Add the SDK to Your App

This guide shows you how to add the Scandit Data Capture SDK to current existing project.

Prerequisites

  • The latest stable version of Visual Studio.

  • A Xamarin.iOS project with minimum iOS deployment target of 13.0 or higher. Or a Xamarin.Android project with target SDK version 23 (Android 6, Marshmallow) or higher.

  • A valid Scandit Data Capture SDK license key. You can sign up for a free test account at ssl.scandit.com.

Note

Android devices running the Scandit Data Capture SDK need to have a GPU or the performance will drastically decrease.

Get a License Key

  1. Sign up or Sign in to your Scandit account

  2. Create a project

  3. Create a license key by specifying your bundle ID

If you have a paid subscription, please reach out to support@scandit.com if you need a new license key.

Add the SDK

The Scandit Data Capture SDK is distributed as NuGet packages.

You will always need to add the Scandit.DataCapture.Core.Xamarin package, which contains the core functionality used by the other data capture packages. In addition, depending on the data capture task, you will need a reference to:

  • Scandit.DataCapture.Barcode.Xamarin (ScanditBarcodeCapture API) if you want to use barcode-related functionality such as barcode capture or MatrixScan.

  • Scandit.DataCapture.Parser.Xamarin (ScanditParser API) if you want to parse data strings, e.g. as found in barcodes, into a set of key-value mappings.

  • Scandit.DataCapture.TextCapture.Xamarin (ScanditTextCapture API) if you want to use text recognition (OCR) functionality, often combined with barcode scanning to deliver simultaneous barcode and text capture.

You can safely remove Scandit.DataCapture.Barcode.Xamarin, Scandit.DataCapture.Parser.Xamarin, Scandit.DataCapture.TextCapture.Xamarin dependencies if you are not going to use their features.

Additional Information

Note

On Android, the Scandit SDK uses content providers to initialize the scanning capabilities properly. If your own content providers depend on the Scandit SDK, choose an initOrder lower than 10 to make sure the SDK is ready first.

If not specified, initOrder is zero by default and you have nothing to worry about.

Check the official <provider> documentation.

  • Camera Permissions: When using the Scandit Data Capture SDK you will want to set the camera as the frame source for various capture modes. On Xamarin.Android, you have to request camera permissions in your own application before starting scanning. To see how you can achieve this, take a look at our samples: Run our Sample Apps.

Next steps

You are now ready to tackle the following guides:

  • Before You Start: guides you through the process of adding barcode scanning to your app

  • Before You Start: guides you through the process of scanning multiple barcodes at once and use AR overlays in your app