integrating RFID with PHP

Question

I am thinking of developing an offline (local) system using PHP and RFID for my office here.

I have done some research regarding RFID device (card scanner type) and the SDK available out there in the market, but there is no SDK built for PHP. Database will be MySQL. Programming wise wouldnt be a problem since i got basic knowledge on PHP application.

What i want to do is just get the Card ID (1 card for each user) each time it is scanned, so i can manipulate whatever data related to the card / user after that.

So, is there any way to read from RFID card scanner from PHP? (or PHP classes perhaps??)

Thanks in advance. and sorry for bad english.

Antiperiodic

Often input devices like scanners will behave like keyboard inputs. When a scan occurs you would simply need a textbox to have the focus in your browser window. The scan data would be written into that input field as if it had been typed. You likely won't find any SDK to deal with PHP as the vast majority of PHP code runs on servers. Meanwhile, scan inputs happen on the client-side. – Iatric

If you know C, you could add an extension to PHP using the Phigets C Libary. And if you do go that route, please do let me know, because I would use it too! – Cosmotron

where are you hosting your PHP code, command line? web page? – Journalistic

hmm.. i too am interested in this.. lolz. – Asbestosis

Did anyone got the answer for this question. Link provided by @MarkTomlin is not working – Cyndie

Answer 1

You don't need an SDK. As long as you have drivers installed whatever you scan will get dumped in a textbox if that is what is selected on the screen. So you will get a unique ID or whatever which matches on your database and you can manipulate your data.

Phalanstery