Datalogic QBT2500: Enter or Tab after each scan

In keyboard mode the QBT2500 sends an extra key after each barcode. With Enter, the cursor jumps to the next line or a form submits. Many programs work better with a Tab, which moves to the next field, or with no key at all. This guide shows how to change that, and how to add text in front of the barcode.

Check what your scanner sends now

Out of the box the QBT2500 sends Enter after every barcode: in the PRG's Standard Defaults the global prefix is empty (No Global Prefix) and the global suffix is 0x0D, a carriage return. Open Notepad, click in the window and scan a barcode. If the cursor jumps to a new line, the scanner sent Enter. If it stays at the end of the text, it sent no key. Repeat this check after every change.

How prefix and suffix work

Datalogic calls the extra characters a global prefix (sent before the barcode data) and a global suffix (sent after it). Each can hold up to 20 ASCII characters. Both are set in the Global Prefix/Suffix section of the PRG's Data Format chapter (p. 81), with the barcodes Set Global Prefix and Set Global Suffix. The References chapter walks through an example on p. 281.

You enter each character as a two-digit hex code. The ASCII Chart (Appendix F, p. 350) lists the codes, and the Keypad (Appendix D, p. 337) has a barcode for each digit 0 to 9 and each letter A to F. These codes are the ones you need most often:

Replace Enter with Tab

1. Scan ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE. The scanner gives four low beeps and its light keeps blinking while it is in programming mode.
2. Scan Set Global Suffix in the Global Prefix/Suffix section.
3. From the Keypad appendix, scan 0 and then 9, the code for Tab. Each accepted barcode gives one short high beep.
4. Scan ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE to end the entry. The PRG asks for this whenever you enter fewer than 20 characters.
5. Scan ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE once more to save and leave programming mode. One high and four low beeps, followed by the reset beeps, confirm the change.
6. Check in Notepad: the cursor should now move as if you pressed Tab.

Made a mistake before the last character? Scan CANCEL in the same section (two low beeps) and start again from step 1. If the light is still blinking after step 5, the scanner is still in programming mode: scan ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE once more.

Tab and Enter together

Some forms need both, for example a Tab to leave the field and an Enter to confirm. Enter the codes in the order you want them sent, 0 9 0 D, in the same suffix entry. The PRG asks you to enter prefix and suffix characters in their output order.

Bring back Enter

Repeat the steps above with the code 0 D, the carriage return that a PC receives as Enter.

Restore Factory Configuration also sets the suffix back to 0x0D, but it resets every other setting too, including the interface. See QBT2500 troubleshooting before you use it.

Send no key after the barcode

Use this when your software adds its own Enter, or when you want to check each barcode before you confirm it. The PRG has no separate barcode that removes the suffix: "No Global Prefix" and "Global Suffix = 0x0D(CR)" on p. 81 only name the defaults. Clear the global suffix in Datalogic Aladdin instead, then check in Notepad that the cursor stays at the end of the barcode text.

Add a prefix

A prefix works the same way: scan ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE, Set Global Prefix, the hex codes, and ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE twice. In Datalogic's own example the dollar sign, code 2 4, turns the barcode 12345 into $12345. To remove a prefix, use Aladdin.

Use Aladdin instead of barcodes

Datalogic Aladdin is free from the Datalogic software downloads page. It shows the scanner's settings on screen, so you set the prefix or suffix on the PC instead of scanning codes one by one. Install the Datalogic USB-COM driver as well if Aladdin asks for it. Aladdin is also the easiest way to give several scanners the same settings.

Test in your program

1. Open the program you scan into and click the first field.
2. Scan a barcode and check where the cursor ends up.
3. If the Tab or Enter does not arrive as expected, check Keyboard Send Control Characters in the PRG's Keyboard Interface chapter (p. 72). With the default, Send Ctrl+Key, the PRG's scancode tables send code 09 as the Tab key and 0D as Enter.

Other characters wrong? See QBT2500 keyboard layout. New to the scanner? Start with the QBT2500 setup guide.