Adding funtionality to a handheld barcode reader through SAP

Adding funtionality to a handheld barcode reader through SAP

We're planning to go the handheld barcode reader route for our warehouse. Which system do you think is best for the user, and what's the best way to implement it?

My handheld barcode reader can run SAP transactions to register the information on-line. Can you advise how to configure the system to register individual data information like an input number for the product monitoring purpose in the system? Example: if a receive a bad load from a vendor and I detect it on the production line, I want to know about the vendor and all production orders that run with this product.

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The preferred option is to follow the barcode reader manufacturer's recommendation.

There are several options, depending on the degree of luxury. The simple way is just using a keyboard wedge, so your barcode reader just inserts the read values into the keyboard buffer.

All other alternatives work with a proxy server that receives the barcode information from the reader and then connects to SAP via RFC or HTTP. This is the case of your handheld, where the PC is already built into the handheld device.

The communication between the handheld and SAP takes place by calling a function module (or a simulated transaction or a BSP-Web page). So all the functionality you ask for is encapsulated by the function module that acts as the agent between handheld and SAP.

To give more detailed advice I need to know exact specification what you try to achieve and what capabilities are in the handheld. Typically, those handhelds develop a browser application and communicate with SAP via HTTP, so SAP needs to create web page with the info you ask for.

This was first published in July 2006

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