Barcode scanning now supported on the mobile site

Following a suggestion by a fellow Brickish member, barcode scanning and searching is now supported on Mobile Brickset.

There's a new button on the home page which will launch the scanner. It will work on Android devices, once you've installed ZXing from the marketplace, and it should also work on iPhones once you've installed the Barcodes application from the AppStore.

That was the easy bit: the difficult bit is populating the database :) I've added the European codes for Atlantis sets for test purposes, so that's all it will recognise at the moment. I've asked LEGO whether they can provide a list of EAN numbers. I haven't had an answer yet but if it's a negative I'll provide something on the site to enable codes to be scanned and linked to a set.

If you have the three prerequisites (Android phone and ZXing or iPhone and Barcodes, and a European Atlantis set) give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Update: Users have experienced problems getting this working on iPhones. Unfortunately I am unable to help, but if you are, please comment here.

10 comments on this article

By Huw in United Kingdom, 29 May 2010 15:55

I don't have an iPhone so can't test myself. I'm only going on what it says at the ZXing page about how to get it going on one. We'll have to see if anyone else has success.

By danim in United Kingdom, 29 May 2010 15:57

could you make it work with windows mobile devices

By Huw in United Kingdom, 29 May 2010 16:08

@danim, I don't think so: it uses a open source barcode scanning library (zxing) which is not available on WinMo devices. Perhaps it's time to upgrade to a decent phone :-)

By Grimbo in United Kingdom, 29 May 2010 16:42

I'm seeing the same as atkinsar on my iPhone. Looks like something is not quite right. Hopefully you work it out as it will be a really nice feature.

By Huw in United Kingdom, 29 May 2010 17:29

I don't think I can do anything about it, unfortunately. All the page does is call a URL on the ZXing site which then deals with launching the scanner, scanning and returning the result to Brickset or prompting you to install the scanning software if you don't have it.

All I can suggest is that you upgrade to a decent Android phone :-)

By kronuskaos in United States, 29 May 2010 19:07

this feature just made my day. thank you.

By sweener in United States, 29 May 2010 21:28

Huw works great on my Motorola Droid! Just scanned and added about 20 sets.

By basestar in United States, 29 May 2010 21:37

This is a known issue with the iPhone (meaning, it doesn't work). See http://code.google.com/p/zxing/issues/detail?id=414

By Huw in United Kingdom, 30 May 2010 03:46

@basestar, thanks. Looks like iPhone users will need to wait a while then.

By dandantheman in United States, 01 Jun 2010 16:55

lego minifigures are now available on the U.S. lego website!