ID Tech 80, 25 Section INSTALLATION, Section CONFIGURATION, Bar Code Input, Magnetic Stripe Input

Section 2

INSTALLATION

Host Connections

The Omni reader is connected between the keyboard input port of the host computer and the keyboard itself using a “Y” adapter cable. The “Y” cable has a 5-pin DIN male connector on one end, and a 6-pin mini- DIN female on the other.

The supplied adapter cable has a 5-pin DIN female connector on one end, and a 6-pin mini-DIN male connector on the other end. The adapter cable is used in all installations on one end of the “Y” cable or the other. This converts the available cable ends for use on either PS/2- style 6-pin mini-DIN keyboards, or AT-style 5-pin DIN keyboards.

To connect the reader to the host, turn the power off and disconnect the keyboard from the computer. Insert the male end of the “Y” cable into the keyboard port. Then connect the keyboard to the female end of the “Y” connector. This “wedges” the reader between the host and the keyboard.

Manually-entered data from the keyboard passes through the unit to the host, leaving the keyboard fully functional at all times.

Data from either of the input heads is transmitted to the host keyboard port, where it appears to the host as coming directly from the keyboard. This makes the reader, as a data source, completely transparent to the host’s application software. In other words, if it is expecting data from the keyboard, that same data can be entered via the Omni and make no difference to the host.

Since the host computer’s application software is expecting data to be input in a particular order and format, the reader’s output can be configured to simulate the keyboard-entered data stream by adding terminating characters and special preamble and/or postamble character strings to scanned data.

Section 3

CONFIGURATION

The Omni reader must be appropriately configured to your application. Configuration settings enable the reader to work with the host system. These settings are programmed into the reader through the keyboard.

Once programmed, these configuration settings are stored in the reader’s non-volatile memory (so they are not affected by the cycling of power).

Bar Code Input

The reader must be configured to accept the desired bar code data and format it for transmission to the host. This includes enabling it for the correct bar code symblogy, setting any check digit, start/stop codes, preamble/postamble, and min/max symbol length.

Magnetic Stripe Input

The reader must be configured to accept the desired magnetic stripe data and format it for transmission to the host. The encoded data can be ANSI, ISO, AAMVA, and California Drivers License magnetic stripe formats. The reader can be configured to read any track, 1 only, 2 only,

3 only, 1 & 2, 2 & 3, or 1,2 &3. In addition, track start/stop sentinels can be sent or suppressed and track 2 account number information only can be selected along with user selectable track separator characters.

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