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How to Set Up Barcoding for the First Time

xAssets Barcoding Guide
How To

How to Set Up Barcoding for the First Time

This page walks through the complete process of setting up barcoding in xAssets from scratch, including enabling the module, registering a scanner, configuring audit types, and printing your first labels.

Prerequisites

  • You must have Administrator or Configuration user group permissions.
  • You need a barcode scanner -- either a Keyboard Wedge (Keywedge) scanner for real-time scanning or an Intelligent scanner with third-party software such as TracerPlus. See Barcode Scanner Types for a comparison.
  • You need a printer capable of printing barcode labels (a standard laser printer works for basic labels, but a dedicated label printer produces more durable results).

Step 1: Enable the Barcoding Module

  1. Navigate to Admin > Settings.
  2. Locate the Enable/Disable Features section.
  3. Ensure the Barcoding module is enabled. This may require a barcoding-enabled licence key.
  4. Save your settings.

Note: If you do not see a Barcoding option in the feature list, contact your xAssets account manager to verify your licence includes barcoding.

Step 2: Register Your Barcode Scanner

Before you can use a scanner for audits or check-out/check-in, you must register it in xAssets.

  1. Navigate to Barcoding > Barcode Scanners.
  2. Click New to create a new scanner record.
  3. Enter a Scanner Name (e.g., "Warehouse Scanner 1").
  4. Enter a Description to help identify the physical device (e.g., make, model, serial number).
  5. Select the Scanner Type:
    • For Keywedge scanners, select the appropriate Keywedge type.
    • For Intelligent scanners, select the type that matches your third-party software (e.g., TracerPlus).
  6. For Intelligent scanners only, configure the Collection Server fields:
    • Collection Server -- the application server handling file transfer.
    • Collection Server Computer Name -- the hostname.
    • Folder for Send -- where xAssets places export files for the scanner.
    • Folder for Receive -- where the scanner deposits import files for xAssets.
  7. Save the scanner record.

See Configuring Barcode Scanners and Audit Types for full details on all scanner fields.

Step 3: Configure a Keywedge Scanner

If you are using a Keywedge scanner:

  1. Connect the scanner to your PC via USB (most Keywedge scanners are plug-and-play).
  2. Configure the scanner to append a Carriage Return (Enter) after each scan. Refer to your scanner's manual for the programming barcode that enables this setting.
  3. Test the scanner by opening a text editor and scanning a barcode -- the scanned value should appear followed by a line break.

For Intelligent scanner setup, see TracerPlus Configuration.

Step 4: Set Up Audit Types

Audit types define the purpose of each audit and determine which form is shown during scanning.

  1. Navigate to Barcoding > Configured Audit Types.
  2. Review the default audit types supplied with xAssets. These cover common scenarios such as existence verification and asset moves.
  3. To create a new audit type, click New and configure the audit type form (set Form Type to Handheld Scanner Forms and Subject to Assets).

See Configuring Barcode Scanners and Audit Types for details on creating and editing audit types.

Step 5: Print Barcode Labels

  1. Run a query that includes the assets you want to label (e.g., all assets at a specific location).
  2. Use the print barcode labels option to generate labels in CODE128 format.
  3. Print the labels and apply them to the corresponding physical assets.

See How to Print Barcode Labels for the full label printing procedure.

Step 6: Verify the Setup

  1. Navigate to Barcoding > Create a New Audit.
  2. Select an audit type and create a small test audit with a few assets.
  3. Scan the barcode labels you printed in Step 5 to confirm the scanner is working and the scanned values match the asset records.
  4. Review the audit results to verify everything is connected correctly.

See Asset Audits for the full audit workflow.

Tips

  • Start with a small pilot group of assets (10-20) to validate your setup before rolling out to the full inventory.
  • Keep barcode values unique across all entity types. Duplicate values cause incorrect lookups. See Barcode Identification for details.
  • For environments without reliable network access (warehouses, remote sites), use an Intelligent scanner with TracerPlus for offline scanning.