If you’re looking for a way to scan barcodes in your .NET application, ZXing.Net is a powerful and reliable library that can help you achieve your goals. With its support for a wide range of barcode formats and easy-to-use API, ZXing.Net is a popular choice among developers.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll take a deep dive into the world of ZXing.Net and explore how you can use it to build barcode scanning features into your .NET applications. Let’s get started!

Understanding ZXing.Net

ZXing.Net is an open-source, multi-format 1D/2D barcode image processing library that is designed for .NET. It supports a wide range of barcode formats, including QR codes, Data Matrix codes, UPC-A and UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13, Code 39, Code 93, and Code 128.

The library is based on the popular ZXing library, which is written in Java. ZXing.Net is written in C# and provides a .NET-friendly API for easy integration into .NET applications.

Installing ZXing.Net

To use ZXing.Net in your .NET application, you’ll need to install the library using NuGet. You can do this by opening the NuGet package manager console in Visual Studio and running the following command:

‘Install-Package ZXing.Net’

This will install the latest version of ZXing.Net into your project.

Scanning Barcodes with ZXing.Net

Now that you have ZXing.Net installed, you can start scanning barcodes in your .NET application. To do this, you’ll need to create an instance of the BarcodeReader class and call its Decode method.

Here’s an example of how to scan a barcode using ZXing.Net:

csharp

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var reader = new BarcodeReader();

var result = reader.Decode(bitmap);

if (result != null)

{

    Console.WriteLine(“Barcode format: ” + result.BarcodeFormat);

    Console.WriteLine(“Barcode text: ” + result.Text);

}

In this example, we create a new instance of the BarcodeReader class and pass in a bitmap image to the Decode method. The Decode method returns a Result object that contains the barcode format and text.

Generating Barcodes with ZXing.Net

In addition to scanning barcodes, ZXing.Net also provides support for generating barcodes. To generate a barcode in your .NET application, you’ll need to create an instance of the BarcodeWriter class and call its Write method.

Here’s an example of how to generate a QR code using ZXing.Net:

csharp

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var writer = new BarcodeWriter();

writer.Format = BarcodeFormat.QR_CODE;

var bitmap = writer.Write(“Hello, world!”);

In this example, we create a new instance of the BarcodeWriter class and set its format to QR code. We then call the Write method and pass in the text that we want to encode. The Write method returns a bitmap image that contains the encoded QR code.

Advanced Features of ZXing.Net

ZXing.Net provides several advanced features that you can use to customize your barcode scanning and generating experiences. Some of these features include:

 

  • Setting custom decoding hints
  • Configuring barcode readers and writers
  • Providing image preprocessing for improved scanning accuracy
  • Decoding barcodes from video streams

Conclusion

ZXing.Net is a powerful and flexible tool for barcode scanning in .NET applications. With its easy-to-use API and extensive documentation, it makes it possible for developers to quickly integrate barcode scanning functionality into their applications. Whether you’re building a retail point-of-sale system, a warehouse management system, or any other application that requires barcode scanning, ZXing.Net can provide the functionality you need.