Well we had to move the websites to a different server and things got a little messy. I had to reinstall the blog and import the old articles. The dates may be wrong but at least were back up!!

I finally finished the prototype for the HomeControl barcode scanner project. I added a local database (SQLExpress) to store all the products we use or have scanned in the past. I found that some of the UPC data from Amazon and UPCdatabase was inaccurate and I needed to override the descriptions, pricing, and images if they were wrong. This ended up being a good enhancement because now I can override the descriptions and create my own images.

The UPC lookup is as follows

1. Look in my local SQLExpress database
2. Try Amazon if it cant be found locally and add image, ASIN, and price info
3. Try UPCDatabase if it cant be found at Amazon
4. Popup an option to add to UPCDatabase if it still cant be found.
   (UPCDatabase will accept name and description information if the UPC does not exist in their database)

	Created a mobile shopping list for use with a Blackberry (i tried to create an MDS app but it was taking too long, next version maybe)

I should explain what it is that I'm trying to accomplish. I’m trying to create a home control center with everything I need to consolidate the automation projects I have in our home. I already have a lighting control system,  a prototype for whole house audio, and a monitor for the alarm system. I plan to use a small touchscreen and a mini ITX PC to be the main hardware for this project. The barcode reader was a last minute idea but may prove to be the most interesting.

I know it’s been done before but I don't care. I’m trying to create an app that will lookup any UPC code and add it to a shopping list. We constantly run out of of staple items in our house and never seem to get them onto a list for our weekly shop. Wouldn't it be cool if all you had to do was scan the item before throwing it away and it would automatically be added to a shopping list that could be accessed from your mobile phone. My wife and I both use our Blackberries to create and maintain our shopping lists. If we had one list that would be updated in real-time we could avoid the double or missed purchases we constantly experience.

What if you could order items directly from Amazon (using our free Prime Shipping) and have it show up at your doorstep? What if your phone would alert you if there were items on the list as you were passing by the supermarket (using GPS or cell tower association) on the way home? It just sounds like too much fun not to try it.

There was quite a bit of work in getting the scanner to work the way i needed. The default is for it to act as a keyboard and basically send keystrokes to the PC. This was fine as long as the app and the textbox had focus. Most of the time this was not the case. I needed something event driven and that's where my adventure into POS standards began. I’ll add a separate post for that adventure some other time.

After getting the scanner setup properly i started looking for a reliable and free UPC database. I was able to find a great one at http://www.upcdatabase.com. There's some great code samples for .NET RPC and I was able to slap together a quick and reliable prototype. Although the upcdatabase worked I still wanted pricing, images, and purchase options. Amazon was the only choice. Amazon Web Services has a great API for getting to everything on the Amazon site. All you need to do is create an account and you get back a AWSAccessKeyId which you use with every request to identify you. I used the AWSECommerceService web service and found the whole process very simple.

Although the Amazon service is very good, I found it a bit frustrating that I need to search for the UPC in each ProductGroup (department) separately. If you pass a UPC for laundry detergent to the Kitchen ProductGroup you wont get anything back. You need to search the “Grocery” product group. Most of the time its obvious which group to use but since I never know what item is going to be scanned I need to loop through them all. If I cant find it at Amazon I fall back to using the upcdatabase. So far this seems like a decent solution.

Here’s what I have so far.

I’m planning to make the UI a lot nicer by using WPF. I also hope to have the scanned items inserted into a database, create a webservice to allow a Blackberry app to connect and show the shopping list.