www.instrument.com - Sunday, October 12, 2008
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(URL: http://www.lanpoint.com/handheld-terminal-download.html)

LANpoint MOBILE Developer's Site

Concerning the LANpoint MOBILE:

NOTE: if you want specific information about the LANpoint MOBILE's terminal emulation (VT100/220, TN5250, TN3270) software, you can get it here

1) Does the IEEE802.11b/g WiFi support LEAP? Answer: yes. This new radio supports LEAP through 3rd party supplicants i.e. it does not come out of the box.

2) Does the LANpoint MOBILE have a java virtual machine? Answer: Yes, it supports JVM by BSquare. It is an add-on product and it is subject to licensing. After loading this JVM, you can run applications that require Java engine.

3) Is there a way to tell the scanner data from the keyboard data - specifically to disallow a user from keying-in data and only allow scanned data?

Answer: Here are 3 suggestions

3a). Use wedge mode but set a special preamble and/or postamble to indicate scanned data. I have seen programmers use "{{" as a preamble and "}}" as a postamble. Clearly typed data won't have these special characters. Because the preambles and postambles are programmable, you're free to use any character or keystroke that you want. If I were doing the programming I'd use a backquote ("`") because it's the only character that can't be typed from the keypad.
3b) Use buffered mode. In this mode, only scanned data will appear in the buffer. Keyed in data will come into the app in the normal manner. Scanned data will appear in the buffer. This is the neatest and cleanest way. Other programmers probably have other preferences.
3c) Use wedge mode and a timer. This technique starts a timer when the first keystroke occurs and stops the timer when the last one occurs. Works best for fixed length data. If all of the data comes in quickly (timer < some threshold value) then the data was scanned. If the data comes in slowly (timer > threshold) the data was typed. For example, suppose you're scanning 15 character labels and the timer indicates all of the data appeared in 250ms. Clearly someone can't type this fast so it must have been scanned. On the other hand if the data takes 15 seconds, it must have been typed.

4) Are there plans for faster processor? Answer: We have looked into Intel PXA270 as the next step up to PXA255. There is no difference between the two other than speed and Intel announced that it will phase out both at the same time in about 2-3 years. We are looking into pros and cons of moving to PXA270 while considering that fact that it will not be around too much longer. Although we don't have defined dates, it is a hot topic to move to a faster processor.

5) Does the imager support PDF417 and Datamatrix 2D symbologies? Answer: Check-out this page for a full list of symbologies supported by the various LANpoint MOBILE integrated scanners.

6) Can I update/upgrade the OS and/or the Production Bundle utilities and applications? Answer: Yes. Click here to download the instructions for doing so. Some upgrades require the purchase of an OS license.