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Configure keystroke output and data formatting

Last updated July 26th, 2023

Knox Capture sends scanned data to business apps as keystrokes, imitating the way a user manually enters data using a keyboard.

If you activate a KPE (Knox Platform for Enterprise) Premium license with a Galaxy S20 device in WP-C mode, you must set AdvancedRestrictionPolicy.allowRemoteControl() to True in your EMM. Enabling this policy allows keystroke output to function as expected.

Keystroke output

Refer to the following settings to modify scanned data and format its output:

Setting Description Options Default
Send Enter character as Sets the output format for all existing and appended Enters

Key event — Sends Enter as a key event.

String — Sends Enter as ASCII Line Feed 0x0A.

Both String and Key event — Sends Enter as ASCII Line Feed 0x0A and key event.

None — Sends no output for Enter.

 None
Send Tab character as Sets the output format for all existing and appended Tabs

Key event — Sends Tab as a key event.

String — Sends Tab as ASCII Horizontal Tab 0x09.

Both String and Key event — Sends Tab as ASCII Horizontal Tab 0x09 and key event.

None — Sends no output for Tab.

 None
Send Carriage Return character as Sets the output format for all Carriage Returns

Key event — Sends Carriage Return as a key event.

String — Sends Carriage Return as ASCII Carriage Return 0x0D.

Both String and Key event — Sends Carriage Return as ASCII Carriage Return 0x0D and key event.

None — Sends no output for Carriage Return.

 None
Send ASCII Control characters as Sets the output format for ASCII characters 1-31

Key event — Sends ASCII codes 1 through 31 as key events

String — Sends ASCII codes 1 through 31 as strings.

Both String and Key event — Sends ASCII control characters in both string and key event formats.

None — Sends no output for ASCII control characters.

 String
Send ASCII Printable characters as Sets the output format for ASCII characters 32-126

Key event — Sends ASCII characters 32-126 as key events. This is useful when a text input field, like a password input, requires key events for validation and does not accept pasted strings.

String — Sends ASCII printable characters as strings.

Both String and Key event — Sends ASCII printable characters as both strings and key events.

None — Sends no output for ASCII printable characters.

 String
Key event delay

Sets the delay in milliseconds that Knox Capture will wait before sending a key event like Tab.

Key events transmit slower than string data, which can cause synchronization problems. If your barcode output is partially cut off, try increasing the key event delay to a higher value.

 [0, Int32 max value] 0

Basic data formatting

Refer to the following basic data formatting information to create rules to add prefixes, suffixes, and append Tab or Enter characters to scanned barcode data before output.

If appending a Tab or Enter key to the data output, you must also select an output option in the Send Tab as or Sent Enter as settings above.

Setting Description Default
Prefix to data Prepends a string of characters to the beginning of the scanned data. None
Suffix to data Appends a string of characters to the end of the scanned data. None
Append Tab characte Appends a Tab (ASCII Horizontal Tab character, 0x09) to the end of the scanned barcode data to automate actions like moving to the adjacent cell in a spreadsheet. OFF
Append Enter characte Appends an Enter (ASCII Line Feed character, 0x0A) to the end of the scanned barcode data to automate actions like submitting a form. OFF
Send as Hex Sends the data in hexadecimal format. OFF

Advanced data formatting

In Knox Capture, you can add one or more rules that modify data based on certain actions and criteria. These rules convert scanned data into various formats, which are then passed to business apps through keystrokes. To create a rule and configure its actions and criteria:

  1. On the Knox Capture home screen, tap on the profile you want to create a rule for.

  2. Under Keystroke output and data formatting, tap Advanced data formatting.

  3. In the top right corner of the screen, tap +.

  4. Enter a name for the rule, then tap Done.

  5. Under Set criteria, configure the below settings as needed:

    • Barcode type — The types of barcodes that the rule applies to.
    • String length — The required length of scanned data to trigger the rule.
    • String — A string that must be present for the rule to trigger.
    • String position — When the cursor reaches this position in the string, the rule executes.

  6. Under Set actions in order, tap Add actions.

  7. A popup appears, prompting you to select actions you want to add. See the table below for details on each action. Tap Add when you’re finished.

  8. Configure the actions as necessary, then tap < in the top left to return to the rules list.

  9. Repeat Steps 3-8 for any additional rules you want to create, then rearrange them in the order they should be executed.

Refer to the advanced data formatting actions below to move the cursor, modify, send, or delay data being sent to business apps.

If you add multiple actions to your rule, you can change the order in which they execute.

Action Description Options Default
Cursor movement Sets the cursor to move to a location in the output data. Skip ahead by characters — Moves the cursor forward by a specific number of characters. 1
Skip back by characters — Moves the cursor backwards by a specific number of characters. 1
Skip to start — Moves the cursor to the beginning of the output data. None
Move ahead to substring — Moves the cursor forward until a specific string is found. None
Move past substring — Moves the cursor past a specific string in the output data. None
Data modification Sets the elements for Knox Capture to add, edit, or remove from the data. Remove extra spaces — Deletes all but one space between words, and removes any blank space at the beginning and end of the data. None
Remove all spaces — Remove all spaces in the data. None
Remove leading zeros — Remove any zeroes at the beginning of the data. None
Pad with zeros to the left — Specify the desired length of the output. Knox Capture pads the left side of the string with zeros until the desired length is reached. 1
Replace string — Replaces a specific string with a new, specified string. You must specify both strings. None
Remove characters When sending data, removes a specific number of characters from the given positions. You must provide the start position and the number of characters to remove.

Start position: 1

Number of characters: 1
Data sending Controls a selected amount of data to send to business apps. Send next characters — Sends a specific number of characters from the current cursor position. 1
Send remaining characters — Sends all data after the current cursor position. None
Send up to substring — Sends all data up to a specific string. None
Send pause — Pauses all actions for a specific number of milliseconds (max. 120000). 50ms
Send string — Sends a specific string when the corresponding rule is triggered. None
Send cha — Sends a specific ASCII/Unicode character when the corresponding rule is triggered. 32

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