[IMP] barcodes: documentation

2014-11-26 12:11:52 +01:00
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+Barcodes module documentation
+==============================
+
+The Barcodes module defines barcode nomenclatures whose rules identify specific type 
+of items e.g. products, locations. It contains the following features:
+- Barcode patterns to identify barcodes containing a numerical value (e.g. weight, price)
+- Definitin of barcode aliases that allow to identify the same product with different barcodes
+- Unlimited barcode patterns and definitions. 
+- Barcode EAN13 encoding supported
+
+Barcode nomenclatures and rules
+-------------------------------
+
+A barcode nomenclature contains a set of rules. Each rule identifies a barcode pattern. 
+A rule has a type specifying the model of the object whose barcode matches the pattern.
+A rule has an encoding as well, which can be either EAN-13, or Any. The encoding of a rule
+must be set to EAN-13 if the rule identifies a pattern matched by objects whose barcode is
+encoding in EAN-13. Rules have a sequence field indicated the order the rules are evaluated (ASC).
+
+Many barcode scanners strip the leading zero when scanning EAN-13 barcodes. Barcode nomenclatures
+have a boolean field "Use strict EAN13". If False, when trying to match a scanned barcode with
+a rule whose encoding is EAN-13, if the barcode is of length 12 and, by prepending it by a 0,
+the last digit is the correct checksum, we automatically prepend the barcode by 0 and try to
+find a match with this new barcode. If "Use strict EAN13" is set to True, we look for a pattern
+matching the original, 12-digit long, barcode.
+
+Barcodes and patterns syntax
+-----------------------------
+
+Barcodes and patterns may contain any character. Characters \ . { and } in patterns have a special
+meaning and thus have to be unspecialized (using \) to match their corresponding in barcodes. 
+For example, barcode "a1.b2{c3\d4" matches the pattern "a1\.b2\{c3\\d4". 
+
+Special character . in a pattern identifies any character (like in classical regular expressions).
+Patterns are automatically completed by ".*". For instance, the barcode "abcde" matches the 
+pattern ".bc". 
+
+Special characters { and } are used to identify numerical content. A pattern can contain at 
+most one set of { } and they must contain only N's and D's (N's represent the integer part of 
+the numerical content, while D's represent the decimal part). For instance, the barcode 
+"210025751" matches the pattern "21..{NNDD}." and encodes a value of 25.75.