ThreadCount Community edition

Uniform stock management for healthcare linen rooms: the coordinator app, the phone counter and the staff app, for your own server. Built from 38e16eb on 2026-09-15. Licensed under the Functional Source License (FSL-1.1-ALv2).

docs/manual/apps/scanning-and-browsers.md

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+---
+title: Scanning and browsers
+section: apps
+order: 3
+summary: USB scanners, the barcode formats ThreadCount reads, which browsers can scan with the camera, the Android scanner, and what happens with a code it doesn't know.
+role: Admin or Issuer
+keywords: scan, scanner, barcode, usb, camera, counter, stock count, unknown barcode dialog, product lookup, chrome, edge, safari, firefox, iphone, ean, upc, code 128, unknown barcode, bind, label, print
+---
+
+ThreadCount reads a barcode from a USB scanner, the camera in a supported browser, or the scanner built into the Android counter app. Wherever you can scan, you can also type the code.
+
+## USB scanners
+
+A USB scanner that types the code and then presses Enter works with any browser. In the portal these boxes accept one:
+
+| Screen | Box |
+|---|---|
+| `Stock › Count` | `Scan to count +1` |
+| `Counter`, in `Issue` mode | `Scan a garment, or type a name`, in `Add garments` |
+| `Stock › Scan to add` | `Scan with a USB scanner, or type the code and press Enter` |
+| A garment's `Scan sizes` | The prompt names the size to scan next |
+
+`Scan to add` and `Scan sizes` bind codes, and only Admins see them.
+
+You can also scan with no box selected. The portal takes 4 or more keys, each within 35 ms of the last and ending in Enter, as a scan. A staff number opens that person at the `Counter`. A garment goes into the pickup when the counter has a person open, adds 1 on `Stock › Count`, and otherwise opens the garment's page. See [Keyboard and scanner](/docs/reference/keyboard-and-scanner).
+
+## Formats it reads
+
+Camera scanning, in the browser and in the Android app, reads these formats only:
+
+- EAN-13 and EAN-8
+- UPC-A and UPC-E
+- Code 128, Code 39 and Code 93
+
+ITF and Codabar are left out: with no check digit, a partial read can pass as a different code. No 2D codes are read.
+
+A USB scanner or a typed code isn't limited to that list. In `Scan to add`, a 13-, 12-, 8- or 14-digit code has its check digit tested. If it fails, you see `check digit doesn't match — the scan may have mis-read`.
+
+## Camera scanning in a browser
+
+In a browser, the camera reads barcodes with the browser's built-in barcode detector.
+
+| Browser | Camera scanning |
+|---|---|
+| Chrome | Yes |
+| Edge | Yes |
+| Safari on iPhone or iPad | No |
+| Firefox | No |
+
+Where the camera opens but the browser can't read barcodes, the screen says `Live reading isn't supported here — type the code instead.` With no camera access at all, it says `This browser has no camera access — type the code instead.` On an iPhone, type the code or use a USB scanner.
+
+## The Android scanner
+
+Inside the **ThreadCount** Android app, the phone's own scanner reads the code. If the app can't load it, the browser detector is used.
+
+When counting a shelf with `Hands-free` on, scanning stays on until you turn it off. The same code again within 0.9 seconds counts as the same garment still in view. `Beep and buzz on a scan` in `Settings` turns the sound and vibration on or off for that phone.
+
+The ThreadCount Staff app has no scanner.
+
+## Codes ThreadCount doesn't know
+
+A code is known once it is bound to one size of one garment. In the counter app, an unknown code gives:
+
+- **Counting a shelf:** `isn't a garment ThreadCount knows. Bind it to a size first`. A known code from another shelf names that shelf instead.
+- **Issuing:** `isn't a garment ThreadCount knows.` Nothing is added.
+- **Scan tab:** `Not found`, with the code. An Admin can bind it to a size.
+
+In the portal:
+
+- **`Stock › Count`:** the `Unknown barcode` dialog opens. An Admin binds the code there; an Issuer is told only an admin can bind it.
+- **`Counter`:** an Admin gets the same dialog; an Issuer sees `No garment has` and the code.
+- **Scanned with no box selected:** the search panel opens with `No person or garment has` and the code, and Admins get `Bind it to a garment`.
+- **`Scan to add`:** you can start a new product from the code, or attach it to a size you already have.
+
+With `Look up unknown barcodes in public databases` ticked in `Settings › Catalogue & suppliers`, `Scan to add` first asks a public barcode database for a product name. With it off, nothing leaves the server.
+
+A code can be on one size only. Binding one already on another garment is refused unless you choose to move it. See [Barcodes](/docs/stock/barcodes).
+
+## Printing ThreadCount barcodes
+
+For garments that arrived without a barcode, an Admin opens the garment from `Stock` and chooses `Generate barcodes` from its menu. Each size without a code gets one of ThreadCount's own. These are EAN-13 codes starting `29`, a prefix for use inside one business, with a real check digit. A size with a supplier's code keeps it.
+
+`Print labels`, in the same menu, asks you to confirm the count, then prints one label per garment on hand for each size with a code, two to a row on A4. With none to print, the sheet says why. A 13-digit code with a valid check digit prints as EAN-13, and any other code prints as Code 128.
+
+In the counter app, a stock line's `Print a label` prints 1 to 20 copies of that size's label, when the size has a barcode bound.
+
+Each location also has a shelf label: a Code 128 barcode starting `TCL-` with the location's name. Print it from the `Label` button on `Stock › Count a shelf`. Scanning it in the counter app starts a count of that shelf.
+
+Inside the Android app, labels print through Android's print dialog, which lists every installed print service. See [Counter app](/docs/apps/counter-app).
+
+> **Careful** A garment without a readable barcode drops out of every scanned count. Reprint worn labels before the next stocktake.