All versions of GCstar can support a barcode scanner that behaves as a keyboard and enters the code as if it was entered using a keyboard. Starting with GCstar 1.6.2, there is an import plugin that can be used to do so in batch mode (i.e. entering many items, one after the other). This doesn’t fully work for all kinds of collections, because it requires a plugin that supports fetching the information from a website. If you know of such a website that is not yet supported by GCstar, don’t hesitate to report it in the forums.

It’s launching through the menu: File > Import > Barcode scanner

It then displays a window such as this one:

Here are shown the settings to use it with GCstar Scanner, an application for Android. But you can also use it with a scanner that is just seen as a keyboard.

Press import, and you will see this dialog window, waiting for input:

This application needs an external application to do the actual scanning. It uses the zxing library

Here is how this Android application looks like on a smartphone:

You have to enter here the address of the machine where GCstar is running, and the port number should be the same as the one you entered in the import plugin window as shown in previous chapter.

Then press on start to begin scanning.

Each time an item is successfully scanned, the import plugin will search for it using the specified plugin. You will then just see this dialog telling you what was done:

Press Done if you don’t have other items to scan, or just scan the next one.