ThreadCount
a6f1059ddf
Uniform stock management for healthcare linen rooms: the coordinator app, the phone counter and the staff app, for your own server. Built from a113353 on 2026-09-15. Licensed under the Functional Source License (FSL-1.1-ALv2).
67 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
67 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Barcodes
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section: stock
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order: 2
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summary: Binding the supplier's barcode to each size, dealing with an unknown code once, printing ThreadCount's own labels, and the formats the scanners read.
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screen: Stock › On hand › a garment
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role: Admin
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keywords: barcode, scan, bind, unbind, unknown barcode, label, print labels, generate barcode, EAN-13, Code 128, scanner, GTIN
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---
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## Supplier barcodes
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Each size of a garment carries one barcode, and a code belongs to one size in the facility. Most garments arrive with the supplier's code on the swing tag, and that is the code to bind.
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1. **Open the product.** `Stock › On hand`, then the garment's name.
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2. **Press Scan sizes.** The dialog starts on the first size with no barcode.
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3. **Scan each size's label.** After each scan it moves to the next unbound size. **Re-scan** on a row points it at that size instead.
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4. **Add a size while scanning.** Type the size into `Size that isn't on the item yet`, then scan. The size is added at the end of the list with its code.
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The same can be done on the phone in the counter app, or in bulk from `Settings › Data` with the Supplier barcodes template.
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## An unknown code
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When a scan on `Stock › On hand` or `Stock › Count` matches nothing, the `Unknown barcode` dialog opens. An admin picks the garment, then taps the size, and the code is bound from then on: the next scan anywhere finds it. An issuer sees the code and is told only an admin can bind it. **New product from this barcode** opens `Add item` with the code waiting for its size.
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`Scan to add` on `Stock › On hand` works the same way for a pile of garments: a known code offers **Open product**; an unknown one offers a new product or a binding.
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The dialog checks the digits. A code that fails its check digit is flagged as a possible mis-read but can still be bound. A code of a non-standard length can also be bound.
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With `Settings › Data › Look up unknown barcodes in public databases` ticked, `Scan to add` sends the barcode number, and nothing else, to UPCitemdb, then Open Products Facts, and shows any product name found. Only valid EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8 and GTIN-14 codes are looked up, up to 120 an hour per facility. It is off by default.
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## ThreadCount barcodes
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For garments that arrived unlabelled, **Generate barcodes** on the product page gives every size without a code one of ThreadCount's own. **Generate** on a single row does one size. Sizes that already carry a supplier code keep it.
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A generated code is a 13-digit EAN-13 starting `29`, the GS1 range reserved for use inside one business, with a real check digit. Numbers come from a counter held for the facility, so two people labelling at once can't be given the same one.
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Every size also resolves from an internal 9-digit number starting `93`. It is never shown or printed, and binding another garment's internal number to a size is refused.
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## Typed and moved barcodes
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On the product page each size has a barcode box. Type or scan the code and press Enter or **Save**. Nothing reformats what is typed; codes may carry letters. To take a code off, clear the box and confirm, or press **×**.
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A code already on another garment is refused with where it is. Confirm the move, or press **Move … onto size … anyway** in Scan sizes, and the code leaves the old size for this one.
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## Printing labels
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**Print labels** on the product page shows the count in its name: one label for every garment on hand, across the sizes that carry a barcode. It opens an A4 sheet of labels, 2 across, in a new tab, with the print dialog up.
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Each label carries the garment name, size, SKU, the bars with the code beneath, and the organisation name from the slips (or the facility name). A valid EAN-13 prints as EAN-13; any other code prints as Code 128. A code too long to print at a readable size on the label is flagged above the sheet. With nothing on hand, or no size labelled, the sheet says which instead of printing.
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## Accepted formats
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- The camera and the phone apps read EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39 and Code 93. QR codes are ignored.
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- A scanner that types the code and presses Enter works in the scan boxes on the desktop screens. See [keyboard and scanner](/docs/reference/keyboard-and-scanner).
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- A bound code can be up to 64 characters.
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## What is written
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| Action | Record · Change | Undo |
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|---|---|---|
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| Bind a code (scan, type or pick) | Barcode record: code, garment, size position | Clear the box, or press × |
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| Move a code | The same record now points at the new size | Move it back |
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| Generate | Barcode record marked generated; the facility's number counter moves on | Unbind; the number is not handed out again |
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| Remove a size | Its barcode is deleted with it | Bind the code again |
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| Print labels | Nothing | Nothing to undo |
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