NS Basic/CE works well on devices made by Symbol that are running Windows CE 4.2 or later. If you have an older device, check with Symbol: it may be possible to upgrade it to Windows CE 4.2.

The following code sample shows how to call the Symbol scanner API from a NS Basic application. The pre-requisite for this to work is the Symbol ActiveX installer file which is included in the SMDK v1.0 for the Web . At the time of writing (April 2009) this file is located in the Symbol Developer Zone. You should be able to download it without registration.

Once the SMDK is installed on a development PC, the required ActiveX support is located in the file Symbol.AXO.all.cab located by default in C:\Program Files\Symbol Mobility Developer Kit for the Web\v1.0\Cabs. Once this CAB is installed, the following NSB application code can be used:

Complete documentation on the Symbol control can be found in the SMDK v1.0.

'Symbol.nsb extract: 
'Complete program is in \Program Files\nbasic\ce\samples.

' NSB Sample application showing how to call Symbol scanner API
' N.B requires that SymbolAXO.arm.cab Is preinstalled on target device 

' add barcode scanner object to form

Execute "AddObject " & Chr(34) & "symbol.barcodereader.1" & Chr(34) & ", " & Chr(34) & "ScanControl1" & Chr(34) & ", 16, 240, 1, 8, Form1_Form"

Sub Form1_Load

' open scanner API
   ScanControl1.OpenScanner
' enable scanning - will allow scanner to be activated by hardware triggers on device
   ScanControl1.EnableScanning True 
End Sub

' this event will fire each time the scanner API decodes a label

Sub ScanControl1_ScanComplete(byval bstrBarCode , ByVal bstrSource , ByVal lStatus , ByVal lLabelType, ByVal lDataLength )
  ' get barcode data
  TextBox1.Text = bstrBarCode
  ' get barcode symbology
  TextBox2.Text = bStrSource
End Sub

If certain devices, such as the MC1000, lose power they will cold boot and reset the registry. There is a facility to merge registry keys on a boot which will restore modified keys but an easier solution is to reinstall the NS Basic CAB file by autorunning it on startup e.g if the cab is located in the \Application folder, you can place a RUN file in \Application\Startup containing the following 2 lines:

\windows\wceload.exe
\application\nsb.cab

The above code is provided as is with no warranties expressed or implied and is not supported directly by Symbol Technologies i.e. use at your own risk.

Sample Code

Depending on the model, there is a different DLL for the MSR. For the MC50 and MC70, this file is called 'MSRMC50.dll'. This file is hard to find. You can find it in driver updates on the Symbol support site, but you have to look for the part number of the add-on MSR. For the MC70, this part is called 'MSR7000'. It was a CAB file that I had to copy to MC70 and install there.

The app is a 2 page form. Changing from the default page to the MSR page will turn off the scanner (it won't emit a laser). When you change back to the default page, it turns the scanner back on. Similarly, the MSR is turned on/off upon entry/exit of the MSR page.

Here is some sample code. It is part of a complete program called Symbol.nsb that you will find with NS Basic's samples.

' NSB Sample application showing how to call Symbol scanner API
' N.B requires that SymbolAXO.arm.cab is preinstalled on target device 
ShowOKButton True 'Set minimize button to close app

' add barcode scanner object to form

AddObject "symbol.barcodereader.1", "ScanControl1", 16, 240, 1, 8
AddObject "symbol.magstripe", "MagStripe1"
' open scanner API
   ScanControl1.OpenScanner

Sub Form1_Load
  MagStripe1.StopMSR
' enable scanning - will allow scanner to be activated by hardware triggers on device
   ScanControl1.EnableScanning True 
End Sub

' this event will fire each time the scanner API decodes a label
Sub ScanControl1_ScanComplete(byval bstrBarCode , ByVal bstrSource , ByVal lStatus , ByVal lLabelType, ByVal lDataLength )
  ' get barcode data
  TextBox1.Text = bstrBarCode
  ' get barcode symbology
  TextBox2.Text = bStrSource
End Sub

Sub CommandButton1_Click
 Bye
End Sub

Sub cmdMsrPage_Click
	Form1_Hide
	MSRForm_Show
End Sub

Sub cmdScanForm_Click
	MSRForm_Hide
	Form1_Show
End Sub

Sub MSRForm_Load
	ScanControl1.EnableScanning False
	txtMsrDevices.Text = MagStripe1.GetMSRdevices
	MagStripe1.StartMSR("MSRMC50.dll")
End Sub

Sub MagStripe1_MSRReadComplete(ByVal result)
   txtMsrDevices.Text = result
End Sub

Sub cmdClear_Click
   txtMsrDevices.Text = ""
End Sub