Xamarin Wrapper for RFID SDK (iOS) - Getting Started

Overview

This section provides step-by-step instructions on developing Xamarin Framework based RFID applications for Android and iOS with Microsoft Visual Studio 2019.

Development Environment

Please refer the instructions provided below for configuring development environment in the respective platform.

Microsoft Windows

Install Visual Studio 2019 on Windows computer
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/install-visual-studio?view=vs-2019
Follow instruction in the provided link below to configure Xamarin.iOS.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/get-started/installation/windows/?pivots=windows
Additionally, follow instructions below in linking to a MAC which is mandatory requirement.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/get-started/installation/windows/connecting-to-mac/

macOS

Follow instructions in the provided link to install Visual Studio 2019 on Mac OS. Make sure to select “iOS + Xamarin.Forms” workload during the installation.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/mac/installation?view=vsmac-2019

Create Xamarin iOS Project

Open Visual Studio 2019, navigate to File → New Solution → iOS → Single View App and create the iOS application by following the wizard.

Figure 1 Select Project Type

Provide an App Name and the Organization Identifier.

Figure 2 iOS Project Configuration

Provide a Project Name and create the project.

Figure 3 Project Details

Add the 'ZebraiOSRfidLibrary.dll' to the root folder of the project.

5Then add a reference to the 'ZebraRfidSdk.dll' by right click on References → Edit References → .Net Assembly → Browse

Figure 4 Project References

Update the 'Info.plist' as described here.

Add following entries under “Required background modes” property:

App communicates with an accessory
App communicates using CoreBluetooth
App shares data using CoreBluetooth

Figure 5 Project plist for iOS

Add 'com.zebra.rfd8x00_easytext' String under 'Supported external accessory protocols' property.

Figure 6 Project plist for iOS

Create Xamarin Forms iOS Project

Open Visual Studio 2019 IDE, navigate to File → New Solution → Multiplatform → App → Blank Forms App and create the iOS application by following the wizard.

Figure 1 Project Type

Provide an App Name and the Organization Identifier.

Figure 2 Project Configuration

Provide a Project Name and create the project.

Figure 3 Project Details

Add the 'ZebraiOSRfidLibrary.dll' to the root folder of the iOS native project.

Then add a reference to the 'ZebraRfidSdk.dll' by right click on References → Edit References → .Net Assembly → Browse.

Figure 4 Project References

Update the 'Info.plist' as described here.

Add following entries under 'Required background modes' property:

App communicates with an accessory
App communicates using CoreBluetooth
App shares data using CoreBluetooth

Figure 5 Project plist for iOS

Add 'com.zebra.rfd8x00_easytext' String under 'Supported external accessory protocols' property.

Figure 6 Project plist for iOS

Wrapper APIs

Namespace

Import the RFID SDK namespace before making API calls.


using ZebraRfidSdk;

Query SDK Version

Version information could be queried as follows.


//Create an instance of the RfidSDK
RfidSdk rfidSdk = new RfidSdk();

//Get the version
string version = rfidSdk.Version;

Set Operation Mode

Set the operation mode of the reader.


//Create an instance of the Readers
Readers readers = rfidSDK.ReaderManager;

//Set Operation Mode
readers.SetOperationMode(OpMode.OPMODE_MFI);

Supports following operation modes,

OPMODE_MFI
OPMODE_BTLE
OPMODE_ALL

Get Available Reader List

Query paired device list as follows. Reader must be paired with the iOS device via Bluetooth before query action.


//Get available readers list
List readerList = readers.GetReaders();

Connect/Disconnect RFID Reader

Connect to the first available reader.


//Connect to a given reader
readerList[0].Connect();

Disconnected from the connected reader.


//Connect to a given reader
readerList[0].Disconnect();

Start/Stop Inventory

RFID tag reading can be started as follows. Once started, tags in the range will be read continuously.


//Start reading available RFID tags
reader.Actions.Inventory.Start();

RFID tag reading cycle can be terminated as follows.


//Stop reading RFID tags
reader.Actions.Inventory.Stop();

Start/Stop Tag Locate

Tag locating can be started as follows. should be set to the ID to be searched.


//Locate tags
reader.Actions.TagLocate.Start("");

Stop locating tags.


//Stop locating tags
reader.Actions.TagLocate.Stop();

Start/Stop Trigger Configuration

Set Start Trigger Configuration to the reader.


//Set configurations
StartTriggerConfiguration configuration = new StartTriggerConfiguration();
configuration.RepeatMonitoring = true;
configuration.StartDelay = 1;
configuration.StartOnHandheldTrigger = true;

//Set start trigger configurations
reader.Configuration.StartTriggerConfiguration = configuration;

Available Start Trigger configurations;

RepeatMonitoring : bool
StartOnHandheldTrigger : bool
StartDelay : int
TriggerType : TriggerType

Set Stop Trigger Configuration to the reader.


//Set configurations
StopTriggerConfiguration configuration = new StopTriggerConfiguration();
configuration.StopOnAccessCount = true;
configuration.StopInventoryCount = 1;
configuration.StopAccessCount = 1;

//Set start trigger configurations
reader.Configuration.StopTriggerConfiguration = configuration;

Available options for Stop Trigger Configuration;

StopOnAccessCount : bool
StopOnHandheldTrigger : bool
StopOnInventoryCount : bool
StopOnTagCount : bool
StopOnTimeOut : bool
DurationMilliSecond : int
StopAccessCount : int
StopInventoryCount : int
StopTagCount : int
StopTimeOut : int

Set Batch Mode Configuration

Batch Mode configurations can be applied as follows. Supported values for Batch Mode are Auto, Disable and Enable.


//Set Batch mode
reader.Configuration.BatchModeConfiguration = BatchMode.AUTO;

Set Unique Tag Report

Unique Tag Report can be applied as follows. Supported values are true or false.


//Set Unique Tag Report 
reader.Configuration.UniqueTagReport = true;

Set Tag Report Configuration

Tag Report Configuration can be applied as follows.


//Set Tag Report Configurations
TagReportConfiguration configuration = new TagReportConfiguration();
configuration.ChannelIdx = true;
configuration.FirstSeenTime = true;
configuration.Pc = true;
configuration.Rssi = true;

reader.Configuration.TagReportConfiguration = configuration;

Available options for Tag Report Configuration;

ChannelIdx : bool
FirstSeenTime : bool
LastSeenTime : bool
Pc : bool
Phase : bool
Rssi : bool
TagSeenCount : bool

Set Regulatory Configuration

Regulatory Configuration can be applied as follows.


//Set Regulatory Configurations
RegulatoryConfig regulatoryConfig = new RegulatoryConfig();
regulatoryConfig.HoppingOn = true;

reader.Configuration.RegulatoryConfig = regulatoryConfig;

Available options for Regulatory Config;

HoppingOn : bool
EnableChannels : object[]
HoppingConfig : HoppingConfig
RegionCode : string

Set Singulation Configuration

Singulation Control configurations can be applied as follows.


//Set Singulation Configurations
SingulationControl singulationControl = new SingulationControl();
singulationControl.SelectedFlag = SLFlag.SLFLAG_ALL; 
singulationControl.Session = Session.SESSION_S0;
singulationControl.State = InventoryState.INVENTORYSTATE_A;
singulationControl.TagPopulation = 200;

reader.Configuration.Antennas.singulationControl = singulationControl;

Available options for Singulation Configuration.

SelectedFlag : SLFlag
Session : Session
State : InventoryState
TagPopulation : int

Set Device Mode

Set device mode of the reader.


//Set Device Mode
reader.Configuration.SetDeviceMode(DeviceMode.RFID);

Available Device Modes;

RFID
BARCODE

Events

Activity Events

Appeared

This event is triggered when the readers appeared.


// readerInfo – Object containing information of the appeared reader
readers.Appeared += (readerInfo) =>
{
    //Action
};

Disappeared

This event triggers when the readers disappeared.


// readerID - ID of the disappeared reader.
readers.Disappeared += (readerID) =>
{
    //Action
};

Note: Appeared and Disappeared events are not supported in RFID SDK for Xamarin.Android. This causes some incorrect behaviors and incorrect tag data retrievals when the scanner goes out and comes back to the range. It is recommended not to use the reader in ‘out of range’ scenario with RFID SDK for Xamarin.Android.

Connected

This event triggers when the readers are connected.


// readerInfo - provides information of the reader connected
readers.Connected += (readerInfo) =>
{
    //Action
};

Disconnected

This event triggers when the readers are disconnected.


// readerID - readerID of the reader disconnected
readers.Disconnected += (readerID) =>
{
    //Action
};

TagDataEvent

This event triggers when tag data is received.


// tagdata - provides information of the tag read by the reader
reader.TagDataEvent += (tagData) =>
{
    //Action
};

ProximityPercent

This event will trigger when tags are nearby.


// proximityPercent - provides proximity information of the tag from the reader
reader.ProximityPercent += (proximityPercent) =>
{
    //Action
};

Action Status Events

Following events can be registered to get RFID reader related information.

OperationEndSummary
Temperature
Power
Database
Radio
OperationStop
OperationBatchmode

Programmer's Guide for Xamarin Wrapper for RFID SDK