Automatic transfer of data from an input device to a software application

• US 6,826,756 B1
• Filed: 06/30/1998
• Issued: 11/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Lackemann, Thomas E., Fuccello, James R., Cabana, Joseph, Schafer, Donald E., Herrod, Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, S.
• Application Number:
  US09/107,237
• Time in Patent Office: 2,345 Days
• Field of Search: 709/321, 709/201, 235/442, 345/168, 719/310, 719/313, 719/321, 719/328
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

In a computer system including a central processing unit and a transducer for providing data input to the system from a source having controllable operational features and parameters for adjusting characteristics of the data independently of the source and where the system'"'"'s operating system manages data requests from an application program with one or more data entry fields and associated data entry criteria, a method for responding to a data request by the application program includes tagging the input data with an input source identification; packaging the data and the input source identification as a data module, the data module being associated with a predetermined data entry field in the application software; transferring the data module from the transducer to the application via the operating system; and associating the data module to one or more predetermined data entry fields of the application software based on the input source identification and the associated data entry criteria.

Claims

1. A method for transferring data from a bar code reader to a software application having one or more data field, including the steps of:

storing data from a bar code reader in an entity wherein said entity is a data object;

storing identification information regarding the bar code reader of the data in said entity;

transferring said entity to the software application wherein said transferring includes operations chosen from the group consisting of operation sequencing, data translation, process synchronization, content filtering, and path routing; and

associating said entity with a data field in the software application based on said identification information.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the step of:

forming a data object from said entity.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the software application includes one or more forms, each of said forms designed to receive one or more form objects, each of said form objects containing a data selection criteria.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said transferring step includes the step of:

routing said data object to one of said form objects, said form object chosen based on said data selection criteria and said identification information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said form objects associated with a specific form collectively describe the data input requirements for said form.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said identification information includes information chosen from the group consisting of time, position, temperature, humidity, and indications of the past history of data flow through the system.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the software application further includes one or more input requestors, each of said forms associated with one of said input requestors.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said selection criteria specifies conditions for using said data object to satisfy the input requirements of one of said form objects.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein said selection criteria is based on information chosen from the group consisting of the content of the data, the format of the data, and said identification information.

10. The method of claim 3, further including the step of processing the data in said data object.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the processing details of said data object are not known to the form object.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said transferring step is performed by an operating system.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said transferring step further includes the step of:

sending the data to a data exchange mechanism.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said data exchange mechanism is chosen from a set consisting of a dynamic Data exchange (DDE), a component object model (COM), an object linking and embedding (OLE), a distributed component object model (DCOM) and a common object broker remote access (COBRA).

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said transferring step is accomplished using component objects.

16. A computer system for transferring data from a bar code reader to a software application having one or more data fields, including:

a memory writer which stores the data from the bar code reader in an entity and stores identification information regarding the bar code reader of the data in said entity wherein said entity is a data object and wherein said identification information includes information chosen from the group consisting of time, position, temperature, humidity, and indications of past history of data flow through the system;

a sender which transfers said entity to the software application; and

a matcher which associates said entity with a data field in the software application based on said identification information.

17. The computer system of claim 16 further including:

an entity modifier which forms a data object of said entity.

18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the software application further includes one or more forms, each of said forms designed to receive one or more form objects containing a data selection criteria.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein said sender includes:

a router which routes said data object to one of said form objects, said form object chosen based on said data selection criteria and said identification information.

20. The computer system of claim 18, wherein said form objects associated with a specific form collectively describe the data input requirements of said form.

21. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the software application further includes one or more input requestors, each of said form objects associated with one of said input requestors.

22. The computer system of claim 18, wherein said selection criteria specifies conditions for using said data object to satisfy the input requirements of one of said form objects.

23. The computer system of claim 18, wherein said selection criteria is based on information chosen from the group consisting of the content of the data, the format of the data, and said identification information.

24. The computer system of claim 18, further including a processor which processes the data in said data object.

25. The computer system of claim 24, wherein the processing details of said data object are not known to said form object.

26. The computer system of claim 16, wherein said sender is contained within an operating system.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein said sender transfers the data to a data exchange mechanism.

28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein said data exchange mechanism is chosen from the set consisting of a dynamic data exchange (DDE), a component object model (COM), object linking and embedding (OLE), a distributed component object model (DCOM), and a common object broker remote access (COBRA).

29. The computer system of claim 16 wherein said sender:

performs operations chosen from a group consisting of operation sequencing, data translation, process synchronization content filtering, and path routing.

30. The computer system of claim 16, wherein said sender:

transfers said entity to the software application using component objects.