RFID SDK Python

An Asyncio based library to control Metratec RFID readers with Python 3.

Documentation

Refer to the docs folder for building the API documentation for the metratec_rfid library.

Installation

Requirements

It is assumed that Python 3 is already installed on the system, including the package installer pip.

In case of installation issues, consider upgrading the build tools to the latest version:

pip install -U pip setuptools

Create virtual environment

To use the library without installing it into your global Python packages, it is recommended to use a virtual environment.

Linux / Mac

• Create virtual environment in the subfolder env: python3 -m venv env
• Activate the virtual environment: source env/bin/activate
  (* Deactivate: deactivate)

Windows

• Create virtual environment in the subfolder env: python -m venv env
• Activate the virtual environment: env\Scripts\activate.bat
  (* Deactivate: env\Scripts\deactivate.bat)

Install RFID SDK

Clone the repository and change into its directory:

git clone https://github.com/metratec/rfid-sdk-python.git
cd rfid-sdk-python

Preferably check out a release version (see Github tags), for example:

git checkout r1.4.4

Install the metratec_rfid library:

python -m pip install .

Alternatively, install a specific version from Github directly:

python -m pip install git+https://github.com/metratec/rfid-sdk-python@r1.4.4

Usage

The main part of the library are the reader objects:

• UHF ASCII reader (legacy): DeskIdUhf, PulsarMX
• HF ASCII reader (legacy): DeskIdIso, QuasarLR, QuasarMX
• UHF AT reader: PulsarLR, Plrm, DeskIdUhfv2, DeskIdUhfv2FCC, QRG2, QRG2FCC, DwarfG2v2, DwarfG2Miniv2, DwarfG2XRv2
• NFC AT reader: DeskIdNfc, QrNfc

Import the reader class matching your device and create a new object by giving it a name and specifying the connection port.

from metratec_rfid import DeskIdUhfv2
reader = DeskIdUhfv2("MyReader", "COM41")

Afterwards, connect the reader once and call whatever reader functions you wish to execute.

await reader.connect()
await reader.get_inventory()

See the code examples for complete sample applications and reference the documentation for more info and a complete list of reader methods.

Example files

The examples folder contains sample applications using this library.

Minimal example

To get started right away, identify the proper reader class for your device and run the following example. The given arguments are examples and have to be adapted. The first argument must match the reader class name and the second argument specifies the connection port.

python examples/inventory_minimal_cmd.py DeskIdUhfv2 /dev/ttyUSB0

This will create the appropriate reader object, run a single inventory and print the result.

The following example executes the same reader functions but does not use commandline arguments. It explicitly shows how to import and initialize a single reader object. This means, in order to run this example, you will have to adapt some lines inside the file to fit your device.

python examples/inventory_minimal.py

General examples

The following examples show different base features of the library in isolation. They all use the same commandline utility as the minimal example and are designed to work with any RFID reader device.

How to use inventory callbacks:

python examples/inventory_callback_example.py DeskIdUhfv2 COM41

How to fetch results from a continuous inventory:

python examples/inventory_fetch_example.py PulsarLR 192.168.2.153

How to change the EPC value of a tag that is specified by its tag ID (for UHF readers).

python examples/write_epc_uhf.py QRG2 /dev/ttyUSB0

Other examples

Any other examples may only work on specific readers. Take a look at the individual files to learn more.

While many reader methods are shared among different reader types, there are some key differences between them. For a comprehensive list of functions for any specific reader, reference the documentation.

Uninstalling the library

python -m pip uninstall metratec_rfid

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2023 metratec GmbH

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.