RE: Barcode scanners and Databases

["Keith Doxey" <lists.diyha@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Stuart,

 

I'm definately interested, especially if we can get to the 100 pricing :-)

 

I notice the company is Zygo. They were the company I bought the TSOP 1838's from for the IR extenders that people built.

 

I want to do the "shopping list" database as well. With the Fuji this now becomes a real possibility. The way I see it working is as follows.....

 

Our normal scribbled shopping list is usually along the lines of

 

Bread

Milk

Beans

Mushrooms

....etc

 

Not "Beans Heinz 440g". By that I mean we dont specifically go out for a particular product but a tin of beans. I see produce being classified along the following lines

 

GROUP

    PRODUCT

        SIZE(optional)

 

eg

 

Frozen

    Chicken Breast

    Cauliflower

    Peas

    Burgers

    Mince

        500g or small

        1kg or large

Tinned

    Beans

    Peas

    Spaghetti

 

These would be the types of items within the database. As others have pointed out, Barcodes vary depending on brand, special offer, bulk pack (eg 4xbeans), price etc. By using a table to join barcodes to items within the database you can accomodate multiple barcodes per item.

 

I dont think it is neccesary to store details of the size of a joint of beef etc, just the fact that you have 2 Beef Joints, 3 Chickens etc, as for a given family you will always tend to buy the same size, the exception being when a whopping great joint has been "Whoops'd" at which point you buy it and cut it in two anyway or cook it whole and use the leftovers for sarnies or a curry.

 

I only want to know there are 4 tins of beans, not that 1 is Heinz and 3 are Asda. By using ASP's and a database you can use the browser as the user interface. I suggest the following sequence of operations.

 

Unpack Shopping

    Do while not End_Of_Shopping

        Hold Item to scanner

        Barcode read

        If Match found then

            Show keypad on touchscreen to enter quantity

            X items added to item stock level

        Else

            (Unknown Barcode)

            Show Groups on touchscreen *

                Touch "Tinned"

            Show products on screen *

                Touch "Beans"

            Show size/multiple on screen *

                Touch "Large"

            Show keypad on touchscreen to enter quantity

            Barcode assigned against item

            X items added to item stock level

            (* option to add Groups/products/sizes not in database to accomodate new items)

        End If

    Loop

sit and watch television

END

 

When using items, they are scanned and because the database already has codes for BrandA, BrandB, BrandC tins of beans the quantity of beans is decreased by 1.

 

The issues mentioned by Phil regarding part used items are not much of a problem (Like him, I tend to finish things!). Scan Beans when removed from cupboard, wether you use the whole tin or not, you still need to replace it. Consumables like Flour, Sugar, herbs etc you wouldnt scan everytime you used them but would press the touchscreen to add a bag/jar to the next shopping list when you notice the level is getting low, likewise with milk, eggs etc.

 

Frozen foods like Burgers, Fish, etc could be added as the pack quantity eg 12 but when removing the burgers you scan the code once for every burger you remove. The Barcode translation table could have an additional field for AddQty so scanning a 4pack of burgers would add 4, and 8 pack would add 8, but irrespective of which pack you scanned on the way out you would only remove one burger. I believe the special offer packs with "50% extra free" have different barcodes so when you arrive home with a "4pack" that contains "6" the code would not be recognised so you would add it as Burgers with a multiple of 6.

 

Meat >from y date associated with it as would other perishables like Yoghurt etc which would be entered when adding the item to the database. The touchscreen could have options for entering any date but also quick touch buttons for 1-7(or 14) days as stuff from the deli often has a very short life. Likewise for stuff that has to be used within 3 days of opening eg prepacked meat/pate etc, scan it as you open it and the 3 days starts NOW.

 

fields can be added for "MinQty" and "OrderQty" so having less than 2 bottle of Diet Coke would automatically add 8 to the shopping list. Setting up the initial database would take a little time, but once up and running would require little upkeep apart from correcting stock level when you forgot to scan something or adding items to the database for new products.

 

From some Intranet work I did a while back I know that Asda have an inventory of >33000 lines with the average store stocking about 23000 of them. Most people probably only ever buy a couple of hundred (so why are the things I want always sold out??). Once your shopping list is available from the database you only need to print it and take it with you. Any items you add to database when you get home are deleted fromthe shopping list and anything you couldnt get would remain for the next trek to the supermarket.

 

Once you have the food in the database then the next thing is to add the recipies so that you can choose meals from what is available.....or use the touchscreen to order a Pizza over the Internet :-)

 

So..... am I just a Krazy Web Database developer or does this sound like the kind of thing others are interested in doing?

 

Krazy Keith :-)

 

PS. Yes Mark, if I get this working I will send you the code :-)

      

 -----Original Message-----
From: Stuart Poulton [mailto:swp@xxxxxxx]

I notice that there is a discount as follows

Number      1      10+      100+     
Cost £      20      12.45      6.10     


If anyone is interested then perhap a bulk buy is in order that I'm
willing to handle, costs above exclude VAT

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