completely lost in space

i need help i just dont understand any of this stuff.....

i have a hand scanner attached to a PC via usb.
i have a SQL database
i have RSView as HMI software
i have an micrologic1100 as a PLC


how can i scan a barcode that has 5 numbers and one letter, look up that barcode in the sql database
take informations about that id number and pull it over to rsview
take the info from rsview and send that to the PLC.

i really dont think its as hard as it seems but i know nothing about VBA and i think that is what i am going to need to use...for a week now i have been studying vba and all of the steps to get what i what on a different thread but i am coming up empty handed. my brain is fried

I don't know your hardware. I assume all of your numbers will be translated to individual ASCII codes by the hand scanner. The ASCII codes are what you will store and transmit.

i dont really understand what your saying

the scanner acts as a keyboard if you will. whatever i scan pops up on the screen... its a symbol LS2208-SR20007 that is connected to a BELKIN USB DUAL ps/2 ADAPTER.....if i open a txt document and scan any barcode it will pop up on the screen.

if i scan directly into plc i get a fault

Presumably RSView is communicating with the ML1100.

Sounds like the heavy lifting gets done in RSView. Your script in RSView will need to:
1. Recognize that the barcode scanner has generated fresh data.
2. When it detects fresh data, interpret it and execute a SQL query based on the value.
3. Pass the data returned from the database to an RSView tag attached to a memory location in the ML1100.
4. Send the fresh tag data to the ML1100.

First, let me admit that I haven't done an application like this but I'm eager to learn new things, too.

You've done a great job of dividing the function into its components and filliing in some of the specifics, such as the way the barcode scanner functions like an ordinary keyboard, sending keystrokes to the PC as though it was a "Human Interface Device" (HID).

On the software side you need to be able to perform an SQL Query, using the barcode data as part of the query. I'll bet you have a SQL query book two inches thick on your desk.

Once you get a response from the SQL Query, figure out what you need to do with it. Do you need to display it in RSView32 on a Display, or make a decision on its validity, or just send a value or a string to the MicroLogix ?

Do you plan to have the operator open up a specific display, and touch a "enter data here" button, then perform the barcode scan ? Or do you want something to be running in the background waiting for the barcode scan to happen, which will then pop up a window or perform this SQL query ?

Using VBA to perform SQL Queries from RSView32 isn't an easy way to start with any of those technologies. But it's what you've got, and what you can use.

To keep the discussion organized; is this your other thread, titled "Barcode Scanner Questions" ?

http://plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=60909

It looks like our colleague Dravik is giving lots of good information there.

The SQL book I've misplaced is O'Reilly's "Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005".

@Steve; that is exactually 100% what i am trying to do.....now how do i approach this? is it going to be VBA coding..

@ken....yes i do have that 2 inch think book, have been going through it but its extremely technical with alot of terms i need to constantly type into wikipedia haha....as far as the operation we would want it to run in the background waiting for the scan which will than preform the query process the data and send the necessary data to 2 different tags on rsview which will be assigned to ML1100....yes that is my old thread, i am new to the fourm life and i guess you could say this as my attempt to "bump" if you will. i never understood why people would just write the word bump in their posts but now i think i do.