Camera

A live camera cell (Pro) that scans QR codes, barcodes, and printed text the moment they enter the frame, and can capture snapshots on demand. Detections fire the control's action over the mesh immediately — point the camera at a code and the data is already on your server.

Type

"camera"

Privacy model

The camera never starts on its own. It renders as a "Tap to Start" card; only a tap on the control opens the viewfinder, a red LIVE chip shows the whole time it runs, and it stops automatically the moment the app leaves the foreground or the control scrolls off screen. A pushed or synced layout cannot turn the camera on remotely.

Relevant Fields

Inherits all Control Definition. Key fields:

Field Type Default Description
scan string[] ["barcode"] What to detect live: "barcode", "text" (OCR), or both
symbologies string[] all Barcode filter: qr, microQR, aztec, dataMatrix, ean13, ean8, upce, code128, code39, code93, pdf417, microPDF417, itf14, i2of5, codabar, gs1DataBar, gs1DataBarExpanded, gs1DataBarLimited
sendMode string "auto" "auto" fires action for every stabilized detection (debounced); "tap" fires only for the highlighted item the user taps
debounce number 3 Seconds before the SAME decoded value can fire again (a code sitting in frame doesn't spam the mesh)
torch bool true Torch toggle in the viewfinder
snapshot bool false Shutter button; implied true when snapshotAction is set
snapshotAction ActionDefinition — Fired on shutter with {{image}} substitution; falls back to action when omitted
snapshotQuality number 0.6 JPEG quality; auto-lowered until the frame fits the mesh budget (~500 KB)
snapshotMaxDimension number 1280 Longest snapshot edge in pixels

Substitution tokens

Scan detections fire action with:

  • {{value}} — the decoded string (QR payload, barcode digits, or recognized text)
  • {{kind}} — what was read: a symbology name (qr, ean13, …) or text

Snapshots fire snapshotAction with:

  • {{image}} — the JPEG as base64 (no data-URL prefix)
  • {{width}} / {{height}} — pixel dimensions

The control's stored value is the last scanned string, so Visibility conditions and Sync readback see it.

Examples

Live QR intake — the moment a code is seen, it's on the mesh

{
  "type": "camera",
  "id": "intake-scanner",
  "position": [0, 0],
  "span": [2, 2],
  "label": "Scan Inventory",
  "scan": ["barcode"],
  "symbologies": ["qr", "ean13", "code128"],
  "debounce": 5,
  "action": {
    "method": "meshsocket",
    "mode": "broadcast",
    "event": "scan-result",
    "payload": { "msg_type": "inventory_scan", "code": "{{value}}", "kind": "{{kind}}" }
  }
}

Live text capture (OCR), send only what the user taps

{
  "type": "camera",
  "id": "serial-reader",
  "position": [0, 0],
  "span": [2, 2],
  "label": "Read Serial Number",
  "scan": ["text"],
  "sendMode": "tap",
  "action": {
    "method": "meshsocket",
    "mode": "broadcast",
    "event": "ocr-result",
    "payload": { "msg_type": "serial_read", "text": "{{value}}" }
  }
}

Snapshot to a hub dashboard

{
  "type": "camera",
  "id": "site-cam",
  "position": [0, 0],
  "span": [2, 2],
  "label": "Site Photo",
  "snapshotAction": {
    "method": "meshsocket",
    "mode": "broadcast",
    "event": "camera-photo",
    "payload": { "msg_type": "site_photo", "image_b64": "{{image}}", "w": "{{width}}", "h": "{{height}}" }
  }
}

A hub layout can render the photo with an Image control listening for site_photo (decode the base64 server-side, or serve it back as a URL).

Behavior

  • Tap to start; LIVE chip while running; tap ✕ (or background the app) to stop
  • Detections are highlighted in the viewfinder; auto mode sends them as they stabilize, tap mode waits for a tap
  • The same value re-fires only after debounce seconds
  • Requires camera permission (prompted on first start) and a device with a camera + A12 or later; the cell shows a friendly message otherwise
  • Snapshots are size-capped (~500 KB JPEG) so they always fit a mesh frame; expect ~1 MB base64 on the wire
  • Control Definition — Base fields
  • Actions — Action definition & {{value}} substitution
  • QR Code — Displaying (rather than reading) QR codes
  • Image — Rendering received snapshots on another device
  • Privacy Policy (Settings → About) — what leaves the device: nothing, except to your server