This is the start of an investigation into scanning barcodes and
creating online databases of information in the manner of
FreeDB (free, open clone of CDDB)
where people independently submit information.
Here is a simple perl program to read the serial port and convert an EAN
(the 13-digit barcode on the back of most books) into an Amazon URL: reader.pl. It features: configuring the serial
port for use with a serial scanner, conversion of EANs into ISBNs, and
how to write to the X clipboard.
These days pretty much every retail product has a barcode on it, usually
at the back bottom right. There are essentially two types of barcode
commonly seen, the 13-digit EAN (European Article Number) and 12-digit
UPC (Universal Product Code). Despite their names, pretty much the
entire world uses EANs, except the United States and Canada who continue
to use UPC. North America does use EANs for books however in large
retail outlets. EANs can be converted to International Standard
Book Number (ISBN) straightforwardly which most people are more
familiar with, and almost anywhere that deals with books can search on
ISBN directly.
Future of barcodes
The 12 digits of the UPC system can only represent so many different
companies and their products. It's estimated by the
UCC that this number space will be
exhausted by 2005. Additionally, the use of two systems, the EAN and
UPC, has some interoperability headaches. To this end a new 14 digit
system is being phased in: the
Global
Trade Item Number (GTIN). There is a deadline for compliance with
GTIN of January 1, 2005 referred to as the Sunrise Date.
Resources