KB483537: Enable MicroStrategy Mobile for Android to Catch Infrared Scanning Input and Automatically Apply Prompts on Zebra Devices

Description

A Zebra is a hand-held device that runs on an Android-based system and is equipped with an infrared barcode scanner. These devices are widely used in the retail industry, as well as warehouse management. Strategy 11.1.2 patch 23 through 11.1.3 supports customized configuration in an SDK to enable features that catch infrared scanner input and apply prompts automatically if there is only one barcode value prompt. This article details the steps to configure this functionality in an SDK.

Solution

• First, set up a project in MicroStrategy Mobile SDK for Android.
• In your SDK project, navigate to app > res > values and open the String.xml file.
• Enable the feature shown below and set it to true. This registers the infrared scan event broadcast intent and automatically applies the barcode value prompt. If you need to disable this feature, set it to false.
  

  
  <bool name="auto_answer_barcode_prompt">true</bool>

  
  
• Use hide_camera_scan_icon to hide or show the scan icon. Set both hide_camera_scan_icon and auto_answer_barcode_prompt to true to hide the camera scan icon.
  

  
  <bool name=“hide_camera_scan_icon”>true</bool>
  

  
  
• Configure the broadcast intent name as shown below.
  

  
  <string name=“barcode_scan_intent_action”
  translatable=“false”>com.Strategy.android.scan</string>
  

  
  
• Next, you must configure DataWedge on the Zebra device to send out the broadcast intent once the infrared scan is finished. On the Zebra device, open Applications and lauch DataWedge.
• Select the default profile or create a new one for the Strategy Mobile app.
• Confirm that the profile, barcode input, and intent output is enabled. Confirm that the intent delivery is set to Broadcast intent. The customized intent name, com.Strategy.android.scan, mentioned in step 4, should be the same as the intent action in the profile. This allows the Strategy Mobile app to receive the correct intent when the infrared scan is finished. See the image below to view the correct settings.
  

Custom Supported Scenarios

Strategy Mobile automatically applies a prompt answer after an infrared scan when there is only one barcode value prompt. If there is more than one prompt, but it's not barcode value prompt, the app does not register the broadcast intent or apply a prompt answer after the scan is finished.
After linking a drill to a target document with multiple prompts, prompt answers are automatically applied after an infrared scan. This includes one barcode value prompt and the remaining prompts that are passed from the source. In this situation, after linking a drill, only the barcode value prompt appears. The remaining prompts do not appear, so the prompt answer is applied automatically after the infrared scan. Strategy does not support automatically applying prompt answers after re-prompts on the target document, since we display all prompts after re-prompting.