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Table of contents
Swift
Objective-C

Build Your App with Foundational APIs

Requirements

  • Supported OS: Android 5.0 (API Level 21) or higher.
  • Supported ABI: armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a, x86 and x86_64.
  • Development Environment:
    • IDE: Android Studio 2024.3.2 suggested.
    • JDK: Java 17 or higher.
    • Gradle: 8.0 or higher.

Add the Libraries

There are two ways to add the libraries into your project - Manually and Maven.

Option 1: Add the Library via Maven

  1. Open the file [App Project Root Path]\settings.gradle and add the Maven repository:

    • groovy
    • kts
    1. dependencyResolutionManagement { repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS) repositories { google() mavenCentral() maven { url "https://download2.dynamsoft.com/maven/aar" } } } 
    2. dependencyResolutionManagement { repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS) repositories { google() mavenCentral() maven { url = uri("https://download2.dynamsoft.com/maven/aar") } } }

    If you are using gradle 6.x or older version, the maven dependencies should be configured in [App Project Root Path]\app\build.gradle

  2. Open the file [App Project Root Path]\app\build.gradle and add the dependencies:

    • groovy
    • kts
    1. dependencies { implementation 'com.dynamsoft:barcodereaderbundle:11.2.3000' } 
    2. dependencies { implementation("com.dynamsoft:barcodereaderbundle:11.2.3000") }

  3. Click Sync Now. After the synchronization is complete, the SDK is added to the project.

Option 2: Add the Libraries via Local .aar Files

  1. Download the SDK package from the Dynamsoft Website. After unzipping, several aar files can be found in the Dynamsoft\Libs directory:

    • 📄 DynamsoftBarcodeReaderBundle.aar
    • 📄 DynamsoftCaptureVisionBundle.aar

  2. Copy the above .aar files to the target directory such as [App Project Root Path]\app\libs

  3. Open the file [App Project Root Path]\app\build.gradle and add the reference in the dependencies:

    • groovy
    • kts
    1. dependencies { implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.aar']) def camerax_version = '1.4.2' implementation "androidx.camera:camera-core:$camerax_version" implementation "androidx.camera:camera-camera2:$camerax_version" implementation "androidx.camera:camera-lifecycle:$camerax_version" implementation "androidx.camera:camera-view:$camerax_version" } 
    2. val camerax_version = "1.4.2" dependencies { implementation(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "libs", "include" to listOf("*.aar")))) implementation("androidx.camera:camera-core:$camerax_version") implementation("androidx.camera:camera-camera2:$camerax_version") implementation("androidx.camera:camera-lifecycle:$camerax_version") implementation("androidx.camera:camera-view:$camerax_version") }

    The camera features require the camerax dependencies.

  4. Click Sync Now. After the synchronization is complete, the SDK is added to the project.

Build Your First Application

In this section, we are going to explain how to create a Hello World implementation similar to our simple DecodeWithCameraEnhancer app for reading barcodes from camera video input.

  • Android Studio 2024.3.2 is used here in this guide.
  • You can get similar source code from

Create a New Project

  1. Open Android Studio, select File > New > New Project.

  2. Choose the correct template for your project. In this sample, we use Empty Views Activity.

  3. When prompted, set your app name to ‘DecodeWithCameraEnhancer’ and set the Save location, Language, and Minimum SDK (we use 21 here).

    • With minSdkVersion set to 21, your app is compatible with more than 99.6% of devices on the Google Play Store (last update: October 2023).

Include the Libraries

Add the SDK to your new project. Please read Add the Libraries section for more details.

Initialize License

  1. Initialize the license in the file MainActivity.java.

    • Java
    • Kotlin
    1. import com.dynamsoft.license.LicenseManager; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); if (savedInstanceState == null) { LicenseManager.initLicense("DLS2eyJvcmdhbml6YXRpb25JRCI6IjIwMDAwMSJ9", this, (isSuccess, error) -> { if (!isSuccess) { error.printStackTrace(); } }); } } } 
    2. import com.dynamsoft.license.LicenseManager; class MainActivityKt : AppCompatActivity() { override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) setContentView(R.layout.activity_main_kt) if (savedInstanceState == null) { LicenseManager.initLicense("DLS2eyJvcmdhbml6YXRpb25JRCI6IjIwMDAwMSJ9", this) { isSuccess: Boolean, error: Exception -> if (!isSuccess) { error.printStackTrace() } } } } }
    • The license string here grants a time-limited free trial which requires network connection to work.
    • You can request a 30-day trial license via the Request a Trial License link.
    • If you download the Installation Package, it comes with a 30-day trial license by default.

Initialize Camera Module

  1. In the Project window, open app > res > layout > activity_main.xml and create a DCE camera view section under the root node.

     <com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraView android:id="@+id/camera_view" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent"/>

  2. Import the dynamsoft camera module, initialize the camera view and bind to the created Camera Enhancer instance in the file MainActivity.java.

    • Java
    • Kotlin
    1. import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraView; import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraEnhancer; import com.dynamsoft.dce.utils.PermissionUtil; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { CameraEnhancer mCamera; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { ... // Add camera view for previewing video. PermissionUtil.requestCameraPermission(this); CameraView cameraView = findViewById(R.id.camera_view); mCamera = new CameraEnhancer(cameraView, this); } } 
    2. import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraView import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraEnhancer import com.dynamsoft.dce.utils.PermissionUtil class MainActivityKt : AppCompatActivity() { private lateinit var mCamera: CameraEnhancer override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { ... PermissionUtil.requestCameraPermission(this) val cameraView: CameraView = findViewById(R.id.camera_view) mCamera = CameraEnhancer(cameraView, this) } }

Initialize Capture Vision Router

  1. Import and initialize the CaptureVisionRouter and set the previously created CameraEnhancer instance as its input.

    • Java
    • Kotlin
    1. import com.dynamsoft.cvr.CaptureVisionRouter; import com.dynamsoft.cvr.CaptureVisionRouterException; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { ... private CaptureVisionRouter mRouter; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { ... mRouter = new CaptureVisionRouter(this); try { mRouter.setInput(mCamera); } catch (CaptureVisionRouterException e) { throw new RuntimeException(e); } } } 
    2. import com.dynamsoft.cvr.CaptureVisionRouter import com.dynamsoft.cvr.CaptureVisionRouterException class MainActivityKt : AppCompatActivity() { private lateinit var mRouter: CaptureVisionRouter override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { ... mRouter = CaptureVisionRouter(this) try { mRouter.setInput(mCamera) } catch (e: CaptureVisionRouterException) { throw RuntimeException(e) } } }

  2. Create a CapturedResultReceiver and register with the CaptureVisionRouter instance to get recognized barcode results.

    • Java
    • Kotlin
    1. import com.dynamsoft.core.basic_structures.CapturedResultReceiver; import com.dynamsoft.dbr.DecodedBarcodesResult; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { ... mRouter.addResultReceiver(new CapturedResultReceiver() { @Override public void onDecodedBarcodesReceived(DecodedBarcodesResult result) { runOnUiThread(() -> showResult(result)); } }); } } 
    2. import com.dynamsoft.core.basic_structures.CapturedResultReceiver import com.dynamsoft.dbr.DecodedBarcodesResult class MainActivityKt : AppCompatActivity() { override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { ... mRouter.addResultReceiver(object : CapturedResultReceiver { override fun onDecodedBarcodesReceived(result: DecodedBarcodesResult) { runOnUiThread { showResult(result) } } }) } }

  3. Override the MainActivity.onResume and MainActivity.onPause functions to start/stop video barcode scanning. After scanning starts, the sdk will automatically decode the video frames from the Camera Enhancer, then send the recognized barcode results to the callback.

    • Java
    • Kotlin
    1. import com.dynamsoft.cvr.EnumPresetTemplate; import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraEnhancerException; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { ... @Override public void onResume() { // Start video barcode reading mCamera.open(); mRouter.startCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, new CompletionListener() { @Override public void onSuccess() {} @Override public void onFailure(int errorCode, String errorString) { runOnUiThread(() -> showDialog("Error", String.format(Locale.getDefault(), "ErrorCode: %d %nErrorMessage: %s", errorCode, errorString))); } }); super.onResume(); } @Override public void onPause() { // Stop video barcode reading mCamera.close(); mRouter.stopCapturing(); super.onPause(); } } 
    2. import com.dynamsoft.cvr.EnumPresetTemplate import com.dynamsoft.dce.CameraEnhancerException public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { ... public override fun onResume() { // Start video barcode reading mCamera.open() mRouter.startCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, object : CompletionListener { override fun onSuccess() {} override fun onFailure(errorCode: Int, errorString: String?) = runOnUiThread { showDialog("Error", "ErrorCode: $errorCode ErrorMessage: $errorString") } }) super.onResume() } public override fun onPause() { // Stop video barcode reading mCamera.close() mRouter.stopCapturing() super.onPause() } }

Display Barcode Results

Display the barcode result(s) in a dialog box.

  • Java
  • Kotlin
  1. ... import android.app.AlertDialog; import com.dynamsoft.dbr.BarcodeResultItem; import com.dynamsoft.dce.Feedback; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { private AlertDialog mAlertDialog; ... private void showResult(DecodedBarcodesResult result) { StringBuilder strRes = new StringBuilder(); if (result != null && result.getItems() != null && result.getItems().length > 0) { mRouter.stopCapturing(); for (int i = 0; i < result.getItems().length; i++) { BarcodeResultItem item = result.getItems()[i]; strRes.append(item.getFormatString()).append(":").append(item.getText()).append("\n\n"); } if (mAlertDialog != null && mAlertDialog.isShowing()) { return; } Feedback.vibrate(this); showDialog("Results:", strRes.toString()); } } private void showDialog(String title, String message) { if(mAlertDialog == null) { mAlertDialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(this).setCancelable(true).setPositiveButton("OK", null) .setOnDismissListener(dialog -> mRouter.startCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, null)) .create(); } mAlertDialog.setTitle(title); mAlertDialog.setMessage(message); mAlertDialog.show(); } } 
  2. ... import android.app.AlertDialog import com.dynamsoft.dbr.BarcodeResultItem import com.dynamsoft.dce.Feedback class MainActivityKt : AppCompatActivity() { private var mAlertDialog: AlertDialog? = null ... private fun showResult(result: DecodedBarcodesResult?) { val strRes = StringBuilder() if (result?.items != null && result.items.isNotEmpty()) { mRouter.stopCapturing() for (i in result.items.indices) { val item: BarcodeResultItem = result.items[i] strRes.append(item.formatString).append(":").append(item.text) .append("\n\n") } if (mAlertDialog != null && mAlertDialog!!.isShowing) { return } Feedback.vibrate(this) showDialog("Results:", strRes.toString()) } } private fun showDialog(title: String, message: String?) { if (mAlertDialog == null) { mAlertDialog = AlertDialog.Builder(this).setCancelable(true).setPositiveButton("OK", null) .setOnDismissListener { mRouter.startCapturing(EnumPresetTemplate.PT_READ_BARCODES, null) } .create() } mAlertDialog!!.setTitle(title) mAlertDialog!!.setMessage(message) mAlertDialog!!.show() } }

(Optional) Manually Releasing Deep Learning Models

Starting from v11.2.1000, Dynamsoft Barcode Reader integrates deep learning models to enhance decoding ability. Once initialized, these models remain cached in memory until they are explicitly released. If the decoding task has finished, call clearDLModelBuffers to free the associated memory.

  • Java
  • Kotlin
  1. @Override protected void onDestroy() { CaptureVisionRouter.clearDLModelBuffers(); super.onDestroy(); } 
  2. override fun onDestroy() { CaptureVisionRouter.clearDLModelBuffers() super.onDestroy() }

Build and Run the Project

  1. Select the device that you want to run your app on from the target device drop-down menu in the toolbar.

  2. Click the Run app button, then Android Studio installs your app on the connected device and launches it.

You can also download the full source code of all the steps above:

Next Steps

From this page, you have learned how to create a simple video barcode decoding app. In the next steps, the following pages will help you on adding configurations to enhance your barcode reader.

Explore Features

If you want to explore the many features of the SDK and learn how to use them to best process the images you read in your application, read the articles in Explore Features.

Check Use Cases

If you want to check how the SDK works in popular use cases, read the articles in Use Cases.

Using CameraX with DBR

If you use the Android CameraX SDK, DecodeWithCameraX sample will guide you on how to add barcode scanning to your app.

Other platforms

This page is compatible for:

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