Kiosk Mode # RFID # NFC Scan # INPUT placeholder

[kevinpapst]

Discussed in https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai-plugins/discussions/66

^{Originally posted by **asaglam76** April 16, 2023} Hello, I use the following device for kiosk mode: - **ALLNET Design LED Tablet 10 Zoll RK3568 (https://tinyurl.com/2p8es8h6)** From my point of view, this is optimal in terms of price-performance ratio. It also has an integrated NFC scanner which supports MIFARE DESFire EV2 and thus our key tags can also be used for time recording at the same time. As NFC keyboard I use the Scanner Keyboard from TecIT (Android App). (https://tinyurl.com/3zvuzymd) so that an external reader is not necessary (see manual: https://tinyurl.com/4fyw3kh5). **However, here is the problem:** The Scanner Keyboard App supports automatic scanning, but needs a trigger text in the input area (these grayed out texts such as (Email, Password, Token etc.).  Since there is no trigger text in the input field, the function cannot be used from the app, so the scan has to be started manually. **My request**: Is it possible to adapt the plugin so that an individual trigger text or a fixed trigger text can be stored for the input field, so that the app can check for the trigger text and start the autoscan. 

[kevinpapst]

I tried the app (which is a fantastic addition, I will have to test it with NFC, looks great), but just can't get the autoscan to trigger.

I am using Chrome and only added ${ENTER} to the rule, everything else is unchanged/default.

This is the HTML I used:

<input type="password" id="barcode_login_form_code" name="barcode_login_form[code]" required="required" autofocus="autofocus" autocomplete="off" placeholder="BCSCAN" class="form-control">

Do you have any experience with that feature? Does it work otherwise?

[kevinpapst]

@asaglam76 I added a configuration for the input label placeholder, so you can test it yourself at the v2 demo: https://demo-branch.kimai.org/de/kiosk/settings

[asaglam76]

Hi Kevin, I called today Tech-IT because it didnt worked on the demo side (many thanks for the provision). In this context, the lady from engineering said that placeholder alone is not the solution, but that in the field content this must be as value="BCSCAN", here BCSCAN is trigger text or something else. Perhaps to do further testing, it would be interesting to see if this works. I would ask you to do the following:

• placeholder (aktivieren/deaktivieren) # werteingabe
• value (aktivieren/deaktivieren # werteingabe we are currently using kimai 1.30.11 stable (Ayumi) but you are providing the plugin for V2.x. Would it also be possible to provide the plugin for V1.x, since it is not planned to upgrade in the short term.

If you can provide the testing version for v1.x with above improvents, I'd like to test it (until it works :smile: ).

In this case I have an interesting link: https://developer.chrome.com/articles/nfc/ and sample >>> https://googlechrome.github.io/samples/web-nfc/ I tried it on my device and it is working (scan-mode > everytime punching tag, it reads automatically). Maybe this is the better solution, because you DONT NEED ANY APP .. it works without the scanner keyboard app.

[kevinpapst]

value="BCSCAN"

The docs say placeholder and then they use value ... from a technical perspective that really doesn't make any sense. Pre-populating the value attribute would be problem for everyone who does not have that app. That would be a terrible UX, even if it is an optional setting I am against that. Send them another message and tell then how many sales they could make just from Kimai customers. I am sure, that many from the existing customer base would love that keyboard solution.

The NFC reader is a great idea. Unfortunately only available on Android:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/NDEFReader#browser_compatibility

Might be an option for freestyle mode though.

[asaglam76]

I have contacted them again. There are already plans for improvements, but it is not yet certain when this will be implemented. However, the NFC reader would be a better solution, since you do not need any apps. The fact that it is only available on Android is not a big deal if it would/could be implemented in Freestyle mode as suggested. At least a certain area is already covered. In addition, I do not know whether, for example, an IOS / WIndows tablet have an integrieten NFC reader, as in the device I used.

I think that this tablet alone from the functionality of many takes a lot of work (compared to RasPi / display / reader, etc.).

Best regards

[kevinpapst]

Yes, I agree the tablet would be the perfect All-In-One Solution.

I'll need to get in touch with the distributor to see, if I can get hold of one device for testing. Do you have one? Is it default Android 11? Can it be switched it into headless Kiosk Mode easily with Chrome?

[asaglam76]

Hi Kevin, I have the above mentioned tablet and I am very satisfied, because it can also read a lot of RFIDs, in our case the MIFARE DESFire EV2. It is an Android 11 tablet. It has the screen fix function, I think its the headless kiosk mode. I do not use it, because the tablet comes really in vanilla mode (no apps installed) and for our case it is not needed. I'm running it in fullscreen mode. In addition, one has an Ethernet port with PoE, so further power supply is not necessary.

As you mentioned above, there are functionalities for Android. However, here you have to consider the following. How many tablets have integrated RFID readers? Almost none or only in industrial environments and these are also Android. Therefore, I don't find it outlandish now to make this feature available. You mention this for Firefox as well, but I have to add the following. I myself am not a friend of Chrome and use Firefox exclusively, but neither on my tablets nor on my smartphone do I use Firefox. In the case of Kimai, I will use Chrome in this case because it just works and honestly it is a one stop solution and looks very professional (no external readers etc).

I would be very happy if you would implement the WEB NFC. I would also like to send you the tablet, however it does not belong to me privately but to my employer. Did you get an answer? If not, give them a call. They were very nice.

[kevinpapst]

Currently working on it and I really like it!

But: what would you expect that is used for identification? The serial number of the NFC or one of the stored records?

My Android device does only scan on the back of the phone. Does the tablet scanner have a larger range? Will it work hanging on the wall?

[asaglam76]

Hi Kevin, that's great news :) The tablet comes with its own wall mount bracket, but also has threaded kits so this can be mounted in other ways or used as a standalone unit as well. See picture.

The scan field is located on the front surface, see picture:

According to the documentation, the following NFC cards or tokens are supported:

ISO14443A, ISO14443B, ISO 15693, Mifare C lassic, Mifare C lassic 4K, Mifare C lassic 8K, Mifare Ultralight, Sony Felica, MIFARE DESFire EV2 and MIFARE DESFire EV1.

As mentioned above, we have MIFARE DESFire EV2 which is provided to us by the building management. What you can do with it is unknown to me. We use it to get access into the building as well as into the office areas. I use the serial number or decimal output of the token as an identification feature as well as EmployeeID, in case he has lost his key and can enter this manually. The web NFC sample, for example, uses the serial number for output. As I said, I have entered both the serial number and other identification information in Kimai. However, I think that the serial number is the best solution for now, since this is also unique.

What I found out during the tests is that we have to place our token on the scan surface. An approximation of a few centimeters is not enough, but as far as I know, this depends on the card or the frequency.

Since you are currently doing your test on the smartphone (I have also done these tests), the result is the same on the smartphone as on the device (for the web NFC sample).

However, I have one request. Please make the function available for the plugin in V1 as well, since I'm currently not planning to switch to V2 yet, since we use also other major plugins.

[kevinpapst]

Thanks for sharing all these details, very much appreciated 😄

The v2 demo (see https://www.kimai.org/en/demo.html) now includes the Web NFC support in freestyle mode.

I don't have any plans to backport code, but I will give out discount codes (up to 100%, depending on the date of the purchase) for the upgrade to v2.

[asaglam76]

purchase is less than a few month :)

[HeinzWuert]

Will there be support for NFC for smartphone identification? There are various cheap tablets available for use as Kimai terminal.

https://www.amazon.de/Ulefone-Armor-Pad-Lite-Wasserdicht/dp/B0CGWWPMS5/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=nfc&qid=1706721139&s=computers&sr=1-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d85e497d-ab66-4790-acf8-e520aaf28cd3&th=1

[kevinpapst]

Web NFC is supported since quite a while, but it seems I forgot to update the store page... thanks for the reminder!

Problem with these tablets is likely, that the NFC is not available at the front of the display.

I believe these are compatible but I haven't had a chance to test them yet.

[asaglam76]

Buy Allnet. You've also PoE. It's working and you'll be happy

Gesendet von Outlook für Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

---

From: Kevin Papst @.> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 6:49:37 PM To: kevinpapst/kimai-plugins @.> Cc: asaglam76 @.>; Mention @.> Subject: Re: [kevinpapst/kimai-plugins] Kiosk Mode # RFID # NFC Scan # INPUT placeholder (Issue #67)

Web NFC is supported since quite a while, but it seems I forgot to update the store page... thanks for the reminder!

Problem with these tablets is likely, that the NFC is not available at the front of the display.

I believe these are compatiblehttps://shop.allnet.de/search?sSearch=meetingraum+tablet but I haven't had a chance to test them yet.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai-plugins/issues/67#issuecomment-1919610052, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALBCROJDX2TGZ2YR3M4QOUDYRJ73DAVCNFSM6AAAAAAXEC4C32VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSMJZGYYTAMBVGI. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[HeinzWuert]

You are using Allnet with NFC for smartphones?

[asaglam76]

No wall mount tablet

Gesendet von Outlook für Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

---

From: HeinzWuert @.> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 7:42:20 PM To: kevinpapst/kimai-plugins @.> Cc: asaglam76 @.>; Mention @.> Subject: Re: [kevinpapst/kimai-plugins] Kiosk Mode # RFID # NFC Scan # INPUT placeholder (Issue #67)

You are using Allnet with NFC for smartphones?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai-plugins/issues/67#issuecomment-1919715185, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALBCROPXIN5CJ3N3S6KYIRTYRKGAZAVCNFSM6AAAAAAXEC4C32VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSMJZG4YTKMJYGU. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[HeinzWuert]

that means when tablet is wall mounted NFC doesn't work?

[asaglam76]

If NFC sensor is on backside, yes. The Allnet has it in front

Gesendet von Outlook für Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

---

From: HeinzWuert @.> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 8:17:15 PM To: kevinpapst/kimai-plugins @.> Cc: asaglam76 @.>; Mention @.> Subject: Re: [kevinpapst/kimai-plugins] Kiosk Mode # RFID # NFC Scan # INPUT placeholder (Issue #67)

that means when tablet is wall mounted NFC doesn't work?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai-plugins/issues/67#issuecomment-1919769703, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALBCROLUWTVBXJ4FJ3U2TDLYRKKDXAVCNFSM6AAAAAAXEC4C32VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSMJZG43DSNZQGM. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[kevinpapst]

@HeinzWuert please scroll up @asaglam76 already added images and explanations about this tablet