Datamatrix + Reader

[PasGlop]

I found a PDF document containing a really complex code (at least from my point of view) where all the fields contains both "OnFocus" and OnBlur" the following action:

If(handleEvent!=undefined)handleEvent(event);

And the rest of the code is placed on a document level (more or less 15'000 lignes).

One part of te code is producing a readable barcode into Acrobat Reader. But I always thought that wasn't possible (grey rectangle on Reader, but readable only with DC).

Due to the complexity of the code, I am totally unable to understand how everything works.

As only the part regarding the codebarre routine interest me, is there, to your knowledge, an example of code freely available (even pay) able to produce a datamatrix (2d) readable and printable with Reader ?

Thanks in advance for your advices.

[try67]

You can do it if you either apply a special right to the file (but then it would be locked and you wouldn't be able to edit it, I believe), or if you wrote a function that draws the barcode from scratch. That would be an immense task, so 15K lines of code makes sense...

[PasGlop]

Does anyone know if such a code would be available for free or to pay?

[try67]

Considering the amount of work involved, most likely for pay.

[JR Boulay]

Where did you find this document?

You should ask its author.

[PasGlop]

I inherited a "files' stock" from a colleague who has been retired for a long time ... and who is no longer joingnable. And, of course, I can't find any documentation or manual.

The concerned file has no utility for our business but I remain curious to understand cause I could exploit this feature for other needs

[Test Screen Name]

If your company owns the copyright, you have inherited something useful. But your situation is like anyone who obtains the code of an app; to develop with it you need to build up your expertise close to the level of the original programmer. Taking on a 15,000 line piece of code is an awesome problem. I've been a programmer for decades, and I would want several weeks to spend delving into such a piece of work, several months to make anything new of it. I think you are looking for a different, easier, way of getting the benefit of this, and I understand why, but I have no suggestions how.

[PasGlop]

You're right: having discovered that it is possible to create readable datamatrix in Reader by programming in javascript (what I thought impossible), I look for a way to do it.

Unfortunately, I do not have the level to understand and adapt the abovementionned code.

So, I'm looking for code easier to understand and reuse. I could possibly pay, as long as it fits my (modest :-)budgets

[Test Screen Name]

I would expect, if you wanted someone else to develop it, to take at least a month of programmer's salaried time. Perhaps several months; if they have to study Q-Code technology before starting for example. This doesn't make it likely to fit a modest budget. You can license a server solution from Adobe (LiveCycle Barcoded Forms) I think for 5-6 figures.

You might be lucky to find someone who has invested already the time and will share the results for a different business model.

[Joel_Geraci]

I'm guessing that 95% of the code is just a library to generate the datamatrix. There are a ton of JavaScript barcode generators available for free on Github that could be substituted, converting one to generate small square annotations instead of pixels shouldn't be that difficult. Another approach would be to send the data to a server that can generate the barcode as an image, wrap it in an FDF, and then return it to the PDF and drop it into a button face.

In either case, it would be a lot less a than a month of programmer time... more like a couple of days. 

[Test Screen Name]

Agreed, if there is a solution to build on, that’s much more likely to be cost effective. I’ve often looked into adding barcode support to my software but never considered writing it from scratch.  The hardware and time needed to systematically test it is perhaps most daunting.