Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Our Archives > General Archives > Delicious Monster > Is DL2 broken for 'other' Bar Code Scanners?

 
Is DL2 broken for 'other' Bar Code Scanners?
Thread Tools
phibes4000
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2008
Status: Offline
Jul 5, 2008, 09:39 PM
 
As a recent 'switcher' (I did own a Mac Classic), one of the apps that excited me was DL2. I bought it, but got a Metrologic MS9535 Bluetooth scanner as it looked better than the standard scanner. And, having worked with scanners coding commercially, I expected it to 'just work'. iSight works fine.

It doesn't.

SITUATION
  • Metrologic software is PC only, but I downloaded SerialMagic
  • I followed the SerialMagic instructions and can pair either with the scanner directly, or the cradle. I can use SerialMagic to scan barcodes OK.
  • Other than using SerialMagic, I can't see a way to have the scanner recognised by the OS, perhaps as a keyboard. The cradle appears to be able to be setup as a keyboard; but the OS prompts me to push keys that aren't available via the scanner (maybe I need to manufacture a barcode).
  • even when running Serial Magic and directing output to DL, there is no bulk entry mode as for the iSight; I need to manually select the matching item through the 'add item' dialog. If I try to enter directly in the main window, I get an alert beep with each 'keystroke'.

QUESTIONS
  • Anyone else got one of these? Working?
  • Is there a way to configure the scanner (maybe as a keyboard) without needing serialmagic; perhaps there'a a freeware 'driver' or this can be setup as a keyboard?
  • DL2 appears to only support bluetooth integration with the scanner they sell - is that correct?
  • Reading the forum, I get the sense that if I can get the scanner behaving as a keyboard (with a CR after the barcode), entry into either the main window or add item dialog it should work but doesn't due to a bug. Is that correct? If so, I'll wait.
  • While I have better things to do with my time, as a worst case, Is there some DL2 framework that can be extended to support the scanner in a more 'integrated' way? It's a bit sad that all of this is easier on a PC!

Cheers,

Lee
     
phibes4000  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2008
Status: Offline
Jul 8, 2008, 11:20 AM
 
Looks like no-one will reply. Are there any other active forums for DL? I couldn't find any.

Has DL2 been surpassed by other options? It seems buggy with struggling support. May be time to get my money back...
     
mpmchugh
Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Jul 8, 2008, 12:31 PM
 
You should submit a bug report via the Help > Send Bugs and Feedback menu item.

This is primarily a user forum. The DL folk check in periodically, but I imagine they are swamped, soyou should send in an official bug report.

-mpm
     
cchris
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2008
Status: Offline
Jul 8, 2008, 04:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by phibes4000 View Post
Looks like no-one will reply. Are there any other active forums for DL? I couldn't find any.

Has DL2 been surpassed by other options? It seems buggy with struggling support. May be time to get my money back...
Your initial read on the status of DL2 is correct, it does many things poorly that are fundamental to its purpose. In an ideal world (i.e. one where value-given-for-value-received held sway), DL2 would not have been released to a buying public until it worked at least as well as its predecessor.

There's only one other serious competitor for DL on the Mac (I forget the name but somebody else on the forum will no doubt post it), but when I tried it out it looked amateurish and didn't offer the great user experience that DL1 did. Granted that neither does DL2, but by next year, I'm sure it will.

As for whether you should ask for a refund, it depends on how patient you are. Next year, if you're trying to use an unusual scanning config with DL2, I'm sure tech support will be more than willing to help you out. Right now, they're so swamped fixing what should have been showstoppers during beta testing, that even such basic things as releasing the online help for DL2 aren't being done.

Update: That other competitor for DL2 is Bruji.
( Last edited by cchris; Jul 10, 2008 at 04:56 PM. )
You can be honorable or you can make money.
--slogan of The Delicious Generation
     
phibes4000  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2008
Status: Offline
Jul 10, 2008, 02:28 AM
 
Thanks for your responses - I can wait if I can find a work-around.

Can DL1 run side-by-side with DL2 and export to it - i.e. use DL1 as a capture tool, with the actual library in DL2?

[Edit - I just installed DL1 - its scanner support is waaaaaay better than DL2. Using Serial Magic as a bridge, I was able to use my scanner OK. I'll see how it imports. The latest beta of DL2 is stil f**ked.]

Lee
( Last edited by phibes4000; Jul 10, 2008 at 03:02 AM. )
     
cchris
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2008
Status: Offline
Jul 10, 2008, 12:12 PM
 
Good for you! DL2 does import DL1 pretty reliably now since the 2.0.1 beta fixed a nasty problem with importing large libraries.
You can be honorable or you can make money.
--slogan of The Delicious Generation
     
 
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:50 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,