Capabilities of QR code usage within quickbase.

Question

Our organization would like to attach QR codes to outdoor appliances across several locations. Ideally, a technician could then scan that QR code and have that appliance's record pulled up, along with options to: 1. perform maintenance/repairs, 2. view maintenance/repair history, 3. view a parts list for that appliance which could link to an order form. Are these functions possible using QR codes within Quickbase? And if so, what sort of general framework am I looking at to get something like this working?

Thanks, Coleman

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Coleman DuCharme
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markshnier__you · Answer

Yes, In general this is possible.&nbsp; The QR code could be the URL link to display the appliance record. While any smart phone can recognize a QR code natively through the camera app,&nbsp; in my experience, using a reasonably priced low cost app from the Apple App Store or Google play there are QR code readers which seem to latch onto the QR code in a blink of an eye, thus providing a much better user experience.

Once the user has landed on the record,&nbsp; then you can have buttons on that record to navigate to useful places or display reports.&nbsp;&nbsp;I think the short answer is yes QuickBase is a good tool for this sort of field maintenance work but to be able to scope how big a project it would be to get a brand new app launched would take a one on one discussion.
------------------------------Mark Shnier (YQC)mark.shnier@gmail.com------------------------------

colemanducharme · Answer

Hey Mark,Thanks for getting back to me. I figured that would be what the overall structure looked like - but I didn't know you could add buttons within an individual record that could redirect you anywhere. Very helpful to know. Is there a good resource for understanding how to create and attach individual QR codes to a record within quickbase? I have seen other threads involving QR code creation and it seems like it has to do with using RTF formulas, but I am out of my element using them. Any pointers?------------------------------Coleman DuCharme------------------------------

colemanducharme · Answer

For reference, I am trying to use the RTF that you provided in this thread to generate a unique QR code for each record in a table: https://community.quickbase.com/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=a3392d8b-8c26-4a98-acde-635f3b91ad51&CommunityKey=d860b0f8-6a48-487b-b346-44c47a19a804&tab=digestviewer.

Because I have no idea what I am doing with RTFs, I get the error "the field [record ID#] is not compatible with the parameter field type". Can you point me in the right direction?

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Coleman DuCharme
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markshnier__you · Answer

There is a pretty good discussion thread here.

https://community.quickbase.com/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=cc93d241-8a16-4422-b47c-97445edbd3f7&CommunityKey=d860b0f8-6a48-487b-b346-44c47a19a804&tab=digestviewer#bmcc93d241-8a16-4422-b47c-97445edbd3f7

Here is the essential code that you can try
var text URL = URLRoot() & "db/" & Dbid() & "?a=dr&rid=" & [Record ID#];

"<img src=\"http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=240x240&chl="
& URLEncode($URL)
& "\"\"/>"

You will note in the discussion thread that the community typically uses the free utility from Google which is in the URL above. Because it is free that does mean there is a risk it could stop working at any time. My Plan B would be to scramble and go to Trinity https://trinityis.com/ for a replacement solutions.

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Mark Shnier (YQC)
[email protected]
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markshnier__you · Answer

Coleman,There are a few of us on this form that are happy to help you debug formulas. What you need to do is copy and paste the actual text of your current formula as well as a copy and paste or a screenshot of the error message and then we can help. The most important thing is a copy and paste of your code because we cannot correct a screenshot.&nbsp;Also let us know what field type the formula is in.------------------------------Mark Shnier (YQC)mark.shnier@gmail.com------------------------------

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Capabilities of QR code usage within quickbase.

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