I assume that you want to add bar code printing and reading
capabilities to an existing database.
The easiest way to print bar codes from an Access database would be to
use a bar code ActiveX control that is designed specifically for this
purpose.
With a bar code ActiveX control, you just drop the control into a
report, bind it to a field in a table or query and when you print your
report, the bar codes get printed automatically for you.
The best bar code ActiveX control available is from TAL Technologies.
Visit the following URL for more information:
http://www.taltech.com/TALtech_web/products/activex_barcodes.html
You can download a demo version of the TAL Bar Code ActiveX control
from the above web page. The demo comes with a sample Access database
that demonstrates how to use the control in Access.
Regarding reading the bar codes back into your database:
Most bar code readers are available with one of two output options.
The first option is called "Keyboard Wedge" output where you unplug
your keyboard, plug the bar code reader into the keyboard port on your
PC and then plug your keyboard into the bar code reader. This
arrangement makes the bar code reader appear as it it were simply a
second keyboard. Your original keyboard continues to work as normal
however when you read a bar code, the data encoded in the bar code
appears to any application running on your PC as if it were typed in.
The keyboard wedge interface is extremely simple however it has a few
drawbacks. When you scan a bar code, the cursor has to be in the
correct input field in the correct application otherwise you end up
reading bar code data into whatever application has the focus. This
can cause all sorts of potential problems as you can imagine. The
keyboard output also is limited in that you cannot modify the data in
any way before sending it into the program that is to receive the
data. For example, if you needed to parse a bar code message up into
pieces or remove some of a bar code message or add in a date or time
stamp you would not be able to with a normal keyboard wedge reader.
The other possible output option is to get a bar code reader with an
RS232 or "Serial" interface. With these types of bar code readers, you
connect the reader to an available serial port on the back of your PC.
You would then need a program called a "Software Wedge" to take the
data from the bar code reader and feed it to the application where you
want the data to go. The disadvantage to this approach is that it is a
little more complex however you gain much more control over how and
where your data ends up when you read a bar code. With a Software
Wedge, you can control exactly where the data goes in the target
application and you can also perform all sorts of modifications on the
data before it is sent to the application.
TAL Technologies also sells a product called WinWedge which is a
Software Wedge for Windows. It also works perfectly with Access
For more information on WinWedge, visit:
http://www.taltech.com/TALtech_web/products/winwedge.html
For more information about bar code scanners with either keyboard
wedge or RS232 output, visit:
http://www.taltech.com/TALtech_web/products/bc_reader.html