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Knowledge Base

Collecting Data with Questions

What are Questions?

Choosing an answer type

Use the “Questions” tab to create prompts for app users to answer and submit with their scans. Also, you can manage and create your user prompts even without having the relevant service created yet.

How to Create a Question video

How to Add Questions to Services

Data Collection in CodeREADr comes in the form of Questions and Answers. First, to start, the account admin must create a question. Also the admin can pull it from the pre-existing questions bar. Then, do the following:

  1. Click ‘Services’ on the Navigation bar
  2. Select the service you want to add questions to.
  3. Click on the ‘Questions’ tab.
  4. Drag any of the questions from under ‘Available Questions’ to under any desired section to assign.
  5. Click ‘Save and Continue’ after completion.
Add a variety of different questions to your service with unique responses for valid or invalid scans
Action Prompts
Ask Once but Submit with each Scan Prompts for data collection once before scanning begins.
Ask Before Submitting any Scan Prompts for data collection after a barcode has been scanned but before it has been processed.
Ask After Submitting Any Scans Prompts for data collection after a barcode has been scanned but after it has been processed
Ask after Submitting Valid Scans Prompts for data collection after a barcode has been scanned, processed, and exists against a database in validation services or well-formed in recording services.
Ask after Submitting Invalid Scans Prompts for data collection after a barcode has been scanned, processed, and does not exist in a database, is marked as invalid, or is a duplicate scan.

Short Answer

Single Line

All data entered or scanned into the field will show up on a single line.

If using a dedicated scanner configured with a line-feed or carriage return suffix, the app will auto-advance to the next available field. If it is the last field, it will auto-submit the scan record with all collected data. This is valuable for scanning barcodes for the primary scan record and secondary scans captured sequentially after the first scan. Learn more about using barcode scanning devices here.

Multi-Line

Data entered or scanned into the field will show up on multiple lines if the data includes a return line. For example, some IDs have embedded data including return lines so information such as Name, Company, etc. will show up formatted on separate lines. Also, you can allow the app user to view the data input to the field before auto-advancing. For example, if you use a multi-line for the last field before the app user submits a record, the app will not auto-submit the record. Instead, the app user can review the data they collected and submit the record when ready.

Numeric

Select this if you exclusively capture numeric data. This is very useful for manual entry because the keyboard is numeric-only. Therefore, it’s easier to input data.

Barcode – Camera

Enable scan barcode to scan the answer

All Short Answer fields accept data from barcodes scanned with the device’s built-in camera. Select this option if you want a barcode icon shown next to the field’s header. Also, users can manually input data in the field if they can’t scan. Moreover, when using the camera, the cursor will not auto-advance to the next field. Thus, the app user will need to tap the next field regardless of the applied settings.

Furthermore, special camera view options (Barcode scanner configurations, Scanning Modes, and Smart Scan) are available when using our SD PRO scan engine upgrade. First, this includes scanning up to 100 barcodes in a single view. Also, you can preview and select the correct barcodes before capturing them.

Note: If you are using an accessory to scan secondary barcodes, do not check this option. This will open the device’s camera.

With scanning accessories, you can choose the HID mode (keyboard emulation) or SPP mode. Since the HID mode takes over keyed entry, the only way to key in data is through the scanning accessory. The app user can tap the answers to multiple-choice questions or tap buttons, but not manually key in data. In the HID mode, the cursor always auto-advances to the next field.

In the SPP mode, you can enter data in any way you want. The SPP mode is only available for Android devices. The companion Bluetooth scanning accessories from Opticon are known to work with the CodeREADr app in the SPP mode (see here for more information on Bluetooth barcode scanner).

When using secondary scanning, customers often want to leave some sort of instruction so that users know what to scan first on the Tap to Scan screen. Our suggestion for this is to use a session question with the label text indicating the next step. The multiple-choice single answer would only show one answer option (e.g. “Confirmed”). And you could make it a required question, i.e. they must check confirmed.” Learn more about creating barcode scanning sessions here.

Alternatively, such instructions can be left in the description section of your service or even edited onto the picture shown on the Tap to Scan screen.

Multiple Choice

Much like on a test, the app user will have as many options for answers as you add. By selecting a single answer, the app user can only choose one of these responses. When a user selects “multiple answers”, the user can choose as many of the given response choices as they’d like. Finally, they will have a drop-down menu as a formatting option. This effectively works the same in collecting data as the single answer option. Also, to add your response choices in a quicker manner, you can use the copy-paste tab. Then, simply separate responses with a new line. The limit of the copy/paste option here 200 answers.

Custom Question

The use of this feature is for developers and programmers to configure their own questions. First, you can write your own code for this custom question in the HTML field here. Also, you can upload it to your own server as Javascript that that CodeREADr accesses with a postback URL. We have provided documentation on how to set up a custom question.

Photo Collect

This feature allows the user to upload one or more photos attached to each scan submitted. To set up the collection of photos to your server or Dropbox, please follow our instructions here.

Device Location

Using this option, the app user can see their location with every scan. Also, it posts the recorded coordinates recorded with each scan like any recorded ‘Question’ (app-user prompt) answers. Alternatively, you can collect GPS location in the background as a service setting.

New Signature Capture

Each captured signature becomes part of the formal scan record. This option can be configured using the same instructions as the photo collection option.