2 * Copyright 2007 Google Inc.
4 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
8 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
10 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
17 package com.google.zxing;
19 import java.util.Hashtable;
22 * Implementations of this interface can decode an image of a barcode in some format into
23 * the String it encodes. For example, {@link com.google.zxing.qrcode.QRCodeReader} can
24 * decode a QR code. The decoder may optionally receive hints from the caller which may help
25 * it decode more quickly or accurately.
27 * See {@link com.google.zxing.MultiFormatReader}, which attempts to determine what barcode
28 * format is present within the image as well, and then decodes it accordingly.
30 * @author srowen@google.com (Sean Owen), dswitkin@google.com (Daniel Switkin)
32 public interface Reader {
35 * Locates and decodes a barcode in some format within an image.
37 * @param image image of barcode to decode
38 * @return String which the barcode encodes
39 * @throws ReaderException if the barcode cannot be located or decoded for any reason
41 Result decode(MonochromeBitmapSource image) throws ReaderException;
44 * Locates and decodes a barcode in some format within an image. This method also accepts
45 * hints, each possibly associated to some data, which may help the implementation decode.
47 * @param image image of barcode to decode
48 * @param hints passed as a {@link Hashtable} from {@link DecodeHintType} to aribtrary data. The
49 * meaning of the data depends upon the hint type. The implementation may or may not do
50 * anything with these hints.
51 * @return String which the barcode encodes
52 * @throws ReaderException if the barcode cannot be located or decoded for any reason
54 Result decode(MonochromeBitmapSource image, Hashtable hints) throws ReaderException;