|
|
|
 A bar code scanner can speed up many of the common functions performed within Wine Cellar II. Bar codes enable you to improve the speed of many tasks (e.g. adding wines, finding and opening bottles) by allowing you to simply choose the operation and then scan the bar code. Wine Cellar II gives you two options for using bar codes: 1. You can use the standard bar code found on most wine labels (known as EAN-13), effectively managing your cellar by wine (rather than by bottle). 2. You can go one step further, and put your own bar code on each individual bottle, so that even bottles of the same wine can be distinguished. Both of these choices are avialable all the time, so you do not need to specify one, and can even use both if you choose to. You may wish complete reading this page before deciding which to use. Option 2 involves more work than option 1, but simplifies scanning. Whether you use wine label bar codes or your own bar codes to number each bottle individually, the operations are the same. However when using a wine bar code, Wine Cellar II is more likely to find more than one match (e.g. if you have more than one bottle of the same wine) and therefore you will more frequently need to identify the correct bottle as part of each operation.  Please note that a typical wine bottle bar code contains only a 13 digit number (often displayed under the bar code) - it does not contain any other information about the wine. Your supermarket is able to display the details and price of a wine bottle that has been scanned at the checkout because it has loaded this information into its own database. Therefore when scanning a new wine with Wine Cellar II, you will still need to enter the basic attributes (Variety, Brand, Region and Vintage). However any further scans of that bar code, including future additional purchases, will automatically match the wine by using the bar code. You should also be aware that some wine producers use the same bar code for successive vintages of a wine. Thus a bar code may not always identify the exact vintage of a wine. Whenever Wine Cellar II finds more than 1 match for a scanned bar code, it will display all matches for you to choose the correct wine or bottle.  Most bar code scanners do not require configuring or need any special drivers. They simply plug into the keyboard socket between the computer and the keyboard. Numbers scanned by the barcode are sent to the computer as if they were typed by the keyboard. They scanner sends a return key stroke after each scan to activate the Enter key on the keyboard. There are other types of bar code scanners (e.g. that connect via USB), but Wine Cellar II will only work with bar code scanners that simulate numbers being typed via the keyboard. Please check with your vendor before purchasing.   To enter a wine's bar code, double click on any wine to view its details and click on the Other Tab. Type the bar code into the Bar Code field and click OK:   To enter an individual bottle's bar code, simply change it's number - that is the bottle's bar code:  Bottle numbering normally starts at 1, but you can change this to any number series - just select Options from the Tools menu and click on the Bottles Tab, then enter a number under Auto-numbering:   To enter new bottles, select Purchase Bottles from the Bar Code menu (or press F6) and scan the wine label:  If a matching wine is found, its details will be displayed automatically and you then only need to enter the normal purchase information (Quantity, Price, Date, etc). If no matching wine is found, you can proceed with entering wine information as usual, and the bar code will automatically be assigned.  To open bottles, select Open Bottles from the Bar Code menu (or press F7):  Simply scan each bottle to open it. You can quickly change the date in between scans using the Up and Down arrow keys.  To view a wine or bottle details, select Find Wine from the Bar Code menu (or press F8) and scan the bar code. The wine will be displayed. 
|
||||||||||
|
HOME | ABOUT US | SUPPORT | DOWNLOADS | CONTACT US Send
questions and comments about this site to
webmaster@winecellarsoftware.com. |
|||||||||||
