Barcode reader?

[theloniouscoltrane]

Is there any barcode reader that works with MM for large collections? I have thousands of CD's I'd like to catalog using MM. Working with another program that I could then integrate with MM would be OK, too.

[Lowlander]

No, but what do you want to do with the barcode information?

[theloniouscoltrane]

Save myself the time of going through an internet search for the information. Plus, lots of my cds are obscure classical and I seldom get correct information from Amazon about those.

[pushpull]

You can scan the barcode right into the google search. That will probably give you the greatest chance of success with finding on line information that you can copy and paste. The barcode itself is just a number and you need the information attached to the number to be of any use to you. You can also use different on line music databases to try and retrieve information.

[theloniouscoltrane]

I understand precisely what a barcode is and does. We psent part of a semester studying them. What I don't want to do is cut and paste info on thousands of cds.

The idea of another search engine is appealing, but whenever I've tried to use one of the scripts, nothing worked.

[Lowlander]

For barcodes to work inside MediaMonkey you would first need a website/database with the barcodes and corresponding CD data, then they need to have an API to be able access this data and then you'd need an addon in MediaMonkey that can use the barcode to lookup the CD data.

If you can't find a website/database that links the barcodes to CD data you're stuck with using FreeDB or the MusicIP Tagger. You could try ripping in software like iTunes/WMP that use commercial databases which often have more Albums in their database than FreeDB, or use EAC and upload the data to FreeDB to contribute this to the community.

[pushpull]

What information I have on your knowledge of bar codes is based on the scant information in your posts and any reply to such scant information is meant solely as an attempt to assist someone. Perhaps you should post your inquiry on coding forums. I would be interested in something similar myself. My input into this thread is an expression of my interest into this topic for more than just cd bar codes. I have been searching for something similar myself. I know I can scan bar codes into google search for not only cds but just about anything else and get results. Automating the retrieval of this information is another thing. Try doing searches for "bar code information retrieval" or "bar code database" or what ever search term you can conceive to find what you are looking for. I have to no avail. There are apps for iphone/android that will "scan" bar codes but will they parse this information into usable data? I think not. Throw the cd in the computer, let MM see what it can find on it, try your other "cd recognition" options, scan the bar code in google and copy/paste and when all that fails it comes down to data input via your fingers.

[theloniouscoltrane]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I could try WMP, but I generally hate it. I keep reading there is someway to add a script that accesses other data bases. Is that true?

[Lowlander]

Yes, but as I said before you fist need to find a database that has these barcodes and their corresponding CD data. Do you know of such a database?

[Peke]

The only way I'm thinking that Barcode can be useful is when you scan ISRC UPC/EAN Code that can be used to identify CDs but again in most cases CD Barcode do not correspond to that number and CDs do not contain it.

BTW you can already use Barcode readers (99% of them read Barcode and send <ENTER> key as end character) to fill ISRC details field of Selected tracks and use that in search to find it back.