# HTTP

The HTTP Output Component allows you to perform HTTP requests and fetch data from external end-points.

The request is performed from the computer once a scan is received from the smartphone.

Example use cases are:

Perform barcode lookups using third-party services
Obtain other information when a barcode is scanned
Communicate with e-commerce platforms such as WooCommerce, Shopify, etc. to change the stock quantity, update orders, etc.

Open URLs in browser

If your goal is to open URLs in your browser then you don’t need the HTTP component, but you just have to enable the “Automatically open Links in browser” option that is in the server settings.

# Parameters

Parameter name	Description
Skip Output	If enabled, the HTTP output won't affect the Keyboard Emulation and the CSV output.
URL	The URL to use for the request. You can use the values acquired by the other components by accessing the corresponding variables using the double-curly braces syntax. Available variables (lowercase): `barcode` `barcodes` `number` `text` `timestamp` `date_time` `scan_session_name` `device_name` `select_option` `http` `run` `csv_lookup` `csv_update` `javascript_function` Example: "https://www.example.com/?item={{ barcode }}"
Method	Is the request method to be used when making the request. Consult your software/service documentation and set it accordingly.
Data	Is the data to be sent as the request body. Only applicable for request methods PUT, POST, DELETE, and PATCH.
Params	Are the URL parameters to be sent with the request. You can either pass them here or in the URL. It must be a valid JSON string. Example: `{ "product": "", "quantity": }`
Headers	Are custom headers to be sent. It must be a valid JSON string. Example: `{ "Content-Type": "application/json" }`
Timeout	Specifies the number of milliseconds before the request times out. If the request takes longer than the specified time, the request will be aborted.

# Output

The response body will be used as output for the Keyboard Emulation feature, and for the Append to CSV file option.

The output value will be also stored into the http variable, and can be used inside other components, such as JAVASCRIPT_FUNCTION.

# Example

Let’s say that you want to scan a product and put the brand name next to the barcode column, like this:

To do that we’re going to use the free Gtinsearch API Free Lookup service.

The final output template will look like this:

It contains a BARCODE component to instruct the app to acquire a barcode and store the value inside the barcode variable
The TAB component is used to move the cursor to the next cell
The HTTP component will fetch the data using the following URL: https://www.gtinsearch.org/api/items/.

Skip output

Since the response body will be a JSON document (see example), we need to enable the Skip output option, and extract the data using the JAVASCRIPT_FUNCTION.

The JAVASCRIPT_FUNCTION component, will extract the data from the JSON fields using this code: JSON.parse(http)[0].brand_name
The ENTER component is used to move the cursor to the new line

To reproduce this example:

Download the attached Lookup.btpt template
Double click on it to import to the server settings
Open the app and select the red scan button
Select the “Lookup” Output template

Downloads:

Tip to test the requests

If you’re still in the phase of figuring out the request parameters, you can use a software like Insomnia App that has a great user interface for debugging. Once you get it to work, you can copy over the parameters to Barcode to PC.