Barcode scanners are everywhere — retail counters, warehouses, production lines, logistics hubs, and even office inventory systems. Nodlyn makes it incredibly easy to connect these scanners to your workflows, enabling instant automation whenever a barcode is scanned.
With the Barcode Connector, you can read barcodes from USB HID / COM / ttyUSB devices, parse their format, validate them, and even trigger workflows automatically when a scan occurs.
Step 1: Connect Your Barcode Scanner
Most barcode scanners emulate a serial port. In Nodlyn, simply drag a Barcode Read or Barcode Scan Trigger node onto the canvas and specify the serial port:
- COM3 on Windows
- /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux
- /dev/ttyACM0 for HID-style scanners
You can also configure baud rate, delimiter, and timeout depending on your scanner model.
Step 2: Read a Barcode
Use the Barcode Read node to capture a single scan. Nodlyn waits until a complete line is received, trims whitespace, detects the barcode format, and returns:
- barcode — the scanned value
- format — ean13, ean8, upc, code128, code39, qr, datamatrix
- readAt — timestamp
- port — the serial port used
This is ideal for workflows where scanning is part of a step — for example, verifying a product before printing a label.
Step 3: Trigger Workflows Automatically
If you want your workflow to run every time a barcode is scanned, use the Barcode Scan Trigger. Nodlyn listens continuously on the serial port and fires a trigger event for each scan.
This is perfect for:
- warehouse intake stations
- production line checkpoints
- inventory tracking
- package routing
Every scan becomes a workflow event — instantly and reliably.
Step 4: Parse and Validate Barcodes
Barcodes contain structured information. The Barcode Parse node analyzes the scanned value and extracts:
- format — detected barcode type
- isValid — checksum validation for EAN/UPC
- checkDigit — last digit for EAN/UPC
- country — GS1 region prefix
- prefix — GS1 manufacturer prefix
- payload — raw or decoded content
This allows you to build workflows that react differently based on barcode type, manufacturer, or validation status.
Step 5: Build Real Automations
Once barcode data enters your workflow, you can combine it with any other connector:
- Look up product details via HTTP Request
- Send alerts through Slack or Telegram
- Write entries to Google Sheets or a database
- Trigger Tuya or Serial Bus actions
- Print labels or generate documents
Barcode scanning becomes a powerful entry point into your automation ecosystem.
What's Next?
Experiment with multi-step workflows, combine barcode parsing with conditional logic, or build real-time dashboards showing scan activity. Nodlyn gives you the tools to automate any barcode-driven process.