form builder elements

Table of Contents

• What is Manatee Works?
• What Types of Barcodes are Supported?
• How do I use the Manatee Works Element?

What is Manatee Works?

Manatee Works is a barcode scanning engine that supports many different types of 1D and 2D barcodes. The data within the code can be passed to a single field or can be parsed using JavaScript into many different fields, such as first and last names.  

What Types of Barcodes are Supported?

• Code 11
• Code 25
• Code 39
• Code 128
• AZTEC Code
• Data Matrix
• EAN/UPC/ISBN
• MSI
• PDF417
• QR Code 2005

How do I use the Manatee Works Element?

The Manatee Works element can be configured to scan only certain code types for faster processing and improved accuracy. This means if you line up many different types of barcodes but only check off to scan the QR barcodes, it will ignore all the other barcode types.

Please follow the instructions below to add the Manatee Works element to your form.

STEP 1. From inside the form builder, click the Manatee Works button from the left-hand menu. You'll see it populate the device view.

STEP 2. On the right-hand side, you'll see the element properties. Enter the name of your element.

PLEASE NOTE: If you check the Based on Label option, it will create a data column based on the Label on the element.

STEP 3. Under the Input Properties tab, click the drop-down menu and choose the types of barcodes you want to scan.

STEP 4. Choose the Scanner Effort Level. An effort level ranges from 1 to 5. The greater the level, the higher the slices' frequency, which allows hard-to-detect code to be scanned with greater accuracy.  

PLEASE NOTE: The higher a Scanner Effort Level, the longer it will take to scan the entire image.

STEP 5. In the Dynamic Value field of the element, set the value to an empty string: scan_the_barcode=""

PLEASE NOTE: scan_the_barcode is just an example of a data column name.  You'll want to use whatever data column name you have chosen for your particular Manatee element.

STEP 6. Add a Text Area element below your Manatee Works element.

STEP 7. Add scan_the_barcode.raw in the Dynamic Value to the Text Area to push all scanned data into the field. This will ensure that all the information embedded in the code will be copied into that field.

STEP 8. Click Save.

PLEASE NOTE: If you scan a barcode and see asterisks (*) being populated in the text field, this is either due to the scan being too quick and not capturing the full barcode or if you are using a white label app, you may need a manatee license. If it is the latter, please contact your Customer Success Manager or the Customer Support team.