Creating barcodes with keyboard functions and shortcuts Follow

Nigel J. Navarro


There are scanners available with the ability to read keyboard functions. However, they are not read conventionally (for example, placing F5 in a barcode does not equate to pressing F5 on your keyboard). Instead, a barcode must be programmed (in a sense) to hit a series of commands whose results leads to the function that you wish to use. 

Applicable to 

Scanner devices (may vary depending on the manufacturer) 


To make matters more interesting, each scanner has a different set of definitions in regards to what commands equals a function. Consider the following example. For a specific Datalogic scanner, this is how Function 5 (F5) is made on a barcode:


  1. [0x86][HT] -- This is what you encode the barcode with when creating it
  2. ^4<<HT>> -- This is what the scanner interprets after reading the barcode

Notice how what the scanner interprets isn't actually F5. This is because the scanner has one more job, which is use a Look Up Table (LUT) and resolve what command it scanned:

According to this scanner, ^4 means to shift to the second half of the table, and <<HT>> is the command to go over to the HT TAB column.

In conclusion, you will have to go over to your scanner manufacturer's website or contact them directly and see what capabilities your scanner has. The scanner manufacturer will be able to tell you what combinations of actions you have to input into the barcode in order for the scanner you want to read your desired functions.

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