding
        router?.StartCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, this);
    }

    protected override void OnDisappearing()
    {
        base.OnDisappearing();
        // Close camera
        enhancer?.Close();
        // Stop barcode decoding
        router?.StopCapturing();
    }

    public void OnSuccess()
    {
        Debug.WriteLine("Success");
    }

    public void OnFailure(int errorCode, string errorMessage)
    {
        Debug.WriteLine(errorMessage);
    }
}

Open the Info.plist file under the Platforms/iOS/ folder (Open with XML Text Editor). Add the following lines to request camera permission on iOS platform:

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>The sample needs to access your camera.</string>

Obtaining Barcode Results

In MainPage.xaml.cs, implement ICapturedResultReceiver to receive decoded barcodes result in OnDecodedBarcodesReceived callback function.

using Dynamsoft.BarcodeReader.Maui;
......

public partial class MainPage : ContentPage, ILicenseVerificationListener, ICapturedResultReceiver, ICompletionListener
{
    ......
    public void OnDecodedBarcodesReceived(DecodedBarcodesResult result)
    {
        if (result != null && result.Items != null && result.Items.Count > 0)
        {
            MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() => { 
                label.Text = result.Items[0].Text;
            });
        }
    }
}

Run the Project

Select your device and run the project.

Note: If you are running Android only on Visual Studio Windows, please manually exclude iOS and Windows platforms. Otherwise, the Visual Studio will report type or namespace not found errors.

Customizing the Barcode Reader

Switching Preset Templates

Dynamsoft Barcode Reader SDK offers several preset templates for different popular scenarios. For the full set of templates, please refer to EnumPresetTemplate. Here is a quick example of prioritizing read rate for decoding:

router.StartCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES_READ_RATE_FIRST, this);

Configuring the SimplifiedBarcodeReaderSettings

The SDK also supports a more granular control over the individual runtime settings rather than using a preset template. The main settings that you can control via this interface are which barcode formats to read, the expected number of barcodes to be read in a single image or frame, and the timeout, etc. For more info on each, please refer to SimplifiedBarcodeReaderSettings. Here is a quick example:

var cvSettings = router.GetSimplifiedSettings(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES);
cvSettings.BarcodeSettings.BarcodeFormatIds = EnumBarcodeFormat.BF_EAN_13;
router.UpdateSettings(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, cvSettings);

Customizing the Scan Region

You can also limit the scan region of the SDK so that it doesn’t exhaust resources trying to read from the entire image or frame.

var region = new DMRect(0.4f, 0.35f, 0.65f, 0.6f, true);
enhancer.SetScanRegion(region);

Licensing

• A one-day trial license is available by default for every new device to try Dynamsoft Barcode Reader SDK.
• You can request a 30-day trial license via the Request a Trial License link.
• Contact us to purchase a full license.