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QR-Code encoding in UFT-8


Dear all,

Last month, we licensed your component “QR Code Font and Encoder”, using it within Crystal Reports XI R2. Referring to your sample documentation, we have added the following programming code (using the byte mode to encode the strings):

stringVar DataToEncode:=”Our content”;
stringVar CompleteBarcodeString:="";
numberVar i:=0;
numberVar Segments:= IDAutomationQRCodeEncoderQRSet(DataToEncode,0 ,0 ,0 ,0 );
For i:=0 to Segments Do
(
CompleteBarcodeString := CompleteBarcodeString + IDAutomationQRCodeEncoderQRGet(i);
);
CompleteBarcodeString

The resulting QR codes seem to be perfectly valid, however, some hardware scanners as well as scanner apps for Android/iOS are having problems decoding German umlauts (displaying some random characters instead). We have already done some research on the Internet and apparently, the QR code component uses the ASCII extended set (0 – 255) to encode umlauts.

We have also run some additional tests using several QR code generators from the Internet that support UTF-8 encoding. The resulting QR codes did not include the problems mentioned above when using umlauts on the same set of hardware/software scanners.

Is there a way we can ensure that the QR code component uses UTF-8 to encode strings?

Kind regards,
Daniel


04-18-12     12.4 year(s) ago    

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Ben

Best Answer

To properly encode UTF-8 characters, they must first be converted into a string of bytes and then encoded in the byte encoding mode. IDAutomation offers built-in functionality for many products that can do this for you, including the Crystal Reports Font Formula. More information is provided in the UTF-8 Unicode Encoding FAQ. The UFL is a legacy product and it does not encode UTF8.

Posted 12.4 year(s) ago

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Other Answers (4)
I do not know. But I do know that the component and encoders that were created by IDAutomation follow the specification for the symbology.

Posted 12.4 year(s) ago

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But then one question still remains, which is why the QR codes that have been encoded using a different encoder actually work on all scanners.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Posted 12.4 year(s) ago

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The encoder will encode it in bytes but it is up to the scanner to decode it as the extended characters--this is how it should actually be by design.

Posted 12.4 year(s) ago

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Dear all,

Thank you very much for your quick response. We are already using byte encoding to generate the QR-Codes. However, the problem is that we cannot access or write specific code for any of the scanners as our software is supposed to work with just any (or at least almost any) scanner as this is completely up to the customer.

Therefore, please let me dig a little deeper in order to make sure we get this right:
We encode our strings within Crystal Reports with the "QR Code Font and Encoder". The resulting QR code does work with some scanners, others won't recognize umlauts.

We, therefore, did some tests using another QR Code encoder (which apparently has a dedicated UTF-8 mode). These QR codes were then recognized by all scanners.

The question, therefore, is: does the "QR Code Font and Encoder" support UTF-8 at all? If so, how can we force the encoder to use UTF-8?

Kind regards,
Daniel

Posted 12.4 year(s) ago

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