>>Hi,
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>>I am developing a program that will be working on Surface tablet. These tablets have cameras. Do you know if it is possible to use the camera to scan barcode into a VFP application form textbox?
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>>TIA
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>Solid answers to your question, I'll try to add a few. Early in the life of the iPhone, we experimented using the camera as a barcode reader and it actually functioned fairly well. There is significant overhead as the photo needs some pretty intensive graphics processing to get to a decoded read. This latency and the care required to achieve an accurate read was reason enough to continue using more "old-school" methods. Anyway, the Infinite Peripherals sled that slides onto the i*things made it a moot point as it is a real barcode scanner.
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>Let me set you thinking more about your user. This is either an industrial or heavy commercial application, so "toughness" is important. In this environment, it is a good idea to try a "zero training" approach by using things the users are somewhat familiar with already. I exclusively use serial barcode scanners...hello 1985! The reason is that most barcode vendors still produce serial versions and when you team them with the MSCOMM control in VFP, you have a event-driven input device. In your app, there seems to be user input like quantity, user, department, and a barcode to scan. If you use the keyboard wedge, the user must be within the barcode textbox to receive accurate barcode data. If they are in another field, the decoded data is visible or the untidy case of barcode text in a numeric textbox. You will need to spend a few minutes with a serial device and MSCOMM to get the hang of it, but it will be worth it to your user. For instance, with the app waiting for a new user, a scan of an item by the new user will raise an MSCOMM event that would get the ball rolling by checking the tables for item validity, displaying descriptive text and setting the focus to the quantity textbox awaiting the first manual entry required of the user. This creates a good user experience and that is very important in this setting as it can be an uphill battle to get employees to use such a system on a consistent basis.
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>As a side note on scanners, most manufacturers with a USB connection are actually using the serial emulation within USB so most of the time you do not need to find an old-style DB-9 connection. Most manufacturers also have software to emulate COM with these USB scanners. I still just buy serial and use a Keyspan USB converter. If you need to test, pick up an old Symbol like an LS2208 on Ebay for $20 to practice programming. I'm on occasionally so I may not respond quickly, but I will be more than happy to help you learn from my mistakes!

Thank you very for the detailed input.