Running MEP 9.0 SP3 HF95 with DSI Mobile Client on a Zebra Android MC9300 scanner.
Is there a way to disable the imager while the application is waiting for the user to answer an error message on the screen?
We have a situation where the user is presented with a prompt for a value, they scan a barcode successfully, getting a “good beep”, but that value is invalid for the prompt. So the application presents the user with a negative sound and an error message that they must manually acknowledge. Usually clicking an OK box or pressing Enter is what is expected.
If they miss that error message, they continue to scan. The imager successfully scans another barcode, giving another “good beep”, but again that value is not what is expected, since the application is expecting the user to respond to the error on the screen. The scanned value is too long (not a Y or OK or Enter key). So now another error appears on the screen.
Question: Is there a way to code the application so that when those error messages/screens are displayed that the scan engine/imager is disabled? The user has to answer the message and then the imager is re-enabled. Does anyone know how to do that within a DSI MEP scanner application?
Currently there is no way to control the scanner in the manner that you have described via the Mobile Client, the profile is loaded from Data Wedge on startup and there is no way to currently interact with the runtime configuration of the profile via application logic. I have reached out to a few other colleagues internally that I have asked to review this and see if they had any suggestions or idea’s. It would be helpful if we could get a little more information on how the application logic is currently structured to better answer your question . Would you be able to post a small snippet of the logic you are using or just describe the logic where this is happening as that will help make sure we understand the scenario correctly.
Input Field > Message Box or Screen? > Input Field (Is this a new one or would it loop them back?)
I do believe you are describing prompt and response applications, which you are correct are limited on what options you will have available to resolve this. Forms would potentially have more options than prompt and response applications to work through this but that would be a big change.
Because the DSI Mobile Client loads the DataWedge profile at startup and lacks runtime control of the scanner, it is not possible to disable the imager in MEP 9.0.
App-side is the solution. Set a flag and disregard all scanned input other than the intended response (OK, Enter, Y, or N) when displaying the error. To avoid stacking errors, throw away everything else.
stopping input in your MEP flow intellectually rather than physically turning off the Zebra scanner.